“We the people of Tanzania, would like to light a candle and put it on top of Mount Kilimanjaro which would shine beyond our borders giving hope where there was despair. Love, where there was only hate and dignity where before there was only humiliation” Julius Nyerere 1959

Jambo! (Swahili for “Hello”) Last November my childhood friend, Dr Deborah Chong, asked me if I was interested in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as a fund-raiser for a non-profit she started. I’m not sure if it was the climb or the cause that intrigued me then, but I immediately told her yes. The non-profit. Medicine in Action (MIA), was started in December 2005 by herself and Dr Karolynn Echols. MIA does missions to Jamaica and Tanzania, providing quality health care with a focus on women whilst giving international exposure to doctors and medical students.

Mount Kilimanjaro sits on the northern border of Tanzania, overlooking Kenya, and it was after the last mission to Tanzania that I joined the MIA team to climb it. It is a dormant volcano covering an area of 388,500 hectares. There are three main peaks – Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. It is Kibo which has the best preserved crater on the mountain and its highest point is called Uhuru Peak. The national language of Tanzania is Swahili, and when they gained their independence from the British in 1961, this peak was renamed the Uhuru Peak, meaning “Freedom Peak”. It is the highest point in Africa at 5,895 metres (19,340 ft), the world’s largest free-standing mountain and was our goal to summit. When I told our guide the highest peak in Jamaica is just over 2,200 metres (just over 7,400 ft) he replied, “Oh, small hill”.

To put things into perspective High Altitude ranges from 2,438m-3,658m (8,000-12,000 ft), Very High Altitude ranges from 3,658m-5,487m (12,000-18,000 ft) and Extremely High Altitude ranges from 5,500m (18,000+ ft) and up. So leaving hot Kingston, Jamaica to a place of Extremely High Altitude was the most challenging part.

There are several routes to climb the mountain. We chose the Machame (or Whiskey) route, which is the most scenic but steeper. This took us seven days. There were 12 of us on the climb, seven of whom were medical doctors including a psychiatrist, one lawyer and a photographer. We were accompanied by experienced head guide Jeremy Rweyemamu and his staff of 35 men who served as assistant guides, porters and chefs. They carried all our gear and all our food which we would need for the seven days on the mountain. I had it made! In Jamaica we say “No problem” (hakuna matata). To top it off, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley were belting out reggae that morning on Tanzanian radio.

The way to prevent altitude sickness is to climb very slowly (polepole) so your body can acclimatise and drink lots of water (maji), a minimum of three litres per day. The rule of thumb is to climb high and sleep low. Our porters went ahead each day to prepare our delicious meals and set up our tents as we enjoyed the mindful steps through the different ecozones: cultivation zone, rainforest, moorland, alpine desert and glacial summit. We ate savoury millet porridge, eggs, sausages, toast, zucchini or mushroom soup, stewed green bananas, spaghetti, potatoes and chicken. Everything was tasty, calculated, and mindful. The night before the summit hike our guide was concerned that we were not eating enough since we were not having the amount calculated for us.

The views were beautiful and changed daily. Unexpectedly it snowed on our descent from Lava Tower at about 4,500m (15,000 ft). We hiked for an average of six hours every day with the exception of the summit hike, which was about 18 hours in total. I went to bed most nights thinking I was going to freeze to death until the sun came out and we started walking. I don’t know what the temperatures were on the mountain, but there was frost on the ground some mornings when I got out of my tent. Scaling the almost vertical 1200m Baranco Wall on the fourth day (I have a fear of heights) did not prepare me for the night to the summit. It was like a near-death experience.

We had some biscuits and hot water (maji moto) and began at midnight with our headlamps stepping out into the darkness. Our group quickly split into two with the faster group ahead of myself, three others and our guides. We saw their headlamps going higher and higher and eventually disappear into the darkness. The guides lifted our spirits as they sang Kilimanjaro songs in unison .

Marathon runners talk about hitting a wall at mile 21, when your muscles are telling your brain they can go no farther, but your mind tells your brain to keep going. At 3,658m (12,000 ft) there is roughly 40 per cent fewer oxygen molecules per breath. We were now at about 17,000 ft and I didn’t want to know how much less there is at this altitude. It was very cold and when the winds picked up in those wee hours of the morning, you hit the marathon wall. There is now complete silence and our guides are holding our hands tight and I am praying constantly and repetitively. I am thinking of every loving and joyous experience I had in Jamaica from childhood to adulthood. I am imagining every single person I know dead or alive including family, friends, aquaintances and even strangers.

Most people summit in time for sunrise. We are now high above the clouds and we stop to enjoy the grandeur of the sun rising. The surroundings became more visible and we realised that we still had much farther to go. I began to ignore the views opening up around us and stared at the two feet in front, each step became more and more mindful. Four of us summitted at about 9:30 am and we turned to our guides respectfully and said in Swahili, “Thank you very much” (asante sana). Totally oblivious to the magnificent glaciers around, the feeling of being at the highest point in Africa or the thought that we had to hike back down, the four of us hugged and broke down in tears. We are still unsure why it was so emotional: was it the lack of oxygen, hunger pains, tears of joy or a combination of all three? We had done it! We had conquered the marathon wall. The mind is powerful indeed. Physical fitness might help you get there faster, but sheer mental strength and faith is really what you need. The oldest person recorded to have climbed Mt Kilimanjaro was 87 years old.

Did I deserve column space to share my near-death feelings? Of course not. It became clear that it was the cause that intrigued me. Albert Schweitzer once said happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. When you do not have your health it is only natural to have these near- death feelings, especially if your illness is physically painful. After that night to the summit I was able to descend or walk back to normality. This is not so for the many patients who line up to see MIA on their missions. In Jamaica, they have seen about 3,000 patients, performed approximately 50 surgeries and screened about 500 women for cervical cancer. That is definitely something to be mindful of. Together our group raised over US$35,000 for Medicine in Action. True, the mountain “knocked me for six,” and it is not easy to talk about, but writing. aaaahhhh, writing about it is much easier and much more mindful.

For more information on Medicine in Action, please visit www.medicineinaction.org

Facts, flag and map from www.cia.gov

For tours packages in Tanzania, I recommend Vesna Glamocanin of Pure Afro Travels www.pure-afro.com

FACTS ON TANZANIA

Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique

Area total: 947,300 sq km

Natural Resources: Hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel

Population: 41,048,532

Language: Swahili and English

Independence: 26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent 9 December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became independent 19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964

International Airports: Julius Nyerere International Airport in the capital city Dar Es Salaam and Kilimanjaro International Airport.