Charity hikers revel in success of Kilimanjaro climb

In a bid to raise awareness on Down syndrome and fundraise for the Down syndrome Foundation, two Nigerians and a Cameroonian professional summited Mt Kilimanjaro on Friday August 22 at about 9.00am.

The charity hike, called ‘Climb for Down syndrome’, was organised by Inspired by Charity, a Lagos-based social enterprise.

The professionals – Umar Farouk Umar, a UK-based software engineer; Thierry Mbimi, director of financial risk management at KPMG, Lagos; and Adedotun Eyinade, Tanzania-based Global Fellow with Acumen Fund – embarked on the six-day hike on Monday August 18 through the Machame route.

“This is by far the most challenging thing I have done in my three decades of existence”, said Eyinade Adedotun, co-founder of Inspired by Charity.

“We braved the odds of Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS), physical exhaustion and freezing sub-zero temperature of the summit night to reach Uhuru Peak, the roof of Africa.”

According to Thierry Mbimi, one of the hikers, summiting Mt Kilimanjaro was no mean feat, and remains a testament to the team’s determination and undying courage in the quest of championing a worthy cause.

Machame route, one of the seven routes to Uhuru peak, is said to be the most scenic and is preferred because it allows for hikers to acclimatise to the altitude.

In all, the team hiked for close to 40 hours across five distinct ecological zones to reach Uhuru peak (5,895meters).

“We hope more Nigerians will be encouraged to donate to support the outstanding work that the Down Syndrome Foundation is doing to provide succour and care to persons living with Down Syndrome,” said Umar, who joined the hiking party from his base in London.

“That was the very motivation for our climb; we are grateful for the encouragement we received during the climb and we hope that more people will be inspired to give out of appreciation for our modest efforts.”

In order to supplement the donations already received, pictures from the climb will be packaged into a coffee table book, and a public exhibition of the pictures will also be made.

Proceeds from the sales of the book and the exhibition will be donated to support the work of the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.

Donations to the Down Syndrome Foundation can be made directly to their bank account or on crowd funding site, 234give.com.