Climb For Water – Summit Reached

September 18, 2011
By NC AWWA-WEA

Making the final 7-hour push, climbing through the dark of night, and withstanding sub-zero temperatures, we are pleased to report that our Climb for Water team successfully reached the 19,340 foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa at approximately 9:00 am Tanzanian time on Friday, September 2, 2011.

As most of you know, for the last 10 months the team has been raising awareness and financial assistance for the water and sanitation crisis facing the developing world. They launched the Climb for Water campaign on behalf of NC AWWA-WEA back in November 2010, and all proceeds collected are benefiting Water for People.

Their ascent of the highest freestanding mountain in the world was designed to serve as a unique way to bring meaning to the cause. According to team founder, Kraig Kern of WK Dickson & Co., Inc, despite the intense physical training over the last 18 months, it was an extraordinary struggle to reach the top that was seriously underestimated. Many times throughout the night thoughts of turning back entered their minds. Over the course of six days they learned, among other things, that altitude does strange things to people. Symptoms the entire team experienced included migraine headaches, loss of appetite, extreme nausea, sleeplessness, spontaneous nose bleeds, slurred speech, and loss of mental and physical awareness, and because of the lack of oxygen, every step required 4 or 5 deep breaths as they slowly approached their final destination.

As of this writing the Climb for Water campaign has raised close to $16,000 in cash contributions and in-kind donations of gear and other items. That amount alone can provide clean water to nearly 1,000 people for the rest of their lives. The positive impact on the generations who follow is incalculable. Two days prior to the climb they also had the good fortune to distribute 80 pairs of donated shoes they collected from the organization Soles4Souls to an orphanage in the small village of Moshi.

Congratulations to the team on a job well done.