Marie Renaud knows about big challenges. As the executive director of the Lo-Se-Ca Foundation, every day is about overcoming odds.
"In my own job, I'm used to barriers all the time," she said. "The folks that we support, we always have huge mountains in front of us, whether it's people or lack of resources."
The organization stands for Love-Service-Care for adults with developmental disabilities. Lo-Se-Ca helps dozens of people with residential and day supports so that they can live and work according to their hopes and dreams, no matter how big, just like everybody else.
A few weeks ago, she literally stood with a huge mountain in front of her and a group of 13 of her co-workers and clients. Within days, 11 of them were standing on top of that mountain, 5,900 metres above sea level. Only two people out of the whole group couldn't make it all the way. One of them is 72 years old and was suffering from altitude sickness.
Mt. Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania is the highest peak that isn't part of a mountain range and the highest mountain that can be ascended without specialized climbing gear.
It was an adventure, Renaud said, but, more importantly, it was a tribute to the indomitable human spirit and a chance to demonstrate what ability means. She and her group went to the top of the world to prove it.
The goal
Renaud explained that her work is to always look and work onward and upward.
"We're really goal-focused, not just in our jobs but with the people that we support. We're constantly asking them 'What's your goal? What would you like to learn? Where would you like to be in five years?' Good, bad or ugly, that's what we do."
Two years ago, the Lo-Se-Ca organization set themselves this goal unlike any other. They would climb the mountain and combine it with a community service project at the same time. After the mountain, the group offered its services to Bangwe House, a shelter where orphaned children and youth with mental disabilities are given food, medical care, emotional support and education. They even get to participate in activities that focus on their integration into society.
She said that the Rafiki Project (as it came to be known) made sense as a fundraiser, as a way to get everyone more active. Everybody had to pay their own way, train to be in good shape, and even buy their own equipment.
"They planned. They attended meetings. When it got right down to it, they hiked up an enormous mountain."
It would also serve as a tangible sign of personal success.
"It was also a really visual thing. We thought, 'Wouldn't it be something for some of the guys that we work with to be on top of the mountain?' It would hopefully change their lives but change people's perspectives."
"I made it to the top!" recounted an enthusiastic Jonathan Hamilton, a local resident who receives support from Lo-Se-Ca. "It felt good!"
Renaud mentioned Dan Huising, another one of the agency's clients. He told her that he hopes that this experience will be useful for him to attain his dream job of working at an outfitting or sports store.
"He could put on his resume that he climbed Kilimanjaro. He's really tested out all of the equipment," she said.
Huising, for his part, offered some modest insights into the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"It was very, very long. It wasn't that hard," he stated, adding that he trained for a year by going for lots of long walks and taking a few trips to Jasper for more on-the-ground experience. "Getting a lot of fresh air."
Renaud was much more forthcoming.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole life," she said. "Day after day, going up, up, up, up…"
To get from the bottom to the top took seven days and six nights of hiking. In fact, they left one camp at 11 p.m. to hike through the night before arriving at Gilman's Point, still 10 hours from the peak. The hardy gang of 11 fought fatigue, altitude sickness, the difficult physical conditions and atmosphere, and darkness to make the final push to Uhuru Peak, the very summit of the mountain.
The group's blog (at rafiki2013.wordpress.com) reported why it's better to ascend parts of Kilimanjaro at night.
"You might think that climbing over 4,000 feet in the dark, with only a little headlamp is not a great idea but it is. The steep rocky face of the mountain that we climbed is best not viewed in daylight."
This is because the slope is a dumping ground for human discharge.
"It was nasty," Renaud said, mentioning that most people took drugs to counter the effects of altitude sickness. "There's a dull headache. Some people had nausea. We did see lots of vomit on the trail, or people had to go to the washroom and really just didn't have the energy to move off the trail … it wasn't pretty."
Stage two
Upon their return to the base of Kilimanjaro, they had to take a bus to get from Moshi to Bangwe House in Kigoma, hundreds of kilometres away on the other side of the country.
"It was supposed to be a two-day bus ride," Renaud said.
But the roads were in poor shape, some even washed out, she said. The bus was absolutely packed with people, and the front axle broke. To make matters worse, the emergency vehicle that was following behind had broken down too and was hours away. The closest automobile assistance was a day away.
Taking matters into their own hands, the drivers carved a new wooden axle with their machetes.
That was all fine except that the axle broke again and a new one had to be carved.
"It was the bus trip from hell," Renaud recounted. "African highways are not what they are here. It was a long bus ride."
Compared to that experience, the work at Bangwe was a walk in the park. It was situated near Lake Tanganyika where people could swim. The people were friendly.
The Lo-Se-Ca crew spent the next week helping with several construction projects at the site, including building a farm and a chicken house.
"We painted their dorm, repaired all their beds, put up new netting, put up new mattresses, new bedding, gave clothes … planted the whole garden. We built a shed. They now have three cows, 10 goats and a chicken house. There were so many things we did, all in six days," Renaud said.
Their aid contribution was intended to include physical labour but also some financial relief. They'd set out to raise about $20,000 to give to Bangwe but ended up with more than $100,000 to donate.
Next Thursday the organization is having its first planning meeting to establish the potential in doing a second Rafiki trip. Renaud expects more people to show interest.
Hamilton said he might be up for another trek up the mountain. Huising said he probably won't join another mountain climbing expedition but he does have his sights set on another human adventure.
"I would rather work at the orphanage," he said. "Without climbing a mountain."
