Gear Fundraiser for Kili-Boma Porters and Guides

Hi Friends,

Many of you know that celebrating my birthday isn't my thing. However, this year when I turned 45, it felt like a true celebration because I got to realize two dreams at once: Visiting Africa with my family and climbing one of the seven summits! Months ago, in the wake of the Marshall Fire devastation in our neighborhood, we decided to take on the challenge of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro and then go on a safari afterward.

Up to that point, I had been trading messages for six months with a gentleman from the village of Boma near Kilimanjaro named Jumanne Kolokolo. He had very patiently been a treasure trove of information and advice on the trip, given that he runs an outfit called Kili-Boma adventures that specializes in the trek and safari. So when we decided to officially commit, there was a flurry of activity, training and logistical planning which Jumanne and his team spearheaded.

We knew that in order to summit Kili we needed to have a support team. We were excited to meet them, and practiced some basic Swahili phrases that we constantly forgot but realized that climbing with them would be a big part of the experience. When we arrived, we realized we completely underestimated how many people it would take to safely get our meager family of 4 up to the top and down. 3 Guides, 15 porters, a chef, and yes...even a latrine specialist. When you picture climbing to the top of Kilmanjaro you picture hiking, trekking and fighting the oxygen to get up to the top. What I personally didn't know was the steady stream of guides and porters it would take to get us, our tents, food and personal gear up to each of the six camps along the way.

To say these gentlemen are impressive is a massive understatement. In addition to their day packs with their personal items, they each carry a 20 Kg load (~45lbs) perfectly balanced on their heads. While we labor slowly uttering the popular Swahili phrase on the mountain, "pole pole" ("slowly slowly"), these veterans motor past us with a smile on their faces. When you get to each camp, they've already been there for hours and have everything set up for you. We enjoyed learning their names, backgrounds, and everything about them; at least half of the joy of getting to the summit was doing it with this group.

However, one of the harsh realities of this trip for us was the poor state of gear this team had to trek 14k of elevation gain over 40 miles on their heads. On the first day of the hike, Andrew started finding broken pieces of shoes and soles on the trail. He didn't realize why there were so many pieces all over the trail, but it very quickly dawned on Sarah and I why this was the case. While we can easily go to REI and debate which model of Asolo boot will best serve our purposes, this team wears used Chuck Taylors and dress shoes as they walk on the trail. While we comfortably navigate the Barranco Wall with the help of our patient guides, their shoes are coming apart. Most of what they buy for footwear is used and problematic to start, and that's before they put seven more days of wear on them.

I realize that I can't change the world myself, but for my birthday, I would like these people who welcomed us to Tanzania like family to have better gear to do their jobs and be safer up on Kili. So they will be more likely to not twist an ankle and/or fall and be more comfortable while they're on the trek helping us all make memories together. We spoke to the team, and they would appreciate having the opportunity to buy not only shoes but warm sleeping gear and clothes as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we appreciate your support in advance!

The Vonnahme Family