Meet Chantale - a Story of Change

By Chantale Bonin

When Manon Fairfield told me about the Kili-2012 project, I said yes straight away (to be honest - without much thought). But I never dreamt it would change my life so profoundly.

I thought she was so courageous to want to climb a mountain after having gone through the loss of several loved ones. So courageous that I thought - let's do it together!

I met Manon and her twin sister in 1999. We lived in the same neighbourhood and met at a few birthday parties. I was very shocked by the sudden loss of Chantal, Manon's sister. I'd taken her wedding photos only a few years before and here we were, in the same church in Verdun, for her funeral. When I think that Manon and I started working for Visa on the same day, it must have meant something. I even wonder if it wasn't Chantal who inspired me to say yes that day.

I started improving my fitness with Manon and some others. We decided to run with the other Team Kili members whom I gradually got to know. I'd never enjoyed running but, as it was part of our training contract, I had at least to try. I always stayed at the back, thinking that I should run slowly but surely. Gradually, I found myself pushing the others and enjoying it more and more. As others were discovering the same satisfaction, we decided to run informally during our lunch breaks.

The stair challenge was next - a team initiative. When Manon told me about it, I plunged in again and set myself a personal goal. The idea was to climb the most steps in a certain period of time. Several teams signed on. My goal was to get to the top.... For the first time in my life, I really wanted to succeed. I've never been ambitious in my career - when someone else wanted a position, I stepped aside. But now it was different, I wanted my team to win at any price. Luckily, I could count on three wonderful colleagues to support me - André Lachapelle, Manon Fairfield and Julie Foster. We were really strong. Manon, whom I call "Statistics Canada", could tell you the exact number of steps we climbed at lunch time and in the evening, when we returned, just for the sake of the challenge. And whereas the objective was 600 stories, we did 4145!!!

These winds of change have invigorated my everyday existance - that of a rather spoilt mother. As I adore taking photos, I hope that my involvement in the team will let me share my skill and put it to good use. I've discovered people who are very ambitious and wonderfully human. I've discovered a new way of life and the intense experience has taught me a lot about myself.

Translated by Pamela Gauvin

Meet Lucie

By Lucie Corbeil


When I was asked to write a bio, I really didn't know what to say about myself.
Apart from my name and my work, what else was there to say?
Anyway, here goes.

I'm participating in the fantastic Kilimanjaro project thanks to my great friend Janie who invited me to join in the adventure at a time in my life when I really needed it. So I jumped in, like Obelix falling into the magic potion - greedily, curiously and naively. Greedily -  because I love to devour new projects, curiously -  to meet new people and new places and to see where the project takes me.  As for naively - when I see all the training I must do, again and again and again, I must admit I was rather green.......

Kili is a project that catapults me into the future, provides a way to get there, a mission and a challenge.

Lucie (also known as "la cochonne" because of my piggy hat).



Translated by Pamela Gauvin

Kili-2012 Stair Challenge - 4000 Stories by September!

By Isabelle Privé

Preparing to climb Africa's highest mountain means persistent training and unflinching motivation. I don't know about you but, for me, maintaining motivation isn't easy. That's why I've launched a challenge for Team Kili-2012.

How did I get the idea? Last autumn, at the office, several members of the team took part in the SCD stair-climbing challenge - climbing 600 stories in teams of 4 in 10 days.  We took up the challenge enthusiastically. One Kili team even managed 4000 stories!

We all thought it would be a good idea to carry on with the activity afterwards and we found that it was relatively easy to climb 20 to 30 stories a day. So I got to calculating. With the number of weeks' training left before leaving for Kilimanjaro, and counting about 30 stories a day, now many stories could we climb in that time?  The answer was 4000 stories per person!

That's all it took to put the challenge to my fellow team members. After all, stair-climbing is one of the best exercises available before mountain-climbing. And as Team Kili-2012 is always ready to do things differently and take on new challenges, 10 members answered the call. So 11 of us will be counting our steps and accumulating stories until August 31st. The objective: 4000 stories per person between February 6 and August 31 2012.

For the sake of the challenge, everything counts - stairs at home, at work, in the Metro, on Mont-Royal.  Every 20 steps count for a story. If you work it out, by taking the stairs all the time, it's easy to do 15 - 30 stories a day!

We started on Monday and, already, we've found all sorts of ways to make it add up. Thanks to everyone who's signed on to this crazy project. Another step on the way to the summit!

Translated by Pamela Gauvin