Countdown - 4 Months!

By Isabelle Privé


That's right! Only 4 months to go! The time is really flying! Our preparations, fund-raising, volunteer work and training have been going on for 14 months already and we're more motivated than ever to carry on till we reach (we hope) the top of Kilimanjaro.

Volunteer work

On Saturday April 28th, six girls from the team met up to participate, with over 1000 runners, in the second edition of the 5 km ARATED-M  Autism Marathon. Socializing and raising awareness about autism and PDD (pervasive developmental disorder) were the order of the day. The team is always proud to participate in these activities and to encourage the organizers who are so devoted to their different causes. Our next volunteer activities: Accueil Bonneau on May 6th, the Dystrowalk on May 12th and Relais Pour la Vie in Deux-Montagnes on June 1st.

Training

We are persevering with individual and group training. Some are sticking religiously to their weekly Sunday stair-climbing on Mont-Royal (Keep it up, Richard!). For others, it's jogging, boxing, boot camp, stairs, cycling, kung-fu, ellipticals, mountain trekking - anything goes if it helps to improve fitness and get us up Kilimanjaro! We are at the most intensive stage of our training and we're accomplishing a lot of steps on the way to the summit!



Translated by Pamela Gauvin

Second Organik Conference - Life After Kili

By Isabelle Privé

For the second time, Team Kili-2012 has enjoyed a conference by a member of the Organik team.

Organik is a company dedicated to promoting health in the workplace. It has brought together a group of specialists in health, sport, nutrition, relaxation, meditation, yoga and others. It decided to support our group with help and advice and, this time, with a conference by Julie Marchand, a sports trainer and physical fitness specialist.

Julie shared her personal experience, her enthusiasm and her passion, not only for sport but for life itself. She brought up a subject that's rarely talked about during the preparation for an expedition like Kilimanjaro - life after Kilimanjaro - what will happen to us afterwards.

People who have experienced an expedition like ours often say "It'll change your life" or "You're not the same when you come back". What exactly do they mean? What's it like in real life?

"When you're there, you become your real self. You're no longer the mother, the spouse, the friend, the child, the neighbour, the employee of....... It's one of the rare times in life when you're quite simply yourself. And that's what changes your life forever."

During all the turmoil of the preparations for the trip, having to cope with passport, training, dates, family and the race against time, you don't realise that you're setting out on an adventure that will change your life.  You don't realise that you're jumping into the unknown and that, however well you're prepared, you can never be completely ready for the actual experience or for the way in which it will transform you.

We're all taken up with our daily lives and the society in which we live. We all have bills to pay, family, friends, work to accomplish. We must all get up each morning and do what's necessary to get on in life, stay fit, grow and be happy. I've realised, thanks to this meeting with Julie, that, when we climb on board the plane, we'll be leaving all that behind for the duration of the expedition.

What will happen over there? I've no idea. How will we experience it all? I've no idea. How will the trip change us? No idea! All I know is that I've found a deeper reason for living this crazy experience to the full together with this wonderful group of people - Team Kili-2012.

Thank you, Julie, for sharing your experience and your wisdom. Thank you, Organik, for organising the conference.

Another step on the way to the summit!!

Translated by Pamela Gauvin

Kilimanjaro - Some Facts

By Isabelle Privé

Over the past year, we've been telling you about our project. Now here are some facts about Kilimanjaro itself.
(Reference:  Wikipedia )

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, situated in the north-east of Tanzania. Called "Shining Mountain" in Swahili, it's composed of one dormant volcano cone: Kibo, whose peak, Uhuru is 5 895m (19 341ft), and two extinct volcano cones: Mawenzi, to the east, 5 149m (16 893ft) and Shira, to the west, 3 962m (13 000ft).

The climate varies with the mountain's different faces and levels. At its foot, the average annual temperature is 23.4° C., whereas it's 5° C. at 4 000 m. and minus 7.1° C. at the top of Kibo. Between 4 000 and 5 000 m. the variation between day and night temperatures can be as much as 40° C.

Kilimanjaro has a tropical savanna climate, characterised by a dry season (when we'll be there) from mid May to mid October with moderate temperatures. A short rainy season (called short rains) follows from mid October to the end of November, a hot dry period from the beginning of December till the end of February and, finally, a long rainy season from March to mid May.



Translated by Pamela Gauvin