Hike Your Age An activity by RCNMN To Raise Funds For The projects
By Rtn. Noreen Ngami
An activity that was done by RCNMN to raise funds for the projects that the club is undertaking this year we conquered Mt Kilimambogo and we are geared for the coming year.
The time was 6 am-14th January 2023- a time previously agreed to take off but Alas! Who are Kenyans… “I am 5 minutes out” another … “pick me up at Windsor”…“ just arrived in Nairobi. Please pick me up on Thika Road”…. Kenyans, a special breed indeed.
Finally, at 0707 am we set out from Heart Lodge, with will and gear in tow to conquer Mt. Kilimambogo for our ‘Hike your age’ challenge.
See, Hike your Age was brilliantly coined by one PDG Eric, and his team, as we raised funds for our Mother and Child Project- Phase 3. We are looking to provide :-
1. Neonatal ICUs
2. Kangaroo beds
3. Training for the medical personnel in this unit.
In line with the theme, it was for us to pledge an amount and multiply it by the number of years of life on earth. A fantastic project about life and for life.
At 0835 hrs with the breakfast sun on our faces! The gentle slope began and as we got to the first footpath, our guide- asked us to turn right into the woods and we began the ascent. The first hill was long-winded but fairly gradual with almost nothing to write about. Some heaving and bending but not too treacherous. And then came the second hill called the hyrax footpath which at first glance looks as easy as pie… HA HA HA ..
it was NOT! Up and up and then it was up and up and steep and slide, and support!
WooooooH!
I remember asking myself, what am I doing? A thought ran through my mind as I struggled to catch my breath.. Young vulnerable lives are also doing the same, and not choice of their own they had. They had come into this world prematurely and were fighting desperately for their lives… for a a breath and then the next ….. . These thoughts gave me the strength to power through. And on and on I trode. Holding on to twigs, grass, being on all fours, kicking and screaming and thinking very seriously about my life…. and soon…. ‘Is that the road”?
wooohoo… The road was essentially the last of the ascents and the beginning of the ‘easy way up’ .Yeah. There was finally light at the end of the tunnel- but was it an oncoming train or the promised land?
Onto the road and a slight incline for another 5.6 km. Finally at the summit. A feeling of achievement, relief, satisfaction but wait, we have the decent. another 9.6 km…. Ok, shall we? Slowly, in pain, down we went- Step by step a foot and then the next and the next.
Hoooraaaahhh!!! Finally at the base, 3 hrs 46 minutes later we find ‘Nyama Choma’ available with PDG Eric on the decks ensuring that each person got a ‘rib’ as their reward for scaling and conquering the mountain.
We sat and swallowshipped and indeed an overall success. Congregating at the base, we shared what the experience meant to us and what we hoped to achieve. Rotarians came through bringing a thing or two to share. There was more than enough food to feed a village. Fellow Rotarians and other bystanders
from all over joined us, visiting, sharing and pledging to the cause too. Each giving their own ‘Rotary Story’ and the cause before us. Ksh 600,000 pledges and collections with more to come as the project continues.
Would you like to be a part?
Thank you! Thank you! To those who supported in cash and kind.
Hike your age campaign is still running and you too can be a part. Send your contributions to our treasurer on –
0748 746 109
As Martin Luther King said – An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
So let’s start living by giving
