St. Patrick's Day in Kigali

Abanyakigali / Kigali Lifers,

There will be a celebration of St. Patrick's Day on
Wednesday March 17th at Salt & Pepper (aka "Cohan's
Pub," the Irishized name of Kokan the Indian owner!) in
Gakinjiro, Kigali city centre. Saint Patrick's Day (March
17), most of ye will know, is the national holiday of
Ireland, and a celebration of drinking and craic
(Irish-style revelry) the world over.

There will be no admission charge and "Irish" American DJs
will be spinning their Celtic MP3s well into the wee hours.
Guinness, Baileys, Jameson and Bushmills will all be in
plentiful supply at reasonable prices (as well as Mutzig,
Primus and Amstel, of course) and mzee Cohan will be serving
up roast potatoes (the reason ibirayi are called "Irish"
potatoes!) @ 100RFr each, brochettes @ 500 RFr
each, and authentic Irish-Indian samosas for 250 RFr each.
So comecelebrate in the great Irish(-Indian- Rwandan)
tradition the great Saint, Patrick was supposed to be!

Time: Traditionally celebrating St. Paddy's Day starts in
the morning but feel free to come anytime, and probably
because this year it falls on a Wednesday most (working and
late sleeping) people will come from say 6pm onwards...
Place: Salt & Pepper ("Chez Cohan"), located just
opposite Gakinjiro's hardware market in the centre of
Kigali(Gakinjiro mu mujyi, hafi Kwa Gasasira - just where
the Nyamirambo road meets town).
Date: Wednesday 17th March (aka St. Patrick's Day)

Hope to see ye all there
Sláinte






This year we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in style by planning a party - initiated by our fun-loving Indian friends - at Salt & Pepper, a small Indian Restaurant turned Irish Pub (for the sake of the event) located in town. We decorated the venue with green, white and orange (technically yellow) balloons, set up a rocking sound system featuring the beats of Dropkick Murphy's, U2, Bob Marley, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga ("just jig...it'll be okay") and others, created paper flags that accidentally honored Cote d'Ivoire (orange, white, green in that order) instead of Ireland, and enjoyed a night of celebrating St. Patel. I mean, St. Primus...no, St. Patrick.

While this description may make us party-planners sound a little resourceful, we were, in fact, a lot resourceful. As you can imagine, living as a volunteer in a developing country fosters this quality in one's self. An excellent example of our ingenuity put to action was the creation of 3x5 foot "Irish" flags. One week prior to the party, Rachel and I visited Kimironko Market, the largest and most diverse market in Rwanda. Here you find buyers and sellers of banana, rice, green peppers, cooking oil, shoes, clothing, cell phones, adaptors, empty bottles, fabric, baskets, carvings, pineapples - almost anything you can purchase in Rwanda exists here. We spent about an hour roaming the seemingly endless stalls of patterned African fabrics and selected three (in the rough color scheme of green, white and orange) for our Afro-Irish flags. Below is a photograph of one of the two the we patriotically sewed and proudly displayed at our party.

la Dotte et le Mariage

Dowry
This month I attended the dowry ceremony and wedding of a Rwandan colleague, Lydia Mitali. The purpose of the dowry is for the family of the groom to present gifts and other offerings, the greatest of which includes one or more cows, to the family of the bride. While these gifts are given to the family not exactly in “exchange” for the bride, the wedding is considered the end of the bride’s time as part of her birth family, and the start of her life with her new family: that of the groom and (eventually) her own. The dowry ceremony takes place on the property of the bride’s family, which for Lydia is located on the hillside of a rural village in the north, on the Rwanda-Uganda border. The set-up of the outdoor space included large decorated tents and folding chairs to accommodate the invited family and friends, many of whom (myself included) traveled hours by bus, bicycle or foot to attend. Neighboring villagers also attend the ceremony but sit or stand along the side as priority of chairs is given to invited guests.

The affair lasted several hours, and as it was in Kinyarwanda I can’t describe in full detail what took place. In essence, though, the ceremony is a kind of bartering of different gifts such as fruit, wine, fanta, and handcrafted baskets, followed by the “discovery” of the bride and the presentation of each bridal party. This happens in the form of a long conversation between the elder male members of each family, in which one elder (who is as a rule not the father of the bride or groom) acts as the spokesman for his respective family.

As it is a kind of dialogue, interrupted by various gestures of the prescribed participants (and in that way, almost theatrical), I found the ceremony much more interesting than most of the other lengthy Kinyarwanda speaking events I’ve witnessed since living in Rwanda. One part of the ceremony that I know I won’t forget was the discovery/recognition of the bride component, in which the family of the groom is presented with several female audience members and has to choose and testify that Lydia is in fact the most beautiful and worthy among them. First, a very old woman is brought up to the front, and presented by the bride’s family as if she were Lydia. The groom’s family must discuss and eventually refuse her. Next, a very young woman is brought to the front in a similar manner, which, wouldn’t you guess, happened to your truly! After a few formal greetings and snapped pictures, the elder spokesman handed me a microphone and asked me, “Witwande?” (What is your name?) Although I was nervous standing alone in front of so many watchful eyes, not understanding in the slightest why I was asked to come up, I proudly responded in my best Kinyarwanda, “Nitwa Kerry”

…followed by a thunderous round of laughter from anyone over the age of about 8!?! I smiled bashfully (now even more confused), re-shook the hands of the elders and was prompted to return to my seat. Shortly after, my friend Jackson told me that now everyone in the crowd was really enjoying themselves, having a grand time because of my response. He explained that whoever goes up there is supposed to respond “Nitwa Lydia,” pretenting to be the bride! To my own defense, they didn’t ask the old lady before me anything when she was presented! I was even more embarrassed learning this, but happy to see that in a small way I had added some spice to the afternoon. (As a post script, I told the story of what happened to a Rwandan friend later that week, and he consoled me with the fact that often at that point in the ceremony they will choose a very young girl, who - not knowing any better - also responds with her own name).


Wedding
The wedding this past weekend was a more familiar event, particularly since it was not my first in Rwanda. It began with a two-hour service in Lydia’s Presbyterian church in Kigali, in which she and her soon to be husband exchanged vows - - alongside another set of nuptials. This is common in Rwanda, and usually there will be between two and five (at Catholic churches, up to seven) couples getting married on the same day, in the same church, at the same ceremony, with no known relation to each other. (Not quite what I envision for my wedding some day, but customs are customs). Another difference in the ceremony was that once the couple has exchanged vows and is pronounced husband and wife, the groom slowly, meticulously rolls up his bride’s veil and the couple kisses each other on the cheek. This gesture may seem understated by American standards, but (witnessing it twice) I found it quite elegant.

In terms of attire, Rwandan brides wear the same type of elaborate white dress as is our custom at weddings in the West, while at the dowry ceremony, the bride wears a different colored dress of her choosing. Bridesmaids are color coordinated and wear similar style dresses as those common in western weddings, but they respect the custom of wearing a dress that is at least knee length. Female guests often wear a mushanana, the Rwandan patterned long skirt and sash combination as shown in the pictures below. Men also sport formal attire - usually black suits and ties - and the groomsmen color coordinate their ties to match the bridesmaids’ outfits.

The church service was followed by pictures at Kigali’s renowned Serena Hotel, and the reception in the function hall of another hotel on the other side of town. The set up of the reception is very different than that of an American wedding: instead of sitting around tables, people sit in rows of chairs facing a central stage area, where the bridal party and their families sit at ornately decorated tables. No meal is served, but soft drinks and beer is offered, and after the cutting of the cake, each guest is presented with a small piece. As the reception is comparatively minimal on food and drink costs, Rwandans will invite hundreds of people to the reception to celebrate the newlyweds.

Like the dowry ceremony, the reception is quite formulaic: it includes traditional Rwandan singing and Intore dancing by hired entertainers, presentations of the honored guests on stage, speeches by family members and friends, and the offering of gifts to the couple. Collectively among the American/Rwandan faculty of Maranyundo, we presented our dear friend Lydia gifts of house furniture along with a specially wrapped joke gift: a stack of her students’ notebooks and a red pen for grading. As she opened this gift, we informed the audience that even on her honeymoon, Lydia can’t leave her responsibilities as a teacher behind.

In all, it was a lovely day and a wonderful celebration of our dear friend’s new beginning.

Return to Rwanda, via Kigali

After three fantastic months of vacation in Paris, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, DC and New York, I’ve returned to the African continent with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. In light of Rwanda’s transition to English, the Maranyundo Initiative is expanding its English tutoring and teacher training services to include other schools in Rwanda, including the FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists) School for Girls in the Kayonza district, as well as the Biyimana School of Sciences in Gitarama. This year I’ll continue my work as a language mentor at Maranyundo and these schools, in conjunction with our teaching coach, Kate, and two new English language mentors. In order to more easily access these schools, we’ve moved from our faculty residence in Nyamata to a new residence in the Kicukiro district of Kigali.

Even in a few months time I’ve noticed many changes in Rwanda, especially felt in Kigali. First of all, the landscape of the country is several shades greener than it was when I left, which marked the end of the dry season. Many of the premier billboards in Kigali, such as the Mutzig (Rwandan beer) advertisements have kept their image constant, but changed wording from, for example, Le Gout de la Reussite to The Taste of Success – demonstrating a marked difference in the country’s official language. Other changes I’ve noticed include increased access to telecommunications – more internet cafes with functioning computers and internet, and (in Kigali) a handful of coffee shops that offer wireless connections. While MTN and Rwandatel are still the main cell phone service providers, marketing and competition for telecommunications has also increased, specifically for TiGO, which offers cell and internet service through USB modems that connect easily to PCs and Macs. Even in some of Kigali’s grocery stores, every week brings new surprises. City Center’s Simba supermarket, for example, now sells not only food products, wine, liquor and household cleaners, but also party goods, electronics, furniture and even DVDs...however questionably authentic the version may be. Another neighborhood grocery store, Ndoli’s, has gone from selling cereal like Kellog’s Corn Flakes, Frosties and All Bran (manufactured in Dubai) from $12/box to around 5, and now sells not only the British (Kenyan manufactured) varieties of Cadbury’s chocolate, but also Toblerone, Snickers, Mambas and Twix! Markets seem to have grown exponentially in the past several months in Rwanda, particularly on imports from the Middle East and China.

Among Rwanda’s Vision 2020 goals are to boost its GDP sevenfold, find paying jobs for half of Rwanda’s subsistence farmers (who currently comprise 90% of the adult population), and turn the small, landlocked country into an African center for technology and services. According to the CIA World Factbook, Rwanda’s 2008 real GDP growth rate was a remarkable 11.2%, ranking number 7 out of 217 countries! As far as I can tell, this jewel of a country is on its way to meeting its aspirations.
Kate and me with Maranyundo's history teacher, Lydia, at her dowry ceremony in her home village, bordering Uganda

How to help Rwanda

Listed below are ways to contribute to causes that I’m involved in. Please leave a comment or email me with any questions, and thank you for your support!

Theo Scholarship Fund
This is a private scholarship fund to benefit a Rwandan co-worker (non-teaching member of the administrative staff) at the Maranyundo School, so that he may pursue a bachelors’ degree in public administration at a university in Kigali. The cost of one year of tuition in Rwanda is about $1000, a small amount for American standards but prohibitively expensive for most Rwandans - including this individual - even after years of working. My American co-workers and I are raising $4500 to cover the costs of four years tuition plus registration and wire transfer fees. Since November 2009, we have collected $1600. Any amount you are able to contribute is GREATLY appreciated. An independent accounting of all funds collected will be made available on request.
To Donate:
-Mail checks made out to “Kerry Ann Dobies/Theo Scholarship Fund” to 297 Cabot Street, Newton MA 02460

Rwanda Books for Peace Project
A Peace Corps/Books for Africa collaboration organized by a colleague from the health center, this project sets up and supplies libraries across Rwanda including at the Bugesera District health centers where I volunteer.
To Donate:
-Visit www.peacecorps.gov, click on “Donations” and enter last name McGhie or project number 696-001. The direct link is : https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=696-001
-Contact Jessica McGhie, mcghie.jessica@gmail.com for more information

Talent Show Extravaganza!

To finish the year on a high note, Kate, Mary and I organized a student talent show for one of the final nights of school. While many of the students are experienced at performing Rwandan traditional dance, poetry and drama in front of their fellow students at school entertainment nights, community events, and even regional competitions, these events tend to be in Kinyarwanda. This 1st annual school talent show was a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their abilities uniquely in English.

This three hour event was emceed by two very brave and adept girls from Senior 2, and DJ’d by another Senior 2 student - with a little technical assistance by me and my endless supply of pop music. Our show opened with traditional Rwandan dancing, followed by original poetry, multiple solos and duets of pop and gospel music. There were two skits, the first of which was particularly memorable because it featured a story line that’s recurred in most of the Kinyarwanda skits I’ve seen our students perform on campus in the past. The premise can be likened to Usher’s song “Same Girl” (which was also in the talent show), except reversed: a guy meets a girl and tries to charm his way to her heart, but it turns out that this guy is already dating someone else…who is (surprise!) the best friend of the other girl. While the story line is a little unoriginal, it’s really cute to see our students take on these exaggerated personas (the timid, pretty girl, the swaggering alpha male, the jealous best friend) in a reverse-Shakespeare set-up, with girls acting as boys and girls. It also lends itself to a really important message for all of our young, impressionable students, especially just before two months of holiday: to watch out for men with ulterior motives (in other words, players and sugar daddies).

Although most of our students come from families of limited means, with a little organization and clothes sharing they presented a first class fashion show, featuring three groups (two groups of girls and one of “boys”) and a couples (girl/”boy”) group. I will do my best to post pictures and video clips in the coming weeks so that you can see some of the styles, but until then I must say that watching our students strut down the runway cheered on by their friends was just another reminder of how confident, poised and full of personality they are. The music that we picked for each group was also such a fun component of the fashion show: Jordin Sparks’ “One Step at a Time,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” Justin Timberlake’s “Girlfriend” (for the “boys”) and Jessica Simpson’s “I Think I’m in Love” (for the “couples”).

Eight of the students performed a stellar Bollywood-inspired Indian dance, complete with male-female couples, saris, bangle bracelets, Indian dress sarongs, candles and wedding confetti. There was also a modern dance troupe who danced to Shaggy’s “Church Heathen” and Kat DeLuca’s “Run the Show” and, when all was said and done, the American teachers had prepared a little something as well. In honor of the late, great Michael Jackson, Kate, Mary and I formed what we called the Sisterhood of the Traveling Dance and choreographed and performed a dance to the 1993 song, “Will You Be There” - theme from the movie Free Willy, which we had sneakily shown the students on movie night a few days prior. Not only did we incorporate MJ, Britney Spears, Soulja Boy and Korean dance troupe moves, but we also dressed to impress, wearing all black plus differed colored top hats, black and white striped loose fitting ties, and, of course, the signature white glove. Our dance was by no means polished, but it ended with thunderous rounds of applause and 120 smiling Rwandese girls. When all was said and done, the talent show was a successful, celebratory night, a fitting way to end an unforgettable year.

Discussions among Community Leaders

At the beginning of this term, the final one of the academic year, the adult students of my English class at the district requested that we engage in group discussion three mornings/week to improve their speaking and presentation skills in English. This entire year has been an extraordinary learning experience for me, but facilitating discussions with these community leaders was an especially fulfilling way for me to gain a better understanding of this country, its history and its people.

While all of the students had some English language experience prior to this class, I am extremely impressed with the progress they have made in ten months’ time, particularly in speaking. I have listed this term’s discussion topics and key questions below:

Political Issues:
1) September 11th, 2009: 8 years ago today the US was attacked in two major cities by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists connected to the Al Qaeda network, resulting in the death of thousands.
Do you think the world is more or less safe since the attacks?
Do you think the US or another major superpower (UK, France, Russia, China, etc) will be subject to a major terrorist attack in the next 10-15 years? (Consider all possible scenarios)
2) Major Religions: Consider the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam.
Do you think these two religions are inherently opposed to each other? If so, how? How can Islamic nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia maintain diplomatic relations with western countries that were founded in Christian values?
Related discussion topics: -Sharia law versus democratic governance systems, women’s roles in each religion/religious denomination, extremist groups in each religion, both current and historic (Christian fundamentalists, Al Qaeda , the KKK), the notion of jihad and any Christian parallels (the Crusades are one example)
3) Israel-Palestine: Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: which countries support which sides and why?
Which side do you support and why?
Consider the history of the Jewish population, and the notion of a homeland. Are there parallels to Rwanda’s history, present state or even future with respect to the Diaspora?

Social Issues:
4) Population: Rwanda is Africa’s most densely populated country, with a growth rate of 2.76%, among the highest in Africa. Women in Rwanda produce an average of 5.5 children per family. Is it necessary for Rwanda to control its population growth, due to a lack of available resources? Why or why not?
Should the government intervene in familial affairs by promoting contraception, family planning, the education of girls or by enforcing strict mandates?
What have other underdeveloped countries (China, India, Iran) done to control their population growth?
What is the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on Rwandan politics and individual families?
5) Marriage: What are the traditions and customs surrounding marriage in Rwanda, in the past and present?
How long is the courtship period and what does it entail?
What is the function of the dowry?
What roles do respective family members play before the wedding and during the ceremony?
How do these practices differ from practices in the United States?
6) What do you think of arranged marriage?
Should families play a substantial or even direct role in the choosing of a spouse? How does family influence marriage arrangements in Rwanda and in other countries like India, Afghanistan, China and the United States?
7) In Rwandan culture, is it normal and expected that everyone (save religious figures) be married?
What do you think of divorce? In which cases is it socially/morally acceptable, if ever?
What is love – an emotion or a commitment?
What do you think of polygamy?
What do you think of gay marriage/relationships?
8) Gender: Is it necessary for women to have leadership positions in Rwandan society?
If so, how can we encourage women to pursue professional careers in the government and as doctors, journalists, engineers, etc?
How do working women in Rwanda and in the United States balance their career and their family?
Is there still a prevailing belief in Rwandan culture that women should maintain traditional roles at home?
How can the government support female professionals and families at the same time?

Regional/Economic Issues:
9) Integration: What do you think of political/economic integration into the East African Community?
What are the positive and negative aspects of integration?
What do you think of adopting a common currency with other community members (Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda)?
How have other countries that are part of a supranational community, such as EU member-states, benefited and/or sacrificed aspects of sovereignty in joining?
10) What are the fears of integration?
What must happen in each country and collectively for integration to be successful? What role does the English language play?
If you had the opportunity, would you be willing to move to another country in East Africa for work?
11) National Interest: How can Rwanda improve itself economically, politically, and socially?
12) Culture Shock: Integration into a community like the EAC usually brings with it an increased movement of people between countries to pursue jobs and opportunities that may not be available in their home country. If you were offered a better job in another country, would you take it? Why or why not?
If you left Rwanda and settled in another country, either within the EAC or anywhere else in the world, which aspects of your life might be different, and how?

Nutrition and Malnutrition in Rwanda

Since returning from my travels in July, I have been volunteering three mornings/week at the Bugesera District Hospital and Health Centers through The Access Project, an organization affiliated with Columbia University whose mission is to improve the management and infrastructure of health centers in Rwanda and other developing countries. One of the projects I have been assisting is the opening of a health center located in the village of Gashora, which is to serve as a model for the 11 existing health centers in Bugesera. Most of the work necessary for opening this health center has been or will be carried out by the district health advisor, Rwandan Ministry of Health and district officials as well as other Access personnel, but one of my responsibilities in this project has been to liaise with leadership at the district health center as well as health-centered NGOs operating in Bugesera to assess the district’s needs with respect to nutrition. The Gashora Health Center and Access will then use this information to create a first-rate nutrition treatment program at this health center and improve the existing programs within Bugesera.

It may come as no surprise that malnutrition in Rwanda is dire. According to the World Food Programme, one third of Rwanda’s total population suffers from malnutrition. The situation is even worse among children, over 40% of whom suffer from chronic malnutrition and 56% of whom are anemic. The country’s global hunger index, which combines data on child malnutrition, child mortality and caloric deficiency, is categorized as alarming. Sometimes I joke about how horrible the food is in this country, but in a way it makes sense when you consider how many people eat what is available, often 1 meal/day, for the sole purpose of survival. Among most households in Rwanda – 28% of which are food insecure - spending more time than necessary in preparing one of the few staple foods available in this country (rice, beans and starchy banana) with a special spice or flavor is uncommon due to lack of time and resources. And in this most densely populated country in Africa, ninety percent of the population relies on subsistence farming for survival.

What can be done to combat malnutrition? At the most basic level, it is important that community health centers and health workers identify and target at-risk populations for education, prevention and intervention when necessary. Pregnant women and young children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition due to their needs for additional energy and nutrients in order to maintain healthy growth. People who are HIV+ are also at a special risk, since malnutrition will weaken the immune system and worsen the symptoms of the virus. Throughout Rwanda, community health centers like those in Bugesera are strongly encouraged by the Ministry of Health to run regular kitchen garden demonstrations for local residents. In these demonstrations, the nutritionist and community health workers show how to best use and maintain even a small plot of land, how/why to cultivate vegetables like carrots, tomatoes and green beans, rich in vitamins and nutrients that are essential to healthy cell growth, and where to go for help when a family member or neighbor is suffering from malnutrition. In addition to providing food aid, agencies such as the UN World Food Programme, World Health Organization and Gardens for Health support projects that connect rural farmers to markets within Rwanda and abroad. And organizations like Project Healthy Children contribute to ending malnutrition by advocating governments to mandate that foods, even those produced locally, be fortified with nutrients such as Vitamin A, iron, zinc. Other nutrition and child health agencies that operate in Bugesera include The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, The Imbuto Foundation and The Global Fund. Links to each of these organizations are posted on the right.
Above photo source: Médecins Sans Frontières, www.msf.org.uk

References: Health Indicators, Republic of Rwanda Minsitry of Health. http://www.moh.gov.rw/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=27&Itemid=27
Rwanda, World Food Programme. http://www.wfp.org/countries/rwanda
Malnutrition and Rwanda, Gardens for Health. http://www.gardensforhealth.org/malnutrition.php#footnote
Anyango, Gloria. “Rwanda: Kitchen Gardens Eradicate Malnutrition.” The New Times (via All Africa.com), 30 September 2009. http://allafrica.com/stories/200809300068.html
“Rwandan Children Suffering from Malnutrition, Claims Health Official.” VSO News, 22 May 2009. http://www.vso.org.uk/news/19182659/rwandan-children-suffering-from-malnutrition-claims-health-official

Summit of a Lifetime

This past month I spent the three weeks of school vacation with my housemate, Kate, and her good friend Suzanne visiting Tanzania. Our long-anticipated trip was comprised of two equally exciting adventures – a week of climbing Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, followed by a week a exploring the island of Zanzibar. We also spent a few days with friends in Moshi Town, located at the base of the mountain, and a few days in transit between Moshi and Zanzibar, via Dar es Salaam. It’s difficult to know how to begin this story, because it was such a phenomenal experience, and there is just so much to say about it! I will do my best to hone in on the most salient aspects of our journey in the words that follow.

What you should know from the start is that my ascent to the summit of Kilimanjaro, 5895 meters, or 19,340 feet above sea level, was by far the greatest physical challenge I have ever completed in my life. At the sake of sounding overconfident, the fact of this was largely unexpected; I had heard of high school groups and other individuals who had climbed the mountain before without too much trouble, so I assumed that I too would return with a similar outlook. What I learned by day two of the climb was that either these individuals were lying about the difficulty, or (more likely) they took the most popular and easiest route to the summit, called Marangu. On the Marangu Route, which can be completed in 5 days, the trek is quite gradual but goes more directly to the top than other routes. Climbers and porters stay overnight inside large huts equipped with bunk beds at the designated stopping points, unlike on my route, in which we ate and slept on the ground in our tents and sleeping bags. Kate, Suz and I, along with dozens of other people in groups climbing the mountain concurrently, took the Machame Route up Kilimanjaro, learning a few days in that while the Marangu Route’s nickname is Coca Cola, Machame’s is Whiskey, since every day brings a new struggle.

Machame takes seven days to complete due to the fact that it is very steep at points and incorporates climbing across a greater width of the mountain, which also makes it the most scenic of all the routes. Another benefit of taking Machame is that since the overall duration of the journey is longer and farther, you have more time to acclimatize to the change in altitude, which makes altitude sickness less severe for many people. Anyone who wants to climb Kilimanjaro must register with the national park and be accompanied by a licensed guide. The journey that Kate, Suz and I took up the mountain felt unique, as we had arranged to have a Tanzanian acquaintance who runs a climbing agency in Moshi take us with another friend of his (also from Moshi) who we had met in Rwanda a few months prior. The fact that we were climbing up the mountain with two fun people our age known through mutual friends made it seem more relaxed than what we observed of the large organized groups hiking Machame concurrently. But there is no sugar coating the fact that a seven day trek for three people was a huge ordeal – not only did we require our two guide friends but ten porters and a cook to carry all of the necessary food, gear and equipment for setting up camp, cooking, and making our way to the polar arctic conditions at the top. Prior to the night of the summit, each day we spent four to seven hours (with a stop for lunch) hiking across all different kinds of terrain in an ever changing atmosphere, starting in a tropical rain forest on the first day, moving on to a region of heather, mist and fog as we journeyed at the first layer of clouds, on to moorland – cool and clear, with intense sunshine, then dry, dusty alpine desert, and finally up to the freezing cold of the summit. Kilimanjaro is like its own planet – there were times when I felt so far removed from the in the world below, completely isolated for miles around from everyone and everything familiar to me, save for those hiking just ahead or just behind me, in a kind of solidarity toward this individual goal.

Each day we faced increasingly cold temperatures and increasingly thin air, adding layers to protect from the harsh cold, biting wind and burning sun that stung our faces. We experienced different kinds of physical challenges, up hills, down valleys and across ravines, climbing along steep, rocky paths with sharp drop offs that we pretended not to notice, climbing on all fours across giant rock formations, and walking across huge dusty regions that produced strange looking flora and fauna, and not much else. The mountain at times felt like a blessing and a curse. I felt blessed to experience so much beauty in nature and to realize my own physical strength for such an extended period of time, to feel like I was, pole pole (slowly) nearing this pursuit to the top of Africa’s highest, most majestic mountain. But I also felt dirty, was sick of being cold and felt physically and mentally drained. Although I took medicine to counter the effects of the changing altitude, I still experienced bad headaches whenever we ascended and descended several hundred meters on the same day, and I constantly had to pee. Kate, Suz and I joked before bed about the dilemma we faced multiple times a night, when we each would wake up and have to confront that horrible pain in our bladder and muster up the strength to move from the warmth of our sleeping bag cocoons to the bitter, relentless cold outside the tent. We joked – but it was actually really horrible at the time. Even weeks later it still makes me appreciate the joys of indoor plumbing and of living in a climate that is 75 degrees Fahrenheit year round. On the days in which we had the longest hikes, the three of us would play category specific verbal games to combat our fatigue, i.e. starting with one brand name (or food, or place) and having the next person say another that starts with the last letter of the previous one (Adidas – Speedo – Oakley – etc). This game continued until we were so tired that we started allowing words like Ilford, Ostrich, and Ostrich Jr. into the repertoire - - the folly of which we attributed our own altitude stupidity sickness (ass, for short).

The most difficult day of the climb was the evening of the fifth day, when we ate dinner at 6, slept until midnight and began climbing at 1AM to make the final ascent to the summit of Kilimanjaro. We had been physically and mentally preparing for this night all week and were extremely anxious about completing this, one of our longest and steepest hikes, in the freezing dark. Because we started later than all the other groups who were summiting concurrently, our guides and the three porters who accompanied us abandoned their “pole pole” motto and led us faster than we’d ever gone before, so that we would have the best chance of watching the sunrise from the summit.

The journey that night was a seemingly endless test of strength, endurance and willpower. The hike started with us working our hands and feet across giant rock formations, being careful to follow the steps of the person directly in front of each of us. I felt a little like Spiderman shooting up and across those rocks, but resented the fact that (much unlike any superhero) I was wearing almost every piece of clothing I had brought with me up the mountain, including two pairs of spandex pants and fleece waterproof pants, a synthetic undershirt and two synthetic long-sleeved shirts, a cotton hooded sweatshirt, my fleece jacket, a winter jacket, two pairs of gloves (fleece under waterproof), two pairs of wool socks, gaiters, a fleece neck warmer, a wool face mask and two hoods. But while the exertion required for the first part of the hike got me warm, I certainly did not stay that way much longer. As we climbed higher and higher into the freezing, thin air, my lungs ached, my eyes watered and my nose resembled a leaking faucet. An hour or so into the climb, I looked up to the sky and noticed a large set of stars in an S formation, but was unable to figure out how they were shaped so perfectly. Later, when we had caught up to the groups ahead of us, I realized that what I had seen wasn’t a cluster of stars but the line of peoples' headlamps as they made their way up the mountain.

We envied the other groups as we passed them stopping to rest or to have a bite of a granola bar; while our guides (who we soon referred to as our slave-drivers) would warn us that it was freezing time if we stopped for more than two minutes along the way. In a way they were right – if I removed my gloves and exposed my skin to the air for even one minute, it took at least ten for my hand to regain feeling and full mobility. But climbing in the still of the night had its benefits; the millions of stars above twinkled with a brilliance that was almost surreal. At 3AM, we stopped for a moment, looked across the expanse ahead and realized that we were above the level of the moon! And as the hours droned on and I grew increasingly weary and lightheaded, I realized that it was probably a good thing that we were hiking to the top in the dark – if we could actually see the distance and incline, we might have had second thoughts about attempting to summit.

There were many moments over the course of the night when my cold, exhaustion and lightheadedness would make me wonder why I was even moving forward at all. I would lose sight of the ultimate goal and everything seemed suddenly futile. But in those moments of doubt, I reminded myself that I am a strong and capable individual, and that the three of us, having come so far, were each part of an silent resolve to reach the summit.

When we did, the view and the feeling of euphoria were extraordinary. Our guides had pushed us to move as quickly as possible the whole way up, which meant that we passed nearly every other group along the way. We were the third party to make it to the top of Uruhu Peak that morning, 5895 meters above sea level, just in time to watch the sun rise and begin to shine on the polar ice shelves adjacent to us. The breadth of Africa greeted us from miles below, and when the time had come, we started back down.