Climbers Conquer Kilimanjaro to Bless TOA Kids

by Rita Langeland

Paul Toomey had a dream. It was a dream to help the children at Treasures of Africa Children’s Home in a significant way. The British-born father of two and owner of Geographic Solutions, Inc. based in Palm Harbor Florida, has a soft spot in his heart for orphans. He and his wife Margot have been dedicated supporters of TOA since the earliest days of the project; but he dreamed of doing more. He desired to spread the word about the children at Treasures of Africa to other business people like himself. He decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to bring attention to the plight of AIDS orphans and abandoned children in East Africa. He recruited one of his managers, Deane Toler of Prunedale, California to join him and together they began six months ago, to recruit sponsors for their charity climb who would make a financial donation to the orphanage.

Their arduous climb to the “Rooftop of Africa” began on December 1st. With the amazing technology of a satellite phone, they were able to send an e-mail each day, documenting their experience which we will share with you here. The first day was a hike through the rain forest on the slopes of Kili. It poured down rain, soaking them and all their gear and covering them with red mud, which took days to remove.

On DAY 2 Deane wrote this in their e-mail journal: Today was sunny and we hiked for 6 hours, We are a bit tired and need rest before tomorrow. The trail is much steeper than we had expected and it is like climbing stairs for 6 hours. This is more exercise than we have ever had and we still have 7 days left.

DAY 3: Greetings from 13,500 Ft. Our trek to the top of Kilimanjaro is going well. Last night after we sent our previous e-mail, the temperatures dropped drastically and caught us off guard. It was freezing when we crawled into our tents and we awoke to frost all over the ground. We had a spectacular view of the top of Kilimanjaro from our camp and could clearly see the glacier on the summit. Our hike today was billed as a 7-8 hour hike including lunch but we were able to finish in 6.5 hours. At the half way point the porters setup a mini camp and served us a hot lunch. Absolutely incredible. Today’s hike was much easier than yesterday’s…. and we are grateful. Tonight it’s very cold again and we are starting to feel the effects of the altitude. Nothing serious but there is no doubt we are sleeping on a mountain tonight.

DAY 4: Hello from 15,500 Ft. Today has to be considered one of the better days of our climb. We started out after breakfast at 9 AM heading to Barafu Camp. The views of the mountain top were spectacular along the way. We had very little rain today which was a blessing. We climbed uphill nearly all day. We started out rock climbing on the volcanic rock, it was challenging and fun. It is extremely cold tonight. We really need a good night’s sleep for our 9 hour day tomorrow.

We have moved 1 day ahead of schedule and thus we leave very early tomorrow morning to try and reach thesummit, 4,500 ft up where it is even colder and of course less Oxygen. This will certainly be the hardest day of our climb. 50% of the people do not make this last push.

DAY 5: Gale force winds buffeted the tents all night, stealing our sleep before our 6 am climb start time. There were a number of people at the Barafu Camp from different climbing parties, but many turned back without conquering the summit, discouraged by the cold, the altitude and the wind. The climb to the summit was harder than we could have imagined between the steepness of the trail and the thin air challenging our lungs. By the grace of God we made it to the top and found no wind at all and a view that was indescribable in its beauty. Only five climbers made it and the two of us were in that elite group! We took photos and returned back to the 15,500 ft level at about 3:15 pm and camped for the night, quite exhausted yet exhilarated by the whole experience.

We congratulate Paul and Deane for accomplishing a great feat of perseverance as well as being a tremendous blessing to TOA through their Charity Climb. They raised well over $20,000 for the orphanage through their efforts.

You too can CLIMB KILI FOR A CAUSE! We are arranging another CHARITY CLIMB to benefit Treasures of Africa Children’s Home in June -July 2009. We want YOU to be a part of it! Contact the Hidden With Christ office at 714-665-0407 or e-mail us at info@hiddenwithchrist.com.