Do you have what it takes for Kilimanjaro 2010?
In July 2009, MH took a group of 40 brave and adventurous souls over to Africa to scale the peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro. Raising money for children in Gaza, our trekkers climbed almost 20,000 feet over the course of 7 days and raised a phenomenal £120,000 to pave a future for war-torn Gaza.
This year we return to the highest free standing mountain in the world and are focused on raising money for the forgotten children of Afghanistan. Almost three decades of conflict have ravaged this nation and with your energy and enthusiasm- you can help transform lives...and also have the adventure of a lifetime.
Where your money went
Through our permanent field office in the heart of Gaza City, Muslim Hands has been working closely in the worst-affected regions of Gaza to respond to the long term needs of the people. Money from Kilimanjaro 2009 went towards:
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1. Mobile health clinic
With many people requiring long-term medical attention and care for children, the elderly and disabled this mobile health clinic has become an invaluable means of medical support for families all over Jabaliya district in Gaza City. This clinic also carries out blood tests, urine and stool tests, ear examinations and general medical checkups to detect and potentially prevent sickness.
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2. Rafah water well
MH Gaza built a state-of-the-art water distribution station to serve 15,000 residents in Dohairat in Gaza City. This is a densely populated area whose people suffered greatly under economic blockades and an unreliable water supply. Now families will have a secure and regular water supply for their needs and farmers will have a means to look after their livestock and crops.
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3. Intensive care units
With the overwhelming burden of thousands of Gazans in critical need of medical care, hospitals throughout Gaza were overrun and under resourced. By supplying 6 intensive care units to Gaza’s largest Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, MH are able to ensure many people continue to benefit from this, quite literally, life saving piece of equipment insha’Allah.
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4. Infant Mortality Reduction
Under heavy economic blockades, many families in Gaza struggle to provide the essential care for expectant and new mothers. MH Gaza provided 3 ECG units to Al Awda hospital which monitor the electrical activity of the heart and can detect when a baby’s heart is beating dangerously or irregularly. These electrocardiography machines ensure mothers are able to track their baby’s progress and doctors are able to prepare and treat any ill health ahead of time if it should occur.
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5. Psycho-social rehabilitation centre
The exceptional stress of living in wartime conditions and watching friends, family and even strangers killed and wounded is unthinkable for most of us to bear. Children are an especially vulnerable segment of society as they can internalise and be traumatised by the effects of war in a way which is never visible to us physically. Desperately needed, the need for psycho-social rehabilitation can be greatly underestimated.
MH has set up trauma centres to help children return to a state of routine and normalcy discussing through their experiences and working through their trauma. The centre caters for parents and children, providing psychotherapy, group counselling sessions, recreational trips and a research centre.
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6. Orphan sponsorship
The sad reality is that the three-week assault on Gaza created more orphans than many could ever anticipate. With great awareness around the plight of these children, MH Gaza managed to sponsor over 500 children who had been left without a father.
MH Orphan Sponsorship is one-to-one and provides children with a high level of education and a stipend to help the orphan family with the cost of food and living expenses.
Mohammed Mayou reflects on his time climbing Kilimanjaro...
I decided to go to Kilimanjaro to raise some money for charity and do something different. Raising the money was rewarding and I thought that would be the best part but NO, climbing Kilimanjaro was a mind blowing, life changing experience I will never forget.
We started walking through a forest with monkeys and water flowing down the mountain then you get to the first camp. The next two days the walk takes you up and down the plains of the mountain with beautiful views. You are walking through the clouds and you end the days at different camps , walking and sleeping above the clouds is unexplainable.
The end walk to the summit is steep, cold and starts at midnight, the plan is to get there to see the sunrise. The last day sounds hard and I'm not going to lie, it is - but WORTH IT.
Muslim Hands crew and group I went with were great masha Allah. I don't think anyone would have made it without the guides who were so strong and organized.
I came back with a higher eeman, new friends and wanting to do it all over again. Don't miss one of the best times of your life while doing something good for our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the world.
Shehzad Ghani tells us of his motivations to climb Kilimanjaro...
I went to climb Kilimanjaro for two reasons; the first was to raise money for the innocent children of Gaza who have been affected by conflict and the second reason was to take on a personal challenge and an opportunity of lifetime: to climb the highest free standing mountain in the world!
Once the climb had been done, I had a real and amazing sense of achievement, even those that didn’t make it to the top had achieved something remarkable... they had suffered for a good cause! My biggest achievement was raising so much money to help others, and to show how much we actually care for the children affected, so far away but so close to us.
I would definitely recommend people go insha’Allah, I’ve already decided that every year when MH decide to organise this I will play my part. This really is an opportunity to make a difference, on one hand you will be raising money for charity and the other you will insha’Allah achieve something not a lot of people in the world can say... I climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world!
Find out more
The Trek of a Lifetime
Taking place from July 13th - July 22nd 2010, the sponsored trek will take a group of the walkers to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Set across the stunning Serengeti plains, participants will be signing up to an experience of a lifetime. This 9 day trek will raise money for the children of Afghanistan as part of Green Ribbon Week — an annual Muslim Hands initiative supporting innocent children who have had their lives destroyed by the war.
To sign-up for further information email kilimanjaro@muslimhands.org with your name, address and telephone number.
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