Climb For A Cause: Kilimanjaro trip itinerary (Anoo)

Friday, December 17, 2004

The following are some of the highlights we expect on this amazing adventure:

Dec 19: Departure
Dec 22: Visit with Doctors Without Borders - In respecting the fact that AIDS is considered a big stigma in Africa, MSF doesnt allow visits to its clinics. They have graciously offered for us to meet with Annie Gedin, project coordinator for the Blue House project that run in Mathare slum of Nairobi. It is an integral HIV/AIDS project with counseling and testing services, treatment of opportunistic infections, and antiretroviral treatment for around 600 patients.
Dec 23-26: You cannot go to Africa and not be on a safari - So, we will take to a jeep and stay in a tent safari for 4 days and we soak in the wilderness of this magnificent land.

Dec 27: Rest and get rid for the big one!
Dec 28-Jan 2: The climb with a summit on New Years!
Jan 3: Visit with Elizabeth Glazer - We will be meeting with Ms. Honor Maringo who works in the Kiwakukki management. Kiwakukki is a Community Based women’s membership Organization founded in 1999 to work with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). It has over 2,000 volunteers, 600 trained home-based care counselors and provides home-based care for over 360 clients as well as community sensitizations. It has four major programs: home-based care, voluntary counseling and testing, HIV community education and orphans support. It serves clients in the five districts of the Kilimanjaro region. Kiwakukki means “women against AIDS” in the local language. They collaboration closely with neighboring hospitals, several of which we are beginning to support both through CTA and Project HEART. It refers patients to these hospitals identified HIV+ within its extensive voluntary counseling and testing program. It also receives referrals from the larger hospitals for home-based care of PLWHA. We are working with both hospitals and soon Kiwakukki to formalize and improve the referrals in both directions so that individuals and with an increasing emphasis on children receive both the medical and psychosocial support to keep them alive and well.
Jan 4: Return trip and time to contemplate
Jan 5: Back home