Climb For A Cause

It is strange to be back (Anoo)

2005-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived home at 2am on Jan 6th and slept right through until 4pm. We were exhausted from the 48 hour travel back from Arusha, Tanzania to Redmond, WA. I have been awake for 5 1/2 hours now and feel really strange. Everything seems strange. I get the fact that this is my home and that this is where I live but my heart is just not back.

What happened to the temperature?
Why arent there people walking on the streets?
Whats with all the street lights?
I saw "Water Crackers - made with imported water" at the grocery store -- I had just spent 17 days buying all the water I needed to drink let alone having crackers made with imported water.
I saw the word "organic" on everything in the store this evening .. everything WAS organic just 48 hours ago -- it didnt need to be labeled so.
Where are the corn and coffee fields? Where did all the banana plants go?
What, I dont need to sleep under a mosquito net tonight?

I am not at home and I am not in Tanzania. I am caught between two worlds. This trip has only exaggerated a real emotion that I live with every single day.

Kiwakkuki: Visit with Elizabeth Glazer (Anoo)

2005-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

We had summited Kilimanjaro when we headed out to visit with the Kilimanjaro area project that is associated with the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation. I felt a growing hollow in my stomach in aniticipation of the visit. The last time I visited an organization and its clients, it had left me disturbed for many days. Such visits are never easy .. no matter what other mountains you have summited.

We arrived to a singing welcome by the members of Kiwakkuki. Kiwakkuki (which in Swahili means "Women against AIDS") is a women's organization with a comprehensive and all-rounded approach to addressing the spread and impact of AIDS in the Kilimanjaro region. They were as excited to meet us as anxious as we were to see them. After a warm, singing welcome they presented to us their mission and work. A 97-slides show detailed the comprehensive program they have. They work to address the following aspects relating to AIDS --

1. Awareness raising
2. Voluntary Counseling and Testing
3. Orphan support
4. Home-based care
5. Collaboration with other organizations
6. Research and surveying on their efforts and growing needs

Their awareness raising activities are creative. AIDS is still a huge social stigma in the region so its hard to talk to people about it. One of the activities they do is having street drama in the market place. This draws the crowds. Through songs and stories they then convey the messages. They also have a youth awareness program. They recognize that aware youth can themselves make other youth aware.

To support orphans (children living with AIDS or those orphaned because parents are suffering/have succumbed to AIDS) they go into homes, evaluate the needs of the children and then sponsor better living and school conditions for them. We visited the home of 2 orphans. The children (a 13 year-old boy and a younger girl had lost both parents to AIDS) lived in a shack which consisted of one room. They were being cared for by an aunt and uncle. Kiwakkuki first helped expand the shed so that the children would have their own room. They then went on to build a more permanent home made with bricks and mortar unlike the old one that was made of pieces of wood and plastered with cow dung. The children's schooling is sponsored by Kiwakkuki. They still need more help -- the uncle is a day laborer with no steady income and the aunt doesnt work. The family truly lives from hand to mouth.

As part of home-based care, Kiwakkuki goes into the homes of people suffering from AIDS and helps treat them in their homes. We visited one such patient. It was heart-wrenching and I dont think I can truly describe it. I'll give it a shot. The patient, Simon, was a 31 year old man who was diagnosed as having AIDS at a very late stage. His girlfriend died 2 years ago but he refused to get tested and then got really sick, ending up in bed for the last 2 months. Kiwakkuki has been treating him in his home now. He lives with his mother who is taking care of him. His father lives in Arusha with another woman. His mother has asked his father not to return home. She has learnt her lesson from seeing her son suffer and so doesnt want to get sick herself. The man was in tremendous pain when we saw him. He is suffering from bed sores and is unable to lie in bed peacefully.

The Kiwakkuki nurse was to clean his wounds during our visit. We saw him for a few minutes and couldnt take it much longer so we stepped out to let the nurse work on him. A few minutes later Shalu (who is a surgeon) was asked to come in. She then went on to do a thorough cleaning of his wounds. She showed them how it should be done. She said she had nothing to do this with other than a shaving razor. Thankfully she got to wear gloves. The man cried and screamed as his wounds were being cleaned. Shalini thinks he needs better food and exercise so he can move his body. It doesnt seem like he will get this. He doesnt have much longer to live.

It is really painful to see people like Simon and homes like those of the orphans. It begs questions of how the world is and what we are doing in it. I remained pained and silent for the rest of the day. I cannot seem to reconcile and accept how I can have the life I have when people like Simon have less than 3 months to live.

The quest is on ...

Summit day! (Vamshi)

2005-01-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

As far as the toughness of each day goes - the Summit day (night actually) is equal to all the rest of the days put together.

We reached our 4th & final camp at 15,700 ft on the 31st by noon. We tried to have lunch and rest up before the push to the summit. The summit attempt usually starts in the night as the weather is usually calmer during the day and it also allows time to climb down to a lower altitude after summitting. There is another advantage of starting in the night - you can't see how far you have to go which reduces anticipation and prevents demoralization.

We had 3,700 feet to climb. We tried to get some rest before the hike. Dinner was at 5pm and we tried to sleep a bit though I don't think any of us succeeded. We got up around 11pm for some tea and snacks. There was loud banging and drums from all the porters to signal the new year in and we started off on the hike! It was a clear night and the half moon threw up enough light so most of us didn't use our head lamps.

"Pole pole" (slowly, slowly) is the mantra here. We all started off in a line and very soon James wanted to race up the mountain. Being 18 does that to you. We had 4 guides with us just in case we split up on the mountain. Quickly enough Pernille also decided to step up her pace. We were now 5 of us with 2 guides. I was sticking to the back of the pack as I wanted to summit with my sister and Anoo. It dawned on me earlier that the experience of climbing with them was more important than summitting. That immediately changed my focus and I think it made the climb much much easier for me.

And I was amply rewarded with an experience that I will remember for a lifetime.

Anoo puked at around 18,700 ft. And was still determined to go on. I took her pack and got her to start breathing a little better. My sister (Shalu) was taking baby steps. We reached Gillman point (about 18,950 feet) and were overjoyed. Gillman Pt. is on the eastside of the crater and Uhuru peak (the summit) is on the west side. We had trekked for 6hrs. We reached it exactly at sunrise. We took some pictures and rested a bit - if there is such a thing at that altitude.

I immediately noticed that Uhuru peak was a good couple of hours walk around the rim of the crater. It was only 1 mile to Uhuru but at 19,000 ft everything seems to go in slow motion. I wasnt entirely sure if Anoo and Shalu realized how far they were. That is probably what worked best for them eventually.

As we headed towards the peak, we could see Mawenzi peak (15800 ft) on the left and to the right lay the famous walls of the Kilimanjaro glaciers. I started off being the guide for Shalu and Anoo. My fear was that if we stopped for rest we would turn back. However, they couldnt take more than a few steps without stopping for a minute or two. After about 1/2 an hour of this, we seemed to reach a high point. However, we were nowhere close to the peak. Anoo puked again and Shalu stopped for a long enough time that I decided that she should not carry her pack. At this point I was using false promises and just walking between the two of them; egging them on. I didnt know when they would just collapse and I would have to carry them back down. I was amazed at every step they took. They were teetering and didnt look like they could stand on their feet.

Two hours and 20 minutes later, we walked over the edge of what did indeed look like the final 50 steps to the summit. 8:20 am on January 1, 2005 the 3 of us made it to the 19,340 foot tall peak. Tears, hugs and pictures ensued.

I am amazed at the determination of these two women.

Yes, all 7 of us made it to the top!

Up and down the mountain (Vamshi)

2005-01-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

We are just off the mountain and let me tell you that getting down is more painful than getting up the mountain!

The weather wasn't great but it cooperated. We had near perfect weather on the starting day and the summit day - we had rain the other days.

Though we were 7 our party was 32! We had 20 porters hauling the food and tents for the 5 night stay on the mountain. The routine each day was pretty straight forward - get up in the morning and eat breakfast (eggs, toast, tea and porridge). Start trekking by 9am and head to the next camp site - a bit higher on the mountain. We would reach by lunch time. Then it was a short hike up the mountain to acclamatize to the altitude - 'Climb High & Sleep Low' is the acclamatization mantra. There was tea at 5pm usually and then Dinner at 6:30pm. We usually had popcorn for Tea. Dinner was a vegetarian dish, some meat dish, Rice or pasta. Dessert was choclate bars and fruit. We had specifically asked for a balanced meal everyday and most of us stuck to eating vegetarain to reduce the chance of falling sick on the mountain from undercooked meat.

We went up by the Rongai route. It is an easy route as you travel less km per day and there are good stop points for acclimatization. Thanks to the gradual climb and many stops none of us had any altitude sickness. We think that altitud sickness is experienced when one tries to hole their breath while using the bathrooms on the mountain.The bathrooms are 4ft by 4 ft by 7 ft wooden structures with holes in the center. There is no way to capture the assault on your nose.

By now you are just waiting to know if we did summit or not! Well.... read the next blog entry then.

I should have learnt Swahili (Vamshi)

2004-12-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

We did a lot of good preparation for this trip but I'm not getting the most of it. I have assumed that English is good enough. It just didn't occur to me that the people who know english will know just enough so visitors can get by. Its a tough life the locals lead and they do understand that tourists are money but perfecting english is not their priority.

I'm missing out on a lot of the culture as I can't converse with the locals and ask them the questions that I would like answered. They most often misunderstand the question as my questions are not typical tourist questions. I don't follow any of the jokes going between the cook and the driver/guide on the Safari trip.

I bought this English to Swahili phrase book - lets see if I can pick it up and get something out of it in the next 6 days.

I don't get this! (Vamshi)

2004-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

The whole industrial world is built upon 'economies of scale'. But that doesn't seem to apply here in Tanzania. A 2 pack of AA batteries costs 2$ but a 6 pack costs 8$.

How does that work? And I have seen that time and time again.

A migration of my own? (Vamshi)

2004-12-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

Enough has been written about the places and animals in Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. Discovery channel probably has a Serengeti special every week. But to really get the impact you have to be here. I can't put it in words and no pictures will capture the scale and magnitude of this place.

The wildest thing for me is the 1000 KM (600 miles) annual migration that the Wildbeest and Zebras take. I have been thinking about a migration myself. My wish for the last 8 years has been to live in India for 5 to 6 months and in Seattle for the rest of the time. I have never been to justify it clearly. Its clear now.

A lot of animals and birds do migration. It's natural. Concept is to always live in a setting that provides good weather and ample food essential for living and propagating the species. My needs are only a little different. Weather does play an important role for me. But being with family in India and enjoying both cultures is essential for me. Now that I have a way to think about it - I just need to figure out how to make it happen.

Keeping an open mind! (Vamshi)

2004-12-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

After a long journey we land in Nairobi (Kenya). We are looking to get into the immigration line for getting transit visas. And a gentelman dressed in non-descript clothes comes forward and asks us if we have visas - we say 'We want Transit Visa'. He immediately asks us to follow him - taking us away from the regular line that has formed into front of the booth that says "Foreigners/Kenya Visas". I immediately get suspicious and refuse to follow him. I read something about having to bribe to get visas. The man comes back and asks us to follow and we do anyway - 6 of us. And he leads us into another part of the airport that has the same immigration counters!! He told us to give forms to one person and the rest can go and collect luggage. Strange I thought - suspicious again. There was no problem however. We got our Transit visas and nobody asked us any questions.

I guess things work differently here. People maynot look official even when in official capacity. I just have to keep an open mind and not distrust everything. Its a fine balance we have to walk. If we distrust everything then we are probably not going anywhere and one can't trust always - Taxi drivers were quoting 3 times the regular fare!

I also need to keep an open mind to absorb all the things I'm going to see. I won't be able to categorize things into what I now know. Comparisions will not work and are generally not healthy.

Bush baby! (Anoo)

2004-12-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would chant those 2 words in unison the way I have been for the last 2 days. We just got done with the safari and the Bushbaby was my favorite sighting. This squirrel-sized, long tailed, wide-eyed nocturnal animal jumps like no other. It seems like it is on a damn pogo stick -- jumping as high as 6-7 feet at a time. 3 jumps gets it from one tree to the next. Its an absolute delight to watch!

I had done a safari on my last trip to Africa and so thought that this experience would be a repeat. Oh, I was so wrong! How could something as magical as this wondrous land ever feel like a repeat. I was completely spellbound on the first sight of the Ngorongoro crater - 265 sq. km. of a collapsed crater - a caldera, green with a blue lake in the center. The bluish-green hillsides seemed to protectingly embrace the enormous variety of wildlife that live on the crater floor. We saw over 25 species of animals and birds - from the guinea fowl to the cheetah all on the crater floor. Ngorongoro crater is special in that it is part of a conservation area -- the masai and the wildlife live in this space harmoniously.

After spending 2 days at the crater we headed to the vastness of the serengeti. Serengeti means "endless plain" and that is exactly what it is .. vast and endless. The green plains are dotted by migrating wilderbeast -- about 1.25 million of them -- they are everywhere. The Serengeti "great migration" is well-known -- being amidst it made it real and special.

On the last night of the safari we did a night drive off-the-beaten path into the wilderness and saw the Bushbaby along with 18 other nocturnal animals including the Serengeti kangaroo and an ostrich race. A night safari is a must! So, is an off-road safari.

Visit with Doctors Without Borders (Anoo)

2004-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

We spent 2 hours with the Field Coordinators of the Blue House project situated in the Mathare slum of Nairobi. The Blue House project is a comprehensives AIDS care project. It was touching to see the passion and care in Beatrice's voice as she told us how they have managed to lure the slum population to the clinic. They started by having a primary care clinic. In helping treat primary care issues, the clinic would talk patients into testing for AIDS. The sicker they got, the more willing they would be to being tested. This way, the clinic slowly built credibility with the population. Now, it is a fully functional AIDS clinic with 1500 registered patients and 600 patients on ARV treatment. The slum population is 300,000 and about 50% of them are expected to be HIV+ -- so only 1% of them are being treated yet. The road ahead is long, but the big obstacle of establishing credibility has been accomplished. Beatrice and Annie sounded encouraged about what they expect to be able to do and we felt a little more assured. More details later ....

We know drama! (Anoo)

2004-12-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

It seemed like going to Africa and trying to climb a 19,000 ft mountain wasnt enough drama. On the morning of our departure, pernille still hadnt received her passport from the Tanzanian embassy! She couldnt make the flight from NYC to Nairobi! 6 long faces boarded American Airlines with fingers and hearts crossed that some miracle would happen. pernille was desparately trying to get herself to be booked on a flight the next day in the hope the the US postal service would do its thing and the passport would arrive the next day. 1 am on dec 22nd, i called her from our nairobi hotel room -- i got voice mail and left a message. it was the one message i didnt want to get a response to - if she didnt respond, she was on a flight! i dreamt of her sending me messages of her arrival and when i awoke the next morning, i just wanted to know that there wasnt a message on my cell phone. my prayers were answered - there was no message. when we reached arusha last evening, we learnt that pernille would be joining us at Ngorongoro crater today! yoo hoo!

It's crazy (Vamshi)

2004-12-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

It's 3 hours to flight time. We have been planning this trip for 7 months but its only in the last 2 days its finally hit me! It's been in my nature to put things off to the last mintue and I have done it successfully yet again. I have been packing for the last 2 days and I'm still not prepared! The flight is not going to wait for me so I just have to declare I'm done and deal with whatever waits.

Yesterday, I was trying to imagine the long hike to figure out how much food I need to pack. I have never done a hike more than 2 days and the thought of 6 days, 19,000 feet numbed me for a while. For some reason I remembered all the friends who wished me and donated for the cause and I knew what would be pushing me up the mountain. Its a great feeling, I suddenly feel loved and comforted - something no amount of clothing or food will provide on this journey.

Next blog will be from JFK airport if I can.

Kilimanjaro trip itinerary (Anoo)

2004-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

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

CFACers 2004 (Anoo)

2004-12-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

The CFACers for 2004 include:

james Whitely: james is a high-school senior at the Puget Sound Community School. He enjoys playing the guitar, listening to music and being in the outdoors. While james may seem quiet and shy, he isnt shy to push the limits when in the outdoors. He poses a fun challenge to all those with him! A big yeah! to james for working so hard to make this trip.

Sachi Rastogi: Sachi is the most spritely, enthusiastic and determined soul ever. She is ever-energetic (her nickname is the 'energizer bunny') and loves the outdoors. She also loves to talk so she may be the one posting the most on this site!

Steve Schmitt:

Shalini Reddy: Shalini, a surgeon by profession, has seen the "ins" of the AIDS trauma. Though he hasnt done mountain climbing before, she has climbed many mountains ever-diligently treating many patients. She is excited to be on the trip.

Pernille Christensen: Pernille, like Anoo, is a second-timer in going to Africa. The trails of 2002 are calling her back and she must return to Africa to continue what she started then. An architect by training and a sales director by profession, Pernille is all about dealing with and bringing about change.

Vamshi Reddy: Vamshi is an avid traveller and an old soul in climbing. He can charter a mountain like few others can. A great leader for the team, he knows how to champion tired legged folks and keep them safe. A biker when not working he is an all-around outdoors lover.

Anuradha Padte: Restless and enthusiastic, Anoo loves to take on big challenges. If she sees something amiss, she wont rest until she has done her best to set it straight. That's what made her start CFAC and what is propelling her in life.

Climbing Kilimanjaro for AIDS - December 2004 (Anoo)

2004-12-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

This year we are going to Africa. The people of Africa need all the help they can get. When we took stalk of the state of the AIDS epidemic in the region; we realized that the situation is far worse than it was 2 years ago. AIDS continues to remain the leading issue facing the people of Africa; especially Southern Africa. What is worse is that the condition has deteriorated considerably for children and women. Some facts that indicate this are:

There are 40 million people living with AIDS in the world. Of these 2.5 million are children. The epidemic has killed more than 3 million people in 2003, 500,000 of them were children. This amounts to approximately 1,400 children's deaths from AIDS per day.
More than 95 percent of people with HIV live in the developing world. Southern Africa alone is home to about 30% of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, yet this region has less than 2% of the world’s population.
Around half (58%) of all people living with HIV in the world are female. This rises to 64% of young women and girls in developing countries.
More than 1 in 5 pregnant women are HIV-infected in Southern Africa. In some parts of Africa, more than 60% of women aged 15-49 do not know that HIV can be transmitted from a mother to her child.
Approximately 2,000 children worldwide are infected with HIV each day. Over 90% of these children were infected through mother-to-child transmission.
In industrialized nations, research and effective intervention have drastically reduced mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than two percent. If we act now, thousands of children's lives in the developing world can be saved by using proven low-cost interventions.

The Organizations

We are raising money for the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Doctors Without Borders.

Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Several worldwide organizations are working relentlessly to fight AIDS. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is one such organization. Two of the participants from this year's group raised money for them during the AIDSTrek in 2002. We have been very please with their work and use of the money. They are rated A by the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog organization. In the simplest terms, this means that over 75% of the money donated to Elizabeth Glaser reaches the people affected by the cause.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation helps children and families worldwide by eradicating pediatric AIDS, providing care and treatment to people with HIV/AIDS, and accelerating the discovery of new treatments for other serious and life-threatening pediatric illnesses. It does this by providing awards to outstanding scientists to conduct innovative research into pediatric HIV Vaccine. In an environment where scientific information is often viewed as proprietary, the Foundation has been extremely successful in encouraging scientists to work collaboratively. Outcomes are then put into action through critical programs. The Foundation also seeks to keep the public informed about developments in HIV/AIDS research to aid in grass-roots advocacy.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

MSF provides emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, others who lack health care due to social or geographical isolation. As well as providing emergency medical care, MSF tries to address the problem at it's source, by speaking out for populations struggling to make their voices heard. The American Institute of Philanthropy has recently been awarded an "A" rating to MSF.

In Uganda children can have weight/height ratio below 70% of normal. If treatment is not done properly, malnutrition can lead to death. A child must eat 8 meals every 24 hours to recover from the critical phase of the disease. MSF has therapeutic feeding centers (TFC) all over the African continent. MSF undertakes a blanket feeding program in Darfur. There are 8,000 beneficiaries per day.
MSF Mozambique has a Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Administering 1 dose of Nevirapine to the mother at least 4 hours before delivery, and giving the baby a small dose within 72 hours of being born, reduces transmission by as much as 50%. Providing formula and educating/encouraging to move to artificial milk to prevent transmission.

These are just some examples of the work being done by MSF in southern Africa. For more details, about the work being done by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the African sub-continent and throughout the world visit http://www.msf.org/ or http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/index.shtml.

Our Challenge

We have raised over $30,000 for these two organizations together. We will continue to raise funds throughout the trip and on our return as we tell our stories. If you would like to make a donation, please send email to anoo_padte@msn.com

What is Climb For A Cause (CFAC)? (Anoo)

2004-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

In the simplest terms

In the simplest terms, CFAC, is a volunteer organization that aims to raise funds for people in developing parts of the world, through an adventure activity like mountain climbing. The real essence of CFAC; however; lies in the motivations that started it and the philosophy that keeps it alive. CFAC is not really an organization, its only a "means".

The conception

The concept of CFAC was born in my mind during my April 2002 trip to Africa. On the penultimate day of the trek, we had time for solitary introspection. I was sitting on an outcrop of rock facing an endless stretch of African desert. No sign of life around me, my breathing was the only sound I heard and my tears the only water anywhere in sight. I was overwhelmed – overwhelmed by the physical exertion of walking 75 miles in 6 days, overwhelmed by what I had heard about AIDS and the people in Africa, overwhelmed by the warmth and love of the African people, overwhelmed by how easily my way of life had managed to shield me from the reality that a majority of the world’s population lives in and overwhelmed by the paradox of being in a place so beautiful whose people lived in some of the most disturbing conditions.

The last two thoughts never left me. They formed the motivation for CFAC. I was startled by how easily the routine of life had occupied me in a way that made me completely forget about the reality of life around the world. What shocked me more was the fact that I had managed to forget this after having grown up in a developing country for the first 22 years of my life. I was simply appalled with myself. I felt like a horse with blinders that had been running its own race and had view of just its own lane. I almost felt like I needed a forcing function that would lift the blinds.

When you are truly disturbed, action is spontaneous and inevitable. So, CFAC was inevitable. CFAC became the means to have a true understanding and awareness of the reality of the world and mankind. A deep awareness will lead to action – action to change how we see, think and live life.

It is a "means", not an organization

A "means" to greater understanding and awareness. Greater awareness of human beings, our "selves" and greater understanding of the world we have created for our "selves".

There are 3 elements to the means that CFAC suggests - people that are in need, the place where they live and an activity that is meditative.

Visiting people that are in need opens our eyes to parts of the world that are far removed from the reality of our own lives. It makes us understand fellow-people and in turn, makes us turn a mirror unto ourselves. It makes us see, what we as mankind have created as lives for our "selves".

Raising funds to help the people in need spreads the word about their situation and the cause. It helps us understand them and raise awareness about them with the donors.

Doing an endurance activity like mountain climbing brings the mind and body together. In this state of heightened togetherness we may be able to contemplate and reflect our visit with new people and what that means to our "being" and our lives.

Making it happen

The philosophy that CFAC is based on is not tied to the specifics of the "means". The "means" are open to change. They are determined each year by the group of people that come together to experience through the "means". This implies that we could choose a different endurance activity than mountain climbing, a different kind of place than a developing part of the world or a different type of fund raising and so on.

The process starts by finding a group of people that are interested in sharing an experience based on the CFAC philosophy. Most often these are people that are interested in travel to understand the world and themselves through it. They also enjoy outdoor activities. CFAC provides them with a unique way of combining travel, closely seeing real life (as the natives live it) in a new place, meeting new people and doing an outdoor activity.

Once the group is formed, they work together to determine the cause, the people, the place and the activity. They plan the experience together - each of them shapes what they want to see and feel. They bond and grow together in their understanding of the people. They work together to raise the funds.

The group then heads out for the trip. They generally visit the people and place before embarking on the activity. This way, they get a chance to meditate their experience of visiting the people during the quieter moments of the activity. The naturally beautiful environment serves as the perfect setting for this contemplation. During rest periods of the activity, the group shares their reflections and they learn from each other.

They return to tell their stories. Often they are changed in some significant way.

Last year

As its first year activity, CFACers visited South America; specifically Peru and Bolivia and raised over $40,000 for the people and children in Bolivia. They climbed Macchu Picchu to show their commitment and contemplate their visit with the people in Bolivia.

This year

In 2004, CFACers are going to southern Afric and will climbing Kilimanjaro to raise money for AIDS. The adventure is from Dec 20-Jan 5, 2005 with a summit of Kilimanjaro on New Year's!

Get Involved

If any of the above has moved your inner being, get involved. Start by sending email to anoo_padte@msn.com for further information.