Students Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

It seems Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, has been a popular challenge of late for adventurers with disabilities. One recent successful climb involved four South African youths with vision disabilities. Julia Ledwaba, Magdeline Mbewe and Sithembele Ngema, all 19, and Essau Masithi, 20, made it to Uhuru Peak, at 5,895 metres above sea level, in December of 2003.

All four are students at the Filadelfia School for the Disabled in Soshanguve north of Pretoria, South Africa. They sourced all the necessary equipment themselves and spent two years training for the climb while fundraising for the costs of the expedition.

Kilimanjaro expedition company, Tribe Safari, which led the expedition, offers a “Sensory Odyssey” every year for adventurers with vision disabilities. But the climbers in this group made history as the youngest Africans ever to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro. They climbed through five different climatic zones – equivalent to a hike from the Equator to the South Pole – on their way to the top of Africa.

The group christened this expedition “Thinta Isibhakabhaka,” Zulu for “touch the sky.” For more information, contact expedition leader Lance de Willers at lance@tribesafari.com.