Welcome to the online home of the SHAP Kilimanjaro Challenge. This October a team of intrepid explorers will trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for SHAP, a homeless charity based in the North West of England. On this blog you will be able to follow our journey and along the way find out information about Mount Kilimanjaro, the trek, the training, the team and of course about SHAP.
SHAP aim to enable homeless, vulnerable or disadvantaged people to take control of their own lives, and to receive the quality of housing and services to which they are entitled. To benefit our service users and to provide new opportunities for our service users which we are unable to fund through our normal resources, we need your donations. You can do this by sponsoring one (or more!) of our team
If you would like to sponsor one of our team please click here, scroll down a bit, and select the just giving link of the team member you would like to sponsor (IMPORTANT BIT - please remember to select gift aid when you donate and we can claim an extra 28% from the taxman at no extra cost to you!).
This week saw myself (Alan) promoting the SHAP Kilimanjaro Challenge with an article featured in the Widnes Vikings match day programme "The Viking Storm". Many thanks to Mark Naughton and Ian Cheveau at Widnes Vikings.
I was also featured promoting the SHAP Kilimanjaro Challenge in the local newspapers, with an article in the Widnes Weekly News, an article in the Widnes World, and an article in the Warrington Guardian. Many thanks to Mark Smith at the Widnes Weekly News, and Barbara Jordan at the Widnes World/Warrington Guardian.
Look out for a forthcoming article featuring Emma promoting the SHAP Kilimanjaro Challenge in the St Helens Star.
In our 30th year of operation, we intend to celebrate our Anniversary by embarking on a programme of fundraising, to provide opportunities for our service users which we are unable to fund through our normal resources. Our most ambitious event will be a challenge to climbMount Kilimanjaro inOctober 2010, and will be undertaken by staff, service users and friends of the organisation, to raise the profile of SHAP and to benefit service users across the organisation.
SHAP exists to promote social justice, to combat poverty and to prevent
homelessness.
We aim to enable homeless, vulnerable or disadvantaged people to take control of their own lives, and to receive the quality of housing and services to which they are entitled.
Since 1981, SHAP has provided services for young and vulnerable people: those who have been homeless, poorly housed, escaping abusive situations or leaving care. Over the years, we have housed many of these people at a point of crisis in their lives, given them a safe space within which they could catch up, and provided them with individual support to help them to make and carry out decisions about their own lives.
We have grown over the years and so has the range of services that we provide. We now support 160 people in accommodation that we provide, and 150 more in floatingsupport services across the North West. We enable people’s own voices to be heard through our advocacy services and provide a small but growing number of youth and community development services.
Our core services remain targeted at meeting the needs of young adults: 16 – 25. This is where our strength, expertise and experience as an organisation has been located and will continue to be at the core of our identity as an organisation. However, as our areas of activity broaden, so does our experience and expertise. We have successfully developed new services by demonstrating our vision and capacity to manage, and then bringing in people with the expertise to develop and grow those services.
Whilst remaining committed to our vision, we remain concerned about the immediate and long term issues facing people in general and the prospects for services for excluded groups in particular. We intend to lobby at local, regional and, where possible, national level to promote the interests of our services users and the need for appropriate levels of funding.
We intend to broaden the work that we do that contributes to the creation of sustainable communities. We will develop and deliver services or joint enterprises that actively work to prevent social inclusion and combat poverty. We intend to focus on the needs of older people, young adults with complex needs and disadvantaged people who move frequently.
We have clear values which underpin all of Shap’s work. We believe in:-
People’s right to live independently and take control over their lives.
People’s right to safe, secure, good quality housing and the support that they need to maintain it.
People’s right to their individuality. We will respect and take account of their race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability.
Mutual respect for the people with and for whom we work.
The rights of our tenants and service users to tell us their views and be involved in decisions that affect their lives and influence the services that they receive.
That’s what a journalist thought until she did the trek :
"We strike out towards distant Mawenzi. Feel worse. Fall three times as path crosses series of ravines and gullies. Increasing nausea. Stop to rest and Bruce, a telecommunications engineer, offers me a banana. Throw up behind rock. Coordination worse and dizzy, too. Then get indigestion (side-effect of malaria tablets). Am miserable because no one else is sick."
"Pace slows, people wheezing away in thinner air. Drag myself to mess tent. Can’t eat but drink gallons of ginger tea, which is supposed to help AMS symptoms. Very cold tonight; Four Seasons sleeping bag, silk liner and fleece blanket insufficient – wearing thermals, a fleece top, two pairs of socks and hat, but still freezing."
"We weaken quickly, palpitations, breathlessness. Like walking through treacle on precipitous narrow path inside crater. Eyes hurt behind glasses as sun hits the snow, headache intensifies and nausea returns. Interminable plodding past glaciers and ice cliffs. No talking, must concentrate on every step, ignoring stunning views. Just want to get there and get it over with."
Our challenge takes us along the tough, but rewarding Machame Route that approaches Kilimanjaro from the south through dense tropical rainforest and all the way up to the mighty snow capped summit.
THE MACHAME ROUTE - ITINERARY
D1 07 October DEPARTURE
We depart London Heathrow on our overnight flight to Kilimanjaro. Flight details will be sent to you closer to departure.
D2 08 October MOSHI
On arrival we transfer approximately one hour to our hotel in the town of Moshi. After freshening up we have a welcome lunch and meet our guides who will be leading the climb. In the afternoon there is the chance to relax by the pool and prepare our kit bag for the climb. This evening we enjoy an evening meal together and have a final briefing on the challenge ahead.
D3 09 October MACHAME CAMP - 3000M 5-6HRS TREKKING
After a good breakfast we make the 1 hour road transfer to the Machame Gate. On arrival we meet the rest of our team, including our guides, cooks and porters. We register for the trek and our bags are weighed to ensure each is within the 15 kg limit. Finally it is here – the moment we have all been waiting for! We begin our trek through lush vegetation of the humid rainforest with its fascinating range of bird life, wild flowers, endemic trees and insects. If we are lucky we might even spot a blue monkey or hear the shy Colobus monkey leaping through the trees above us! We have some short breaks en route before reaching our camp in the afternoon. There is some time to relax before dinner. We then settle for our first night under canvas.
D4 10 October SHIRA CAMP - 3840M 6-7 HRS TREKKING
This morning our route takes us through the ever changing scenery as we make the steep ascent up through heather and moorland to the Shira Plateau. We continue across the plateau to our camp and this evening we can relax and enjoy the fabulous views.
D5 11 October BARRANCO CAMP - 3950M 6-7 HRS TREKKING
Today we trek east across beautiful barren moon like landscape and around craters that scar the earth. We trek always in the shadow of mighty Kibo until reaching the LavaTower where we stop for some lunch. This afternoon we descend through the surrounding ravines, with their wonderful micro climates and beautiful birdlife. We eventually reach our camp late in the afternoon. This decent aids the acclimatisation process and allows our bodies to adjust to the ever changing altitude.
D6 12 October BARAFU CAMP - 4600M 6-7HRS TREKKING
We leave camp early and our first challenge today is a climb and scramble over the volcanic rock of the Barranco Wall. On reaching the top we have a well earned snack break and enjoy fantastic views over to Barafu. For the rest of the day we make the steady climb to our camp positioned on a ridge overlooking the south east valley. We reach camp in the afternoon and after a good meal, we put on some extra layers to keep warm and try to relax and get some sleep in preparation for our early morning summit bid.
D7 13 October SUMMIT DAY - 5896M 12 HRS TREKKING
And so to summit day and our toughest challenge yet. We awake just after midnight and after a hot drink and snack we begin our climb. For the next 6 hours we trek the steepest and most demanding part of the route by torch light. This is a long and gruelling trek through scree to reach Stella point at the crater rim. After a short rest we make our final traverse to UhuruPeak , the highest point on the African continent at 5896m. The rising morning sunlight gives us spectacular views across the plains below and of MountMeru in the distance and we feel on top of the world! After some photos we have a tough decent to Barafu camp where we stop for a rest and some breakfast before continuing on to Mweka camp. After a long but exhilarating day we can finally rest our tired legs and get a good night’s sleep.
D8 14 October MOSHI 3-4HRS TREKKING
After breakfast we continue our descent back through the rainforest to Mweka Gate. A short transfer by bus takes us to Moshi and our hotel. Here we can finally take off our walking boots and enjoy our first hot shower in almost a week! We have the afternoon to relax by the pool with a drink and this evening we enjoy a fantastic gala dinner to celebrate our remarkable achievements and for those who have the energy we can party in to the night!
D9 15 October MOSHI
We can enjoy a free day either by the pool or exploring the local area before transferring to the airport for our overnight flight back to the UK .
At 5,895 metres or 19,340 feet Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.
Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo 19,340 feet (5895 meters); Mawenzi 16,896 feet (5149 m); and Shira 13,000 feet (3962 m). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim.
Mount Kilimanjaro is situated entirely within the borders of Tanzania, although it is situated close to the border of Kenya.
Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano that began forming a million years ago when lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. The mountain was built by successive lava flows. Two of its three peaks—Mawenzi and Shira—are extinct while Kibo, the highest peak is dormant and could erupt again. The last major eruption was 360,000 years ago, while the most recent activity was only 200 years ago.
The name Kilimanjaro has no certain origin, but one of the most popular theories is that it came from KILMA NJARO meaning “shining mountain” in Swahili. The shiny snow on the peak led nearby residents to believe that evil spirits guarded the mountain. This myth could also explain why some referred to NJARO as a demon that caused cold.
Each year around 20 000 people attempt the climb to Uhuru Peak, but a third don’t make it to the summit.
SHAP is a not for profit, charitable and specialist housing organisation, which exists to enable young and vulnerable people to have their housing needs appropriately met. The organisation provides high quality accommodation with support for young and vulnerable people who are homeless, in housing need or experiencing disruption and difficulty in their life.
SHAP’S BEGINNINGS SHAP grew from concerns about the needs of young homeless people in the Borough of St Helens, Merseyside. A group of local people and representatives of agencies such as Social Services and the Local Authority formed a committee to establish a provision to begin to meet this need. In 1981, a ten bed hostel was established to meet the needs of young people who needed a period of stability and were not yet ready to live independently. The aim was to provide them with the knowledge, skills and opportunities they require to live independently.
SHAP’S DEVELOPMENT In 1989, SHAP embarked on a development programme. A primary objective was and remains the development of a wide range of housing with support for young and vulnerable people, enhanced by accessible and positive services delivered in an anti-oppressive way.
SHAP has now developed a much wider range of different types of accommodation and services, and has also extended its work into the neighbouring Boroughs of Knowsley, Halton and Liverpool. SHAP’s current partners include Knowsley Housing Trust, Riverside Housing Association, Arena Housing Association, Helena Housing Association, Maritime Housing Association and Halton Borough Council.
