Climbing Mountains

Yes, I made it to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, 19,340 feet above sea level, but I must admit that success was not certain until the very moment that I arrived there.  In fact, I need to admit/acknowledge up front that I would not have made it without the skilled support of our guide, Wilfred, and the encouragement and companionship of my friend Dan Rayfield.  This was a shared effort, a shared success.

But that's not the mountain climb that I want to share with you now.....

While in route to Kilimanjaro, Dan and I spent a couple of days in Nairobi, Kenya, and there we took a guided "tour" through Kibera, the largest shantytown in the world.  Over a million people pushed together into a space smaller than the OSU campus, very few roads, almost no water, sewer, electricity.  I prepared myself to see and smell endemic poverty, squalor, and human desperation..... and there was plenty of that to see and smell.  But want I didn't expect to see was hope..... and there was some of that too.

The two guys who gave us the tour were born in Kibera, grew up there, and still live there.  They give these tours because they believe that, in doing so, people will begin to see human potential instead of poverty, that those who walk through the narrow paths of Kibera with them will come to believe in the possibility of something different, something better, and maybe even begin to do something to help bring that vision to fruition.  And, on our tour, we were introduced to groups of Kibera's residents who are doing just that.


First, we met a group of about a dozen men who have developed a process for using cattle bones as a substitute for ivory, producing a variety of products that not only provide an income for them and their families but that also help to protect the area's elephants from poaching.  Industrious, entrepreneurial, these men helped me see hope where I might have only seen hopelessness.

Then, we were introduced to a group of women who have contracted AIDS but who, instead of becoming overcome by their circumstances, have used those circumstances to develop a program of education and access to medical resources that is helping to curb the ravages of this disease in a community where it is estimated that more than 20% of the population are HIV positive.  These women fund their efforts though their production of handcrafted jewelry that is then sold throughout the region.

Together, the guys doing the tours, the men producing a substitute for ivory, and the women working to fight AIDS in their community, are overcoming desperation with determination, overcoming poverty in pursuit of their potential.  I may have climbed Kilimanjaro, but these women and men have conquered mountains that make my achievement seem small in comparison.  I was humbled by and in awe of their spirit, their determination.

And all of this makes me mindful of the kinds of "mountains" that many of our students at LBCC must climb in order to achieve their potential.  Economic barriers, medical, mental, and physical challenges, family obligations or limitations, varieties of addictions, basic lack of opportunity.  I have always understood that it is the purpose of our community colleges to help these students overcome these challenges, to successfully climb the mountains that stand in the pathway to their success, but what I came to understand as I walked the paths of Kibera and met with these amazing people, is that our purpose is not just to support their success but to make certain that we all grow because of their success among us.  Like my climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, our work is a shared effort and our goal is a shared success.  Unrealized human potential is a loss for us all.

If you are interested in learning more about Kibera and these truly amazing people, or perhaps even support their work, here's their contact information.

Kibera Tours
Omondi Fredrik Otieno (Freddy)
Email: info@kiberatours.com
Web: www.kiberatours.com

Power Women Group in Kibera
Email: powerwomeng@gmail.com
Powerwomen254@gmail.com 
Web: https://rising.globalvoices.org/blog/2012/07/10/kibera-power-women-challenging-hiv-stigma/

Victorious VCG
Email: victoriouskibera@gmail.com
Web: www.victoriousbones.com