Dear Friends and Sponsors,

After 6 days of climbing we made it safely to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro at an altitude of 5,895 meters (just in case you don't recognize me under the many layers of clothing, I am the one in the middle!)

We were told it would be mentally and physically challenging and it was. Although I was personally lucky not to suffer from any Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) I still suffered from mild headaches and the effects of the cold. Our last ascent started at 12am from our last camp, Kibo hut, located at 4,600m. After approximately six and a half hours six of us reached Gilman's point (5,681m) just in time to see a magical sunrise over Mount Mowenzi. After a short break, five of us pushed on to Uhuru peak which is another 2 hour walk around the rim of the crater and the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro at 5,895m (Mount Everest base camp is at 5,360m).  From there, we had a five and a half hour descent back to Kibo hut where we rested for 2 hours,  enjoyed a hot soup before carrying on with our descent for a further 3 hours to the next camp. The idea is that once you have climbed you must descend as rapidly as possible to a lower altitude where there is more oxygen. All in all, we walked for approximately 16 hours on Sunday followed by a 7 hour final walk back to the gates on the Monday.  Although, we felt elated at reaching our goal, exhaustion also set in and I slept for 11 hours that night.

It now feels like a real achievement and I still cannot believe I completed this mammoth task. At the same time, it was the idea of giving the children of Bel Air a better life that drove me on. With your support, I have collected an amazing £1,672 so far with more promised and this will go a long way to give these children a better life.  I have already bought £531 of bed linen and towels and some essential foods such as breakfast cereals, rice, beans, pulses, milk powder as well as other highly nutritious foods and some important medicine.

The rest of the money will be used to pay for essentials such as washing powder, nappies, shampoo...etc and go towards the cost of shipping all items bought and collected to Grenada. The next ship sails from Portsmouth on 29th March on a GEEST boat and it should reach Grenada in time to give the children a happy Easter.

So, once again I would like to thank you all for your generous contributions.

Marie

Climbed Kilimanjaro

for the children of Bel Air

Kibo, also known

as Mount

Kilimanjaro

Either send a cheque made payable to “Marie Sawle” to the following address:

Walnut Tree Barn

Slade Lane

Rogate

GU31 5BN

or make a

BACS payment to

Barclays Bank plc

Sort code: 20-69-34

Account number:

03366154

Please write your name

as reference

HOW YOU CAN MAKE YOUR SPONSORSHIP PAYMENT