By Mountain Hardwear Athlete, Erik Weihenmayer
As Erik's friend Steve Ackerman puts it, "The most profound and effective leadership is inspiring others to do great things by your own example of doing great things."
This past June, Kevin Cherilla, the Base Camp manager for Erik's historic Mt. Everest expedition, engaged in another remarkable project: guiding eight blind students from the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix on a climb of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.
The FBC team stands on the summit of Kilimanjaro. | Photo Courtesy of Erik Weihenmayer
This recent expedition was reminiscent of the 2005 Kilimanjaro expedition that Erik organized with blind adults, when five blind people from four different continents stood on the Roof of Africa. Erik was joined by Douglas Sidialo, who lost his sight in the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Nairobi and who became the first blind African to reach Kilimanjaro's summit. So inspired by the climb and his life goal to promote peace and forgiveness, Douglas decided to bike the length of Africa, 7500 miles, from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa, and was sponsored by Erik.
Before and after the 2005 expedition, several visits were made to schools serving blind children in the Arusha region of East Africa. The experiences provided first-hand insight into the pressing need for better educational resources for blind children. As a result, Erik and others, including Unilever CEO Paul Polman, founded the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust.
The Trust, which works in conjunction with the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, gives children in East Africa access to the technologies that help them to lead more fulfilling lives and become more integral parts of their communities. Some of these projects include the distribution of Perkins Braillers, repair of the machines, Braille literacy training and teachers to work with blind students. Both the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust and the Perkins School strongly believe that empowering blind and visually impaired individuals worldwide is dependent upon education and literacy, giving blind children the life skills they need to succeed.
Photo Courtesy of Erik Weihenmayer
A blind student at the Mwereni Integrated School for the Blind in Moshi, Tanzania reads a letter in Braille. The 2009 expedition raised funds to donate Braille typewriters, canes and magnifiers to the school.
Although both the 2005 and 2009 expeditions of blind and sighted climbers are tremendous accomplishments, the reach goes far beyond the physical achievement. The Foundation for Blind Children team raised tens of thousands of dollars and in turn visited the same schools, attesting to how the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust is profoundly impacting the blind children of East Africa.
Photo Courtesy of Erik Weihenmayer
At the Mwerini Integrated School for the Blind, a student types on a donated braille typewriter. The school is only one of a few for the blind in Tanzania and serves 47 blind students.
