A purposeful journey

The Kanata Lakes grandmother had always wanted to make the climb, but like so many other things in life, she put that goal on the backburner when “more important” things crept up.

It wasn’t until Carriere heard of three Ottawa grandmothers planning on climbing the mountain in support of African grandmothers that she decided to fulfill her dream.

“The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of grandmothers and their grandchildren in Africa was the final decision maker for me,” said Carriere.

The group, known as the Kilimanjaro Grannies, grew to include six Ottawa women, all of which had a heart for Africa and a desire to summit the mountain.

“We planned on raising one dollar for every foot of the mountain,” said West Carleton’s Liza Badham, a member of the group. “We did much more than that.”

Mount Kilimanjaro stands at 19,331 feet and the women fundraised more than $78,000 before and after the climb for the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign which supports grandmothers caring for their grandchildren after their own children have died from AIDS.

Two years after the climb, the grannies continue to raise money with the release of their new book Kilimanjaro: A Purposeful Journey. The book launch was held at the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch on Metcalfe Street on Dec. 1 to coincide with World AIDS Day.

“We had a full house and the energy level was just amazing,” said Carriere of the book launch. More than 200 copies of the book were sold and signed by the grandmothers.

THE CLIMB

The fundraising was the easy part for Carriere, the camping was another issue, she said.

“I wasn’t really a camper,” said Carriere. “My idea of camping was at the cottage with running water and a flushing toilet.”

Basics such as getting in and out of the tent at night were a challenge for Carriere, but when it came to the actual climb she fell right into step.

“Our guide called me to set the pace and I became the leader of the group,” she said “This was a very defining moment for me because now I felt in charge and a little more responsible because the team was behind me.”

It took the group seven days to summit Mount Kilimanjaro and two days to descend. Some of the climbers suffered altitude sickness during the ascent and Badham developed a sore knee on the descent which required help from their guides.

Carriere said the descent wasn’t too difficult for her because she had conditioned her knees before the climb. Once a week, Carriere climbed 16 flights of stairs in the high rises next to the Kanata Centrum plaza, which she said really helped her with the downward walking.

Carriere said the best part of the climb was the time it gave her to reflect on what was really important in life.

“There was an awful lot of time to think and contemplate and miss home and appreciate everything we have here,” said Carriere. “Sometimes we need to climb a mountain to come to such realizations and convictions; it’s not a bigger car or a bigger house, or a lavish vacation.”

Carriere doesn’t plan on climbing another mountain in her lifetime, but she said the experience and the friendships she formed with the other grandmothers is something she will never forget.

“We were there for each other to help each other through those times,” she said.
“We have a very special bond that will likely last a lifetime.”

THE BOOK

All proceeds from their book, Kilimanjaro: A Purposeful Journey, will go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation.

Each of the six grandmothers have their own chapter and have chosen their favourite photographs to go along with their personal stories.

“We all have unique wonderful experiences from the climb and we wanted to put them down on paper,” said Carriere.

The goal of the book is to help turn the tide of AIDS in Africa.

“We hope that someday there would no world AIDS,” said Badham.

With files from Nevil Hunt