Woman climbs Kilimanjaro for charity
She took a brave step and became one of the women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in an effort to raise funds.
A Gauteng businesswoman,
Ms Mmatshilo Motsei recently took a brave step and became one of the women to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for theTsogang Basadi Orphans Project in Maviljan, Bushbuckridge.
She embarked on this venture after she had been rescued by the centre herself back in 2010 when her life took a downturn. Motsei made the decision earlier this year to volunteer and raise funds for the centre.
She told this newspaper that although they did not reach the target she was hoping for, she met a group of women from Germany and Belgium who continued to speak about her efforts in their respective countries and were dedicated to collecting donations for the project.
“I think we must get over the mentality of being rescued by people from other countries. How many black people support local charities? Often, when there is some need for development in our communities, we tend to look the other way and we still expect white people to come and rescue us,” she said.
“One does not need to have a million rand in the bank to give support,” she added. She urged stakeholders and individuals to donate as little R100 a month to the project. People can contact the project directly at tsogangbasadi@gmail.com
Mmatshilo will always remember her journey to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, which she summitted on October 11, where she raised her flag of victory at Uhuru Peak at 5894 AMSL. She did, however, battle severe altitude sickness after walking an average of six hours daily for five days.
“It took me five days to ascend the mountain and two days to descend.” She explained that on the fourth day, she started to doubt if she would make it to the summit. “We had to go up a steep rocky climb, but I made it to camp. By the time I got there, at the end of day four, my confidence was renewed and I told myself there was no turning back.”
The second reason why she climbed the mountain was personal, “To strengthen myself from within and say goodbye to all the tough challenges I had to endure in the past few years,” she said.
“By going to the top of Africa, I wanted to prove to myself that I was bigger and stronger and more powerful than I realised. When I reached the top, I knew that my life would never be the same again,” she continued.
She said no one could climb the mountain and come back without having changed as a person. “It is almost as if you have met God.”
Mmatshilo is currently penning her experience on paper in a book entitled From the Bottom Up: Meet me at the Roof of Africa.
It will be available at the end of November and people are urged to order copies as Christmas gifts. A percentage of the sales will be donated to the Tsogang Basadi Project. To order, people can send an email to pinagaremedia@gmail.com.
When asked if she would climb the mountain again and she replied, “Yes, I would do it again. In fact, I am planning to do it next year.
I have other interesting adventures lined up such as scuba diving in Mozambique. Mother Nature is always ready to welcome us. We have a beautiful country, but few of us take the time even to explore our backyards.”
