Climbing Kilimanjaro for Charity

A growing number of Mount Kilimanjaro climbers are doing so for charity. Indeed, this may allow them to offset some of their own climbing costs, which may make a difference in whether they can afford a climb of Africa’s highest peak.

Zara organizes climbs of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money forZARA Charity.This is an organization established in 2009 under the Non-government Organization Act of 2002, of which Section 12(2) aims to support vulnerable groups in the community.

Zara Charity plays a vital role with local community economic development, especially with vulnerable groups such as orphans, women, and the poor, which typically is the source of porters who aid climbs of Mounts Kilimanjaro and Meru.Emphasis is on threecharities; the Kilimanjaro Orphanage Center, Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society, and the Maasai Women.

The Kilimanjaro Orphanage Center

The Kilimanjaro Orphanage Center, founded in Pasua in 2009, provides care and shelter to an increasing population of orphaned children in the Moshi area. This includes residency care,and day care and community support for children at risk.Currently we accommodate 52 children between the ages of 4 and 10 at a site in Pasua. Our eventual plan is to care for about 100 children utilizing the present property as well as a second property to be obtained south of Pasua. We provide our residents with matron supervision, regular nutritious meals, clothing, as well as their school needs (uniforms, books, materials, fees), which costs $100 per child per month.

For those interested in hands-on participation, activities at the orphanage include:

In the morning, children are prepared to go to school for standard one and above

General clearing and cleaning of the dormitory and the Center’s environment

At 8:00am, teach the kindergarten class lessons like mathematics and English

During the porridge break,you can bring materials to play different games with the kids

Farm activities include cultivation of food crops like rice onions and maize

Participate in evening football matches with olderkids, and share the experience of theKilimanjaroOrphanage

The Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society

Zara supports two activities with The Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society (MKPS). The first is makingponjure (a rain coats) for porters who support climbers. Each coat has a reflector printed with the name of the group/person who donated funds. We support 800 porters and the cost of one coat is $15.

The second activity is the Tree Planting Project which offsets the effects of global climate change as well as over-harvesting by the local population in search of fire wood and charcoal. This activity highlights our local natural features to visitors and is a means of collaboration to prevent pollution and further degradation, through tree planting by the spring near our Springland Hotel. This area is about 3 acres and we have planted 300 trees with a goal of 1700 more.

Maasai Women

The Maasai women project aims at supporting women to liberate them from destructive traditions, based on oppression and exploitation in their society. We educate them on their roles, rights, and responsibilities, from the family level, to community level,and even the national level.  We know that women play a vital role in theeconomic development of their community.

Zara Charity operates different projects, including entrepreneur skills and financial management to help these women.  We have discovered that girls aged 15 to 30,after completing primary or secondary education, fail to progress, and find themselves useless in the community labor force. This risk led us to the idea of creatinga vocational training centre which will offer a safe environment, vocational training in tourism, hotel management, arts and crafts, and community development, which will give them hope and sustainable employment. We expect to recruit 50 students in each course for a total of 200 students. “Many of the girls we met during our visits to their locality were looking for a way out, but have no other choice.”                  

How to Register a Climb for Charity

Once a climber has decided to climb Kilimanjaro for charity, they simply complete our fundraiser’s registration form. This form requires an image to be featured on their campaign page, and a short text about themselves and their campaign.

Once we receive the completed form, we create a customized campaign page for the fundraising climber and email a link to this page for them to post on their Facebook, or simply to share in turn with family, friends, and work colleagues.

How Funds are Shared by Charity and Climbing Costs

In line with Charity Commission guidelines, a maximum of 49% of whatever sum is raised by fundraising and sponsorship will be used by the charity to pay for the climb, with the remaining 51% remaining going to the charity.

For example, if 4 people book the 7-day Rongai route at$2,041 per person and they raise $4,165 per person, then they would pay this amount to Zara Charity which would cover the$1,922 discounted climb cost and Zara Charity would contribute the balance for charitable causes. Thus there would be no personal payment necessary from the climber towards their climb costs. The climber would, of course, have to cover their own flights, visas, and any costs not normally included in a Charity Climb.

Similarly, if a climber raises $2,000, then $980 could be used for their climb costs, with the balance of $1,020 going to charity. In this case, as the climb costs are $2,041 per person, the climber would personally only need to pay the additional $942 (as Zara Charity would contribute $119 towards the fundraiser’s costs).

In the case of a very successful fundraising campaign, if a climber is able to raise $10,000, this would be paid to the charity, which would cover the $1,922 climb cost, and $8,078 would be contributed for charitable causes.