Shivam's Mount Kilimanjaro Climb
Shivam's Mount Kilimanjaro Climb
In September Shivam raised an incredible £3,231 by climbing Mount Kilmanjaro. Shivam fundraised through One Kind Act who generously topped up his donation to make it £4000. This money has been used to paint an amazing 32 classrooms with educational paintings for the children to enhance learning.
Made with Hope and Ndoto in Action have been actively involved in renovating a lot of our partner schools classrooms. Ndoto in Action conducted analysis of these partner schools, and found that the classrooms lack visual stimulation and educational materials which can hinder students’ engagement and motivation for learning. The aim was to ensure enhanced academic performance among students of our partner schools through the provision of visually appealing and interactive classrooms. We believe that an engaging and informative learning environment will lead to improved academic performance, enhanced creativity and critical thinking skills, and boosted motivation to learn.
Shivams fundraising enabled the painting of the walls of 32 classrooms with educational materials such as educational charts, diagrams, and inspirational quotes that are relevant to the curriculum. In addition, a specific area of each classroom for interactive activities, such as a chalkboard where teachers and students can actively engage in learning.
We asked Shivam a few questions…
Why Made with Hope?
Partnering with Made With Hope was just right place right time. I had already planned to climb Kilimanjaro last year and after a month or so after booking, One Kind Act reached out to me to ask if fundraising was on my radar. After some discussions I found out that Made With Hope was a partner charity here. I was told MWH were actually a Tanzanian charity helping education and as soon as I heard this I knew that it was meant to be!
What was your motivation?
Very rarely do you get an opportunity to raise money for a good cause, let alone a cause that benefits from partaking in a challenge in their own country. It just felt like the perfect way to give back and say thank you to Tanzania for giving me an experience of a lifetime. This was also fantastic motivation as I knew I was able to visit the schools after the climb and document the impact the fundraising would have and what completing the challenge meant to not only me but the communities in Arusha. It really was amazing to see the building transformations that were possible from the money raised and see real action from start to end of this whole process.
What was the hardest part?
The climb itself was extremely testing. I would say 90% of it was fairly fine but the final ascent night was incredibly tough and there were a few times I was nearly turned around due to my body not reacting well and some bad breathing issues. I was determined to make it though after making it so far up already. The guides were a life saver and without them I would never have made it. It took me around 2 more hours than most of the groups ahead for me to summit!
Whats next for you?
As for my next challenge, I think I will be resting for a while as I also completed the 5 day hike to machu picchu only a month after Kili. However, I doubt I will be able to stay still for too long!
Thank you to Shivam for his incredible achievement and to One Kind Act for their continued generosity! Made with Hope is 100% Volunteer run so all donations go straight to improving access to education for students in rural Tanzania.
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