In February 2011 St Denys Church member, Cathryn Spiller climbed Africas highest peak, Kilimanjaro in order
to raise money for a charity called Jubilee Action Trust and to keep a promise to a friend.
Cathryns Promise
A few years ago Tony Bunday, another member of St Denys Church climbed
Kilimanjaro and returned with a small stone from the summit.
This stone was lent to Cathryn on the condition that she promised to return it to the summit and swap it for another one.
Cathryn is pictured below with the stone at the summit after her successful ascent
A spectacular view.
Kilimanjaro Climb -Lemosho Route - 2nd - 13th Feb 2011
February 10th 2011 is a morning I will remember for a very long time to come.
I had been thinking about the possibility of climbing Kilimanjaro for a long while before I
raised the possibility openly. The origins of the idea go back to sometime in 2007 and
I made up my mind to go ahead in August 2009. So standing on Uhuru peak at 8:50 am on the
10th February was a huge moment for me.
However, it was not just about reaching the top, I enjoyed the whole experience.
Trekking through rainforest and then giant heather moorland, followed by volcanic desert and
finally the summit, where you look down through clouds over the jagged peak of Mawenzi,
one of Kilimanjaro's three craters.
The last part of the climb is undertaken through the night, climbing under the stars was
awesome and seeing dawn break as we reached Stella Point has got to be one of the most spectacular
sights I have ever encountered. A narrow pink and yellow line gently and gradually reveals not
just the dawn, but the curvature of the earth! Wonderful!
I just do not have the words to describe it.
At the top you can also see the two ice fields in the crater of Kibo itself, although to say
fields doesn't really describe them, they are more like cliffs and they reflect beautiful
tones of blue and white in the early morning sunshine.
I enjoyed the trek because it was challenging but richly satisfying, but also because it
helped me come to terms with some major difficulties and disappointments in my life which were,
and to some extent still are, challenges of a different order.
Kilimanjaro reminded me, because it is so massive and so ancient, that God is so much bigger
than any experience or circumstance of ours. It gave the words, the “Ancient of Days” new
meaning for me. (Daniel 7 v13-14)
It was also memorable because of the people I met. A team of 102 Tanzanian guides and porters
assisted us with our endeavour. We set off each day at 7am and about a half an hour later the
porters would start overtaking us, carrying 15 Kilos of weight on their back.
The porters were incredible and in many ways undervalued because, with the exception of the one
porter entrusted with carrying the oxygen cylinder, they do not go as far as the summit.
The guides too were extremely experienced, knowledgeable and yet extremely kind and always concerned for our welfare. Many of them had been to the summit over 100 times and yet remained essentially humble in the truest sense of the word.
Meeting the African support team was a truly humbling and inspiring encounter.
My journey to the summit of Kilimanjaro has now raised over £1000 for Jubilee Action.
You can still sponsor me via the just giving website
www.justgiving.com/CathrynsKiliClimb
or you can contact me via the church email address or church office and I will gladly circulate
a sponsor form.
Cathryn Spiller
About Jubliee Action Trust
They work to rescue and support Children who have been exploited in the sex trade,
or as child soldiers or as bond labourers. They also support children who are orphaned and
supporting younger siblings. They work with young people of all, or no faiths and in many countries
around the world. For further information about their work or to donate money
directly please visit their website at www.jubileeaction.co.uk.