We are now into a New Year and like every New Year it brings hope, dreams and goals. I truly wish you and your loved ones an amazing 2020. I completed all my official club visits in D9211 in the first week of December 2019. We are now in the month of January which begins our second half of the Rotary year 2019-2020. January is designated for Vocational Service. It is a time when we recognize Rotary Fellowships. I am quite passionate about both Vocational Service in Rotary and the various fellowships that Rotary has for all of us. I love the fact that we all have classifications in Rotary that enable us to bring something to the table. Let us connect with our skills to help those less fortunate through Rotary Projects. Our founder, Paul Harris, said, “Of all the one hundred and one ways in which men can make themselves useful to society, undoubtedly the most available and often the most effective are within the spheres of their own occupations.”

On 21st October 2019, I and a team of Rotary leaders, set off on an adventure to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro – the tallest mountain in Africa and also the world’s tallest free standing mountain. We had been practicing for this for months and we were in high spirits as we started out our five day climb at Marangu Gate in Tanzania. But we soon realized that regular hiking does not quite prepare you for the demands of a Kilimanjaro climb. As the landscape changed each day, from the lush green rain forest to heath and moorland, and then dusty alpine desert so did our energy levels. As we went higher up, the air became drier, colder and with less oxygen – so much so that walking became a real effort. Our movements became slower and our steps heavier. The stamina and endurance levels of each member of our group was put to the test. But two things kept us going. Our collective determination to reach the top; and the enthusiastic reminder by the tour guide at the end of each day of how far we had climbed, how far we were above sea level and how closer we were to the peak of this great mountain. Sometime in the night of 24th October, we embarked on our last ascent and sunrise found us at Gilman’s point - 5685m/ 18652 ft above sea level! We had made it, the sky was literally within reach and we proudly pulled out our Rotary End Polio banners. It was an exhilarating moment.