Having arrived at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro on Sat 16 August I met my fellow climber, Sheri from California, for the first time. Our base in Moshi (approx 3 000ft)was a small but pleasant hotel that housed Kilimanjaro and safari thrill seekers; the atmosphere was fantastic with stories being exchanged on sucesses and failures on the slopes of this formidable mountain. Formidable, not because of technical difficulty in terms of a climb but the extreme altitude. Although there were a good number of abortive attemptees (mainly for altitude reasons) we also spoke with many who had broken the barriers and had made it. We were fascinated and the 2 days spent at base seemed like an eternity.

We had chosen the Lemosha route to the top of Uhuru peak …some 16 340ft away. This is the longest way round and we were programmed for a 7 day ascent and 2 day descent. Our attack was made from the Eastern side after a 6H off road truck drive which took us to 6 500ft. Our team consisted of 2 guides, 1 medic/ oxygen specialist, a cook and 12 porters. These guys were amazing; they carried treble the weight that we did and at 3 times the speed with huge smiles and singing! We had a small trek therafter up through the rainforest to our first camp at approx 9 500ft. The trek started as it meant to go on; 2 things that I was not expecting 1) I hadn’t expected the amount of dust we would kick up as each step was made and 2) the temperature ranges – 15c by day and dropping to -25c at night…often the change was -20c within an hour ! With the huge amounts of food and water needed to meet the challenge the overnight experience was poor; low levels of sleep interupted by trips to the loo! I was often found in the middle of night running from my tent in shorts and boots with my headlamp torch seeking a path on the frost clad rocks.

The daily treks were not that strenuous. A good pace would be set and we would often be out for 7H but the altitude gains were only around 1500ft per day; we were acclimatising well. The landscape did change; the open plain of Shira was replaced by the foothills of the mountain where the ground cover changed from the heathers to barren rock which increasingly showed signs of the volcanic activity that had formed this, the worlds tallest free standing mountain. After 6 days we had made our way to Barafu camp at 15 000ft and were briefed for the final ascent – a 7H climb of 4 340ft to the peak.

Rising at 0430 we had a great breakfast; I was eating 3 times my normal volume and was drinking something like 7litres of water a day plus tea ! We set of in the dark with our headlamps providing guidance over a steep and rocky climb for the 1st hour. Thankfully the sun began to show and from here we got a better look of what we had done and what we still had yet to do. The air was thinning fast and our pace could not be slower; “pole pole” (swahili for slowly) was the repeated mantra. Even at this pace I could sense the power from body leaving at a rapid rate; despite snacking and drinking every 15 minutes. The climb continued at a steep gradient for the next 4 hours until we reached 18 800ft at Stella Point. From here the peak was clear and the trail flattened. While I was desperate for more food and would have loved to have eaten my lunch, we could see that the fine weather we had enjoyed all morning was changing fast. Within an hour we had skirted the glacier, trekking through the snow and ice, and had reached the summit. Formidable ! We celebrated and took photos with a blue sky at approx 1300. I had not suffered; no blisters, no headaches…nothing apart from the cold and dust.

With the weather changing fast, snow was falling and temperatures were being predicted at -25c, we got down as quick as possible to Barafu. The following day we continued in a straight line …we were down in 9H of trekking from the peak; a descent of over 16 000ft!

Mark Devonshire at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

Three Tackle Africa coaches visited Kabwe in October 2008; Kabwe is a town characterised most perhaps by its once booming copper mining industry, and now a place short on jobs, and struggling with high HIV infection rates and young people not unlike youngsters in the UK, turning to drink, drugs and sexual activity for excitement.

The Kabwe project used a day centre for vulnerable street kids (Sables) as a base; its situated right next to a community pitch used by a lot of local teams. We aimed to achieve two major objectives; firstly to run a coaching clinic for local football coaches, thus training them to deliver the Tackle Africa HIV related training drills to a high coaching standard and with clear HIV messaging, and second to foster relationships that could mean Tackle Africa’s model of reaching young people through football could continue and grow after our departure.

The coaches visiting Kabwe brought their own unique experiences to the table, Tim Newsome as a UEFA B level coach and Charlie McGrath, an experienced project worker in Zambia and also someone able to coach netball and reach Zambian girls in a country where ladies football is not yet as popular as elsewhere in Africa.

We achieved the objectives; not only did the coaches come together to learn the drills, we have formed a forum of local coaches representing ten junior sides, who will continue to meet and share coaching practice and innovations in HIV drills. A proposed Tackle Africa ‘Play Safe’ Youth League is also in the offing, and several new drills have been designed by local coaches.

Lusaka

The second half of the trip, to Lusaka (with potential partners Breakthrough Sports Academy who support youth football in Lusaka’s poorer districts) played out a bit differently, but ultimately with similar outcomes. The coaches involved, Ele Lewis, Clive Fogleman and Gudrun Jevne, again ran a coaching clinic, though in the absence of an organised local partner.

We ran the sessions using paper and marker pen, blu-tacked to a wall next to a community pitch, and managed to run 3 days worth of coaching clinics, reaching out to football coaches from five different areas of Lusaka (often with large crowds of schoolkids peering over their shoulders). We visited the sites where the local coaches coached, community pitches in or just outside the local ‘compounds’ that people live in, and were able to introduce the training sessions to large groups of under 10s to under 19s and also assess the local coaches delivering Tackle Africa drills.

We were also involved in three ‘Independence Day’ football tournaments, where we ran sessions for teams who were in between games, and presented awards, particularly focussing on the players’ involvement with the Tackle Africa workshops in between games.

While a future partner did not emerge from this leg of the trip, the coaches who attended the course fedback positively and a short trip was able to reach a very large target audience, confirming I believe that a model that empowers local coaches is Tackle Africa’s most effective means of creating a sustainable impact on young people. Where we can back this up by supporting ongoing football events, or giving the youngsters chance to play competitively, and train with a peer group that supports each other, it is clear that the impact of the HIV training drills carries on beyond the football session and informs the lives of many young people.

The trip also enabled us to formalise a coaching clinic ‘curriculum’ with valuable feedback from local coaches on what was most needed for them to continue to spread the messages of healthy living through high quality football coaching.