What will they feel when they get up there, as they cling to each other, as they stare, breathless and with the odd tear or two in their eyes, at the sight of this sunrise over Africa, at the colours embracing the crater rim and heights below…… Relief that they have made it up the top? Awe at the sheer beauty and grandeur of the spot which they have so bravely made their own for just a few hours? A sense of insignificance at the vast expansiveness around them, and a calling to protect a world which is so intrinsically perfect? A deeper understanding of the values of friendship, camaraderie and love, and a calling to keep giving the way they have, selflessly and whole-heartedly? A sense of deepened comprehension that life really and truly is, at its core, a tale of undiscovered potential, a song of seeds which are just waiting to emerge from the darkness, grow and flourish?

Hard to tell---and perhaps this is a blank page in our diary which we should ask each and every one of them to fill as they return to us, as we gather around a meal or a cup of tea, share stories and photos, moments of hardship and jokes ……perhaps it is a story which is only gradually going to unfold as our climbers digest the host of emotions and sensations that they must be feeling at this very moment……

…..Not far away from where they stand now, just across that border which is just a tiny line on the big map on the wall, the sun is paving its way through the misty morning clouds in Kampala, is tickling thousands of street children in their noses as they awake on the streets and prepare for another day. May those children’s hearts share the joy and hope that our climbers are now feeling; and may they gain a renewed sense of worth and achievement, and be blessed with the powerful realisation that the sky is really and truly the limit……and that, with a little help from friends all around, they, too, can reach the top and overcome mountains of their own!

Well done, you Kili climbers. We love you and are so very proud of you!!