The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Anyone who doubts that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things has clearly not met Colleen Arnold. The 48-year-old Flin Flon woman recently scaled Africa's tallest mountain to raise money for orphans in one of the neediest parts of the world. 'I'm not the one in the gym, it's not like I don't have an ounce of fat on me,' said Arnold. 'And that's what people think you have to be _ that super woman or man _ to be able to do things like this. And so I just wanted to show that everyday people like myself, if you believe in yourself and have the passion or the desire, can do it.' What Arnold did, along with seven other big-hearted climbers, was surmount the nearly six-kilometre high Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania during five trying days. In the process she collected $3,700 in pledges to help an existing orphanage, and build a new one, in Nairobi, Kenya, an eight-hour drive from the mountain. The climbers, who arrived at Mt. Kilimanjaro as part of an initiative organized by the Global Volunteer Network, began their ascent on Sunday, Jan. 8. They came from all over the world to help. Arnold and a woman from Ontario arrived from Canada, with two participants from Taiwan and one each from Ireland, England, Australia and New Zealand. Joining them were nearly 30 guides, porters and cooks familiar with the uphill journey, a key tourist attraction for the poverty-stricken region. Sleeping in a non-heated tent along the way, Arnold found the trek was in some ways easier than she had anticipated. 'Great weather' 'We had great weather the whole way through,' said Arnold, who is the executive director of the Women's Resource Centre. 'We were lucky, so it wasn't too cold up top. It was about -15.' Arnold was also grateful she did not suffer from altitude sickness. 'They say they don't know why it hits some people and not others, and most don't get too effected,' she said. 'You're going to get a headache, you're going to get sick to your stomach, you're going to be a little bit nauseated and a little bit disoriented. It didn't hit me, luckily, or any of us, but we were pretty sick and pretty disoriented at the top.' Speaking of the top, the group embarked on their final walk to the summit at midnight on Thursday, Jan. 12. Come sunrise they were at the peak _ 5,895 metres above the ground. 'It's kind of surreal,' said Arnold. 'We were up there and we were just cheering. Some of them were crying just taking in the view.' The climbers became descenders the following morning, Friday, and by Saturday night, Arnold was back in the comfort of her hotel room. But her adventure was not over just yet. Arnold spent the early part of the following week in Nairobi, visiting the orphanage _ Happy Life Children's Home, as it is known _ and the site of the future orphanage her efforts aided. See 'Great...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 The new orphanage, Arnold noted, is needed because not all of the children in the current orphanage are finding homes. 'They're growing up, so they need a place with like more apartments, and they're going to teach skills like how to grow vegetables, how to farm,' she said. 'It was great to know it's going to such a needy place, but it was very sad. I mean, it is just like you see on TV, these kids who are orphaned. It's just very sad and it's nice to know that I helped a little bit.' But helping was only part of the equation for Arnold. She also wanted to inspire others and prove to herself that she had what it took to conquer this challenge. It felt much like another goal she had set _ and met: running a marathon before she turned 40. Ascending Deciding last fall that ascending Mt. Kiliman-jaro would be her next major goal, Arnold found plenty of support from family and friends, though some wondered whether she was going through a mid-life crisis. To prepare for the arduous trek, Arnold walked _ a lot. Clad in her purple parka, she was a seemingly constant presence on the sidewalks of Flin Flon. She also worked out at home on her elliptical machine, and did some sit-ups and stretches, but by no means did she go all Rocky in her training. Based on her training, Arnold was a little worried she was ill-prepared for the climb once she arrived at the base of the colossal mountain. 'But I guess it was enough _ it got me to the top,' she said. Now back home for a little over a week, Arnold's next major challenge _ should there be one _ remains undetermined. 'Well right now I'm saying 'nothing,'' she said with a laugh. 'But I'm sure in a few years (there will be something).'
