They did it! Meera and her mother Rupa achieved the exciting feat of climbing Mt. Kilimajaro. Here’s Meera describing project Kilimanjaro for Kids and the experience in her own words…

Sleeping on clouds under brilliant stars that seem an arms-length away is a dream for most of us. This summer, my mother Rupa Kanani and I, Meera Kanani, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and slept on clouds under brilliant stars. Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world at a height of 19,341 feet.

Kilimanjaro for kids was my way of giving back to the world, and to honour my father, Mayank Kanani. My goal was to climb the mountain and raise $38,682 (double the height of the mountain) to build the third floor of an AIM for Seva hostel in Amreli, Gujurat. My Aunt and Uncle donated the hostel, in memory of their fathers. It is truly the most difficult thing I have done, yet was undeniably breathtaking and gratifying. We started our trek through the lush rainforest and as the days went by, we watched the trees slowly disappear until we were surrounded by nothing but dust, large rocks and small shrubs. After the first day, we could no longer see the city. Our second day was spent climbing boulders and rock walls; we prayed that we wouldn’t lose our footing. By the end of the day, we had climbed to 13,000 ft. The third day was one of the hardest, as we walked through the clouds, and faced 8 hours of sleet, snow, rain and blistering winds. By the time we reached our camp we could barely feel our fingers and the damp cold conditions meant nothing would dry. Our bodies were tired, and we longed for hot showers and the comfort of our beds, but the lure of the summit overcame those needs. On the fourth day, we woke up to sunshine and beds of clouds surrounding us…the view was breathtaking. All day, we trekked in the shadow of the snow-covered peak, battling symptoms of altitude sickness and nursing our growing excitement for the final ascent.