Jenny’s Kilimanjaro Challenge

Fundraising campaign by Jenny Oakley
  • €1,220.00
    raised of €5,000.00 goal goal
24% Funded
66 Donors
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How this came about....... I came across some pictures one day of some men and women at Uhuru peak on the summit of kilimanjaro. A little sead was planted in my brain that day, lemme explain, you see......10 years ago i weighed 125 kilo, I wore size 26 (on a good day), when I walked to the corner shop I used to get a stitch and leg pain........in 2007 i decided ENOUGH!!!!!! I refuse to be the fattest person in the room , I refuse to hide behind my young son with the excuse that i just had a baby, I refuse to have random aches and pains and blame them on everything else rather than the extra weight i carried on my body every living moment of every living day!

I want to walk the marathon............. It was a crazy idea but I saw these people young, old, happy, smiling people, with looks of pure triumph on their faces, as they crossed that finish line.  I am 30 years old, why cant I be one of those smiling, happy people?.........so i started walking, i dragged my ass out on to the Sliema seafront everyday and walked,  I got shin splints and blisters and pain, I took catafast and voltaren and panadols, I stopped and cried a hundred times. How can you get so out of shape that you can't walk a mile without being in agony?.....I wanted to quit a thousand times, how much easier would life be to go home, put on some pyjamas, hide away from the rest of the world and eat a kit kat!.....But I persevered, and I knew it was gonna hurt but knew it was the only way. I WANNA WALK THE FRIGGIN' MARATHON!!!!  So I would put on my trainers and get my fat ass out there, day after day after day........I started making healthier food choices, my weight started to drop, slowly, steadily,  and then something happened....I walked the length of the seafront with NO pain, then it happened the next day and the next, I got faster, my muscles got stronger, I started to look forward to it. (WTF?) I was shocked!................ Marathon day came, i was so excited.....every person that walked/ran a marathon will tell you that you reach a point when you say, wow, this is actually gonna happen I will make it! That happened at Ta'xbiex.....I floated the last 4 km and crossed the line at 3hours and 5 minutes. 21 km in 3 hours.........when just over a year ago, I would cry in agony when I walked a mile! I was one of those smily, happy people. At that moment I swear to God, I felt like I could take on the world!

Different fitness challenges have kept me going and kept me fit over these last few years........in 2013 I will reach that pinacle age, the BIG 4-0..........I wanted a massive challenge......I wanna do something memorable for OTHERS and I wanna do something memorable for ME. Then I saw that picture of the triumphant, happy people that reached Uhuru peak, the roof of Africa........and decided that I want to be one of those smiling, happy people too, before I hit 40..........so, I scanned my brain for people that would do this with me...............The conversation went something like this dring dring dring dring (thats a telephone)............BRIAN!!!!!............. ow JEN!!!................listen Bri,  i wanna climb Kilimanjaro for charity before I turn 40.........no hesitation, no question was ever asked, nothing, the immediate response was "i'm coming with you" xxxxxxxx so plan in motion, Brian and I are climbing KILI....(so excited already!)

 

Now what? So thats sorted we are climbing but we have no idea about anything, no idea what charity, no idea the physical challenge, no bloody idea about anything!!!! So I am trawling through facebook a couple of days after this imfamous conversation and come across a page called KIlimanjaro Challenge 7, I click into it and this is whats written..............

 

You’re standing there, disheveled and broken, looking down at the world from a vantage point perched 20, 000 feet in the air. You take a moment to gather your wits and think. You contemplate your past and how this whole expedition has affected your outlook on the world so profoundly. Before Kilimanjaro came along, life was going by you, with nothing REALLY memorable to show for your efforts. You had always wanted to get involved in something marvelous; something that would provide you with memories that would long linger within, once all was said and done. All the sacrifices, the heartache, the physical exertion…striving to fund-raise for something that would ultimate help your fellow man….you’re not sure whether to laugh, smile or break down out in tears. It’s finally over, you made it. You have conquered the highest free-standing mountain on earth! Relief. 

Interested? Read on!

The mountain

Kilimanjaro, with its peak (Uhuru) at 5, 895metres is the highest free-standing mountain on the planet and is located in Tanzania in East Africa. Although no technical expertise is required, the trek is a very challenging feat and making it all the way to the top is not without its dangers. Rarified (oxygen-deprived) air, freezing temperatures, strong winds and energy-sapping screes of shale and ice will all take their toll. 

The cause

The expedition members will be expected to fund-raise for a home to accommodate 100 deaf, blind and physically disabled children in Awasi, Kenya. The present facilities (circa 30 km from our projected site) has been condemned and presently houses 35 children. The total cost for the project will be of 120, 000 euro, KC7 being responsible for financing the first phase (60, 000 euro) 

STILL interested? If so, contact me..........
Too good to be true!!!! So I called the number and spoke to Keith Marshall, this is the 7th one he's put together, he has raised with the help of all the past climbers over €350,000........OMG!!! A recent conversation with Keith went something like this........"Keith, I'm in, count me in and Brian"........."imma Jenzy it's early, shit happens, things change"................"Keith, listen to me dammit, I AM IN!!!!.........Keith sighs deeply and says ok, ok, your IN...............
Shit happened On 5th November, 2012 i just finishing my shift as a community nurse, it was about 6:15 and was "on call" til 7 so wanted to stay in my area in case any problems cropped up with the patients til then. As I crossed the road a massive black Tucson 4 x4 was belting up the road, I saw her coming towards me and knew immediately that this car was not gonna slow down, she was looking down into her lap and I knew that she was gonna hit me, so I ran, I ran as fast as my legs would take me towards the pavement and by all accounts and purposes, I nearly made it. As i was jumping on to the pavement the SUV caught my back leg on my left side I circled through the air and smashed into the barriers on the street corner. My arm was crushed by the barrier and the barrier actually broke. I fell to the ground back down and sustained a rather nasty head injury. I dont remember the impact, next thing I know i woke up on the floor, my head was being cradled by a lovely man and he was talking to me gently. I was in agony, my arm was mangled and crushed and I really wanted to be unconscious but everyone kept telling me to keep my eyes open. We (the people around me and myself) counted minutes till the ambulance arrived, it took exactly 12 minutes, they were the longest 12 minutes of my life........Damage sustaines basically reads like this: arm was rebuilt with plates and  15 pins, massive haematoma on leg at point of impact that may need further drainage and 15 stitches in my head and some nasty bruising just about everywhere.........a million things went through my head as i lay on the floor, waiting for that ambulance.........one of them is please sweet Jesus, I hope my legs are ok, cause i got a mountain to climb!!!!!
New Challenge I wanna climb that mountain, and I dont want that to be taken away from me, or the KC7 team or the 100 African children that need a home! There are 10 months for recovery and training, it's my new fitness challenge........also, I need your help.............This is my plan.....
1000 people sponser €5..........how much is a fiver? how many is 1000 people? WE can do this!!!!! That's what i want, I want 1000 people to sponser a fiver (I will happily accept any donation, in any amount!). Every single person that sponsers me will have their names put on a list, a fantastic list of people! This list will be lamenated and it will come with me every step of my journey.........I will photograph this journey, and as soon as you donate you become part of this journey, and hopefully when I hold up this list at Uhuru point,  YOU will summit with me! Finally my list will be sent to Dun Gorg and I will ask him to place the list in the foundation of the home......... waddya say? Is it worth a fiver?

Rewards

you will be placed on my list of sponsers, this list will follow me up the mountain and finally sent to dun gorg grima to be placed in the foundation of the building.

35 Backers

Organizer

Donors

  • Emmanuelle
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2013
  • Go Jenny!

€10.00
  • Judith Farrugia
  • Donated on Jul 08, 2013
€5.00
  • Judith Farrugia
  • Donated on Jun 11, 2013
€5.00

No updates for this campaign just yet

Donors & Comments

66 donors
  • Emmanuelle
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2013
  • Go Jenny!

€10.00
  • Judith Farrugia
  • Donated on Jul 08, 2013
€5.00
  • Judith Farrugia
  • Donated on Jun 11, 2013
€5.00
  • Alexandra
  • Donated on May 27, 2013
  • You're an inspiration to us all! Good luck sweetheart! You can do it! :D xxx

Amount Hidden
  • Judith Farrugia
  • Donated on May 06, 2013
€5.00
  • krista galea
  • Donated on Apr 30, 2013
€5.00
  • John
  • Donated on Apr 20, 2013
  • Go for it Jenny ;)

Amount Hidden
  • Michelle "Zumba" Smith
  • Donated on Apr 20, 2013
  • So proud of you Jenny!!!!

€5.00
  • Angela Embury
  • Donated on Apr 20, 2013
  • You made a difference !!!

€20.00
  • Matthew Farrugia
  • Donated on Apr 01, 2013
  • ... your story is really touching... when everything seemed to go downhill you kept your spirits high... everyone should learn from your story... Jenny keep focused on your target and I wish the best of luck!!

Amount Hidden
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Followers

3 followers
Miyoka Randle
pamfenech17
Melanie Garrido
€1,220.00
raised of €5,000.00 goal
24% Funded
66 Donors

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