TanExpo

sed to more than 110 per year. The 10th anniversary of the Kili Challenge took place on June 18-24, 2011. The GGM Kilimanjaro Challenge remains a mulitnational collaborative partnership involving local and foreign companies and individuals from across the globe for this very noble cause, of saving lives from HIV/AIDS, and giving the people of Tanzania hope of an HIV/AIDS free future. The challenge’s circle of climbers has continued to widen as Tanzanians join hands with people from Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zimbabwe, Ireland and China. Since 2002 more than 600 people have participated in the charity climb, with the youngest being an 11-year boy and the oldest at 84, none other than the retiring President, H.E. Many of the climbers over the years have lost relatives and close friends to HIV/AIDS, which has made the climb all the more relevant to them. The challenges faced daily by many in the wake of these deaths are far from over. These include thousands of orphans needing care after losing parents, widows without income, and the aged who are forced out of retirement to earn money to care for young grandsons and daughters left behind by deceased parents. There is also the problem of society distancing and shunning People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). In Tanzania, as many as 40% of orphans and PLHIV are being cared by elders and senior citizens. The Kilimanjaro Challenge remains the first known initiative to take people living with HIV virus to the top of the mountain. Julius Kaaya took that honour in 2004 when he joined the climb. The theme for 2004 was "Eradication of Stigmatization". His efforts inspired others living with HIV to start living with purpose again. Miss Tanzania 2005, Miss Faraja Kota, climbed to highlight the plight of women in the fight against HIV/AIDS. International Ambassadors for the challenge include Rory Lawson (Scotland Rugby World Cup Captain, 2011), David Callam (Scotland Rugby International) and Krynauw Otto (Springbok Rugby World Cup Winner, 1995) have climbed to the summit with the team in order to endorse the charity and increase international awareness of the Kili Challenge. The list also includes number of senior executives from various corporations. The CEO of Ashanti Goldfields, Trevor Schultz (2003), CEO AngloGold Ashanti, Mark Cutifani (2009), CEO Celtel Tanzania, Bashar Arafeh (2007), AGA Vice President Richard Duffy (2009) and GGM Managing Directors, Michale van Anen (2014), Gary Davies (2011), Graham Ehm (2010) and Peter Turner (2003) were among those who joined different Kilimanjaro Challenge expeditions. Presently the organising committee is looking for public figures such as sportsmen and women, actors, musicians, politicians and businessmen and women to join us and become ambassadors for this worthy cause. Around 400 Tanzanians have been given the opportunity to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro through the GGM Kilimanjaro Challenge. These climbers have all been sponsired by Anglo Gold Ashanti and other sponsors over the past 15 years. These climbers, Tanzanian and foreign, are inspired by Tanzania's Father of the Nation, the late President Julius Nyerere, who on 22 October 1959 addressed the Tanganyika Legislative Council shortly before independence, in a landmark speech on the importance of Mt. Kilimanjaro to the country and Africa as a whole. He declared “We the people of Tanganyika, would like to light a candle and put it on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which would shine beyond our borders, giving hope where there was despair, love where there was hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation."