What started as a Covid era Zoom conversation among the board members of a (then tiny) little non-profit called KDA (Kidney Donor Athletes), led to 30 million people learning about the life saving gift of organ donation (in 2022 alone). We went on to climb 2 more times (Everest Basecamp and Kilimanjaro) in 2023, with the support of UNOS (the United Network for Organ Sharing). That 2023 message of what’s possible post organ donation reached 100 million!
Never under estimate the power of good intentions (and lots of planning around the kitchen table)! Read on for our personal recap of that beautiful 2023 trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro or to watch the Good Morning America piece or the award-winning mini documentary on the 2022 Kili climb.
Personal Recap of 2023 Kilimanjaro
Oh Tanzania, what a gift you are. Your lands and majestic Mt Kilimanjaro are prime National Geographic beauty… but your people… oh my… they are grace, presence and genuine kindness personified. From 22 year old porter, Abel, who had the simple yet profound wisdom to tell Bobby that “Real sees Real”, to the director of the non-profit Moshi dialysis clinic who feels so called to help that he goes home to India only a couple of times a year, to the many, many smiles, songs, words of gentle encouragement and helping hands that, daily, accompanied our journey up the slopes of Kilimanjaro, to Freddie and Hans at Embark Exploration Co who did everything in their power to aid these efforts (and then some – true gems those two!), to the connections and comradery shared between camps, each person and the people as a whole, are beautiful. Our mission was to help save and heal lives by raising awareness about living organ donation, and to that end nearly 70 million people in the US and over 20 million in Tanzania and East Africa (and counting) will have the chance to hear how they too can save a life…but what we witnessed and continue to receive from our journey, lifts our hearts and spirits with unbridled beauty and immense gratitude.
This journey may have never happened if it weren’t for the generosity of one kind and determined heart. There were people in his community who didn’t think it should happen again (or so soon)… But knowing 13 people a day, in the US, die waiting for a life-saving transplant, knowing there were people on a far away continent who, likewise struggled (and that his and colleagues’ efforts in 2022 opened a door to help them as well), he stepped out on this path alone, with just his inner knowing that he needed to continue the work. As he embarked on this effort (this beautiful Bobby I am infinitely grateful to share life with), he created an email address speaking to this motivation: effortlessripples@gmail.com. For you see, that kind heart knows there is (of course) great effort, countless hours were spent both last year and this…but kindness and the ripples it creates, THAT is where the effortless enters. All kinds of kindness: from organ donation, to being genuinely present or supportive, to a simple smile. When we all let go of ego, worry and fear and we simply exist in a space of presence…kindness is what ensues, it flows from the essence of our souls…and creates ripples…the best kind of ripples. We discovered that people will misunderstand those ripples of generosity, they will let fear/judgment and their own sense of ownership, compel them to thwart the efforts they don’t understand (and maybe haven’t even asked the question to understand)… they may even lash out to “protect” themselves. If we lived with and let our own fears/hurts guide our choices, that would be a very painful place to exist…especially knowing the genuine nature of the efforts (and not understanding their reactions)… and we might even stop doing the things we are called to do. But the amazing gift of listening to and opening your heart, the gift of acting on what calls to you, and allowing what you experience to come from the deepest wells of who you are (and how you love), eventually vanquishes that potential hurt…and cracks the doors wide open to live fearlessly and passionately.
Then you wake up one day on a different continent, amongst kind and generous humans, all with the same dreams in mind. To help. To heal. To step up and help others, with no motivation other than maybe someone, somewhere, walks the world healthier and happier. And then, BONUS, you get to laugh and love, and be without judgment but with freedom and joy among those people. You watch the gift of a team materialize before your eyes: Tom creates a non-profit, Kimberly searches for donors, Kari tirelessly creates a website and social media, Mandi populates the social media and dispenses her well organized meds among all who need them, Jessica advises and accompanies or walks behind those who ail, time after time, Kenny makes everyone laugh, Connie photo documents so much she gets her phone taken away mountainside 🤣 (for safety reasons, while scrambling with long drop exposure) and the list could go on and on, Liam starts thinking maybe he too can be a donor, Anthony (Lindsay Gutierrez) knows when work allows he will, @Freddie (Embark) hires a car so the TZ media can write the story, @Hans gives you the warmest, heartfelt hug when you are turning around sick as a dog, Susan walks on with quiet grace despite barely being able to walk, Tom of Summit Pointe Productions, LLC video’s and creates community, Doug gives warm moral support to dialysis patients (and he and Kim even financially support someone’s dialysis for many months), the United Network for Organ Sharing team uses their expertise and connections to spread the word….I could really keep going because every Living Donor Adventures teammate “brings it” with immense positivity. This team walked, laughed, cried, and even puked and had diarrhea 😳😂 in the space of that kind of open and REAL. We marveled at the feats and generosity of our guides and porters, laughed at and with each other, supportively walked alongside each other when things were tough, and cheered with tears glistening when we heard the Tanzanian news was going to create a documentary based on living organ donation and highlighting kidney health in TZ (with the help of the dialysis center and some of the footage they took of our efforts)… and each of us marveled at the ease of coming together as a “family,” North American and Tanzanian alike, to spread awareness about the life saving gift of organ donation and to lovingly put one foot in front of the other and climb that high altitude mountain. Every individual contributed: organ donor, advocate, recipient, guide company, porters, cooks, guides, financial donors, big media sources, those who shared things with friends or on social media, every last person connected to this effort contributed to a healthier world. And THAT’S what listening to your inner voice can lead to!
We head home celebrating those ripples. Joyful tinged with sorrow good byes. Blisters. Dirt in every crevice. Aching quads. Tons of photos. Medicine kits depleted. Hearts full. Countless lives experiencing a glimmer of hope or having an “a ha” moment as they listen to that inner voice.
🧡 Listen to that inner voice that comes from the heart, whatever it is saying to you.
🧡 Love fearlessly
🧡 Live REAL.
🧡 Be YOU from your best places. YOU are what the world needs. Not what you think you “should” be, or what people “want” you to be…but who you are.
🧡🧡🧡 And if you feel compelled, do something, grand or silently small, to bring good to the world….it will ripple.
PS
Kilimanjaro Summit 2
Bobby and Stacey 0
😂 🤷♀️ 💕
But not really….it was everything we could have ever hoped for, and then some.