Anna-Neufeld-Kilimanjaro-CBC.m4a

One of the highest peaks in the world, stretching five thousand eight hundred ninety five meters above the plains and Tanzania. Well, for the past couple of weeks, Anna Neufeld has been gradually covering that distance one step at a time, doing laps across her room in the Rockcliffe retirement residence. It's just been getting a little help from her son, Ken. He climbed the mountain years ago, and he's been sending his mom detailed notes of what to expect each day.

Your night in the cave must have been a bit uncomfortable, even wearing your grandson's cozy flannel jacket. I see from the Kilimanjaro weather site that you will have woken up with snow on the ground, but the view from your cave is pretty spectacular. Looking back at the Mawensi cone. It's lower than the Kibo cone you are climbing, but it's so hard to climb that almost no one does it.

Well, it's a bit of Ken reading, one of his daily climbing instructions for his 88 year old mother, Anna. And big news because earlier this week, Anna reached the summit. Ken and Anna, Good morning.

Good morning.

Anna. How many steps did you take in total?

One hundred and twenty eight thousand nine hundred and sixty three.

That's extraordinary. How do you feel?

Fine. Thank you.

Describe Anna, what your room looks like and how many steps it would take just to get across it.

Well, from the entry door and through the window, which faces east is in a straight line and it the one lap that lay and 50 steps. And then this is a living room which has a table and my chair and a new tree that I just got. And then the bedroom has the bed, of course, and dresser and a cute computer and two card tables where I do puzzles.

Anna how did you keep track of each of those over 100,000 steps you took?

I would walk to the window and back and keep track on my hand. How many times I did that and when I had done it five times I wrote down the number five and then I did 10 of those five and three times that for one day.

What did it feel like to summit to take that last step?

Yesterday, my my foot is sore, this is finished. And today is fine again. So I read it. It sounds good.

Well, that's very good to hear and congratulations.

Thank you.

Ken, turning over to you, we heard a bit of your climbing instructions there. They are so vivid. And of course, they come from your experience of climbing Kilimanjaro yourself. When did you do that?

I did it in 1986. It was a long time ago and I was a young fella. I was working in Tanzania at that time and I had some friends come from Canada and we climbed. We climb the mountain. It's a not a technically difficult climb, but it's you get to a very, very high altitude, much higher than normal person who is not a mountain climber can get to the altitude, the big challenge.

And the instructions that you would send your mom every day. The descriptions, where did those come from?

From my memory and back in those days, we didn't have digital cameras, so I have very few pictures of that time. So those images that I used and the instructions are large are largely taken from research on the internet, but the stories are mine.

What do you remember about the day that you reached to the summit of Kilimanjaro, Ken.

That it was cold and that we were we were pretty exhausted and that we were quite elated to get to the top and then, of course, going down is actually possibly more difficult than going up because it's so steep. And you know, a lot of people eventually lose their toenails from jamming their feet into their boots and your quads get extremely tired. And that's what I remember.

Hmm. Anna, what has it meant to you to get those notes, those descriptions from your son?

I could just respond to them like whatever one day he he talked about as being very slippery and you stepped up one step and feedback too. And that was the day I decided to use my cane to do walked me inside. And then I could say that my using my cane on those difficult tracks was really helpful.

And when was the last time you were able to go outside?

Oh, I think I was on a friday. Well, that was a week ago, and they discovered that we actually had one case and we were completely locked in our rooms.

So if I just clarify you, it's been three weeks since she is been outside. Mum was really looking forward to getting out and theyof there. That was extended. So.

Oh boy.

And actually, her husband is in is in a long term care facility, and he hasn't been out for quite a bit longer than that. So we're just trying to do what we can to make things a little bit easier. She was supposed to go and visit, have a window visit with her husband, but of course she won't be able to go, so I'll be going to see him. He hasn't seen any family member now for since the year since the start of the outbreak, so it's even harder he's suffering from dementia so.

Yeah, no kidding. You would think that being in lockdown, that's what might have been the inspiration for this idea to climb Kilimanjaro. But actually, Ken I understand that it really started as a fundraiser for a local charity called Tembo Canada that helps out girls in northern Tanzania. Why did you think that this was just the right thing for your mother?

Just seen sead on the idea of trying to take advantage of this to provide her with some inspiration and at the same time, to try to get some funds together for this organization particularly focuses on girls education for girls who live in northern Tanzania. I was a teacher in Tanzania in the 80s, had a girl boarding school, actually, so that's a subject that's particularly close to my heart and to my mom's as well. They were able to visit me back then in those days.

And Ken, can I ask how much money Anna raised?

I didn't check the figures this morning, but she was closing in on $3000 dolars.

That's fantastic. Anna, how has this connection without having a physical connection with your son? What has that meant to you?

Oh, he used to come to visit now. He's always been in just done telephone. And a you have a connection. I face the bridge. I cross the river. What's the name of the bridge Ken?

It is the bridge on St. Patrick.

Yes, that's right. And so they come to the bridge and they call me and then I go to my window and we can communicate that way. They can see me, or you can wave and we can throw kisses and and they can talk that way. So it it's it's helpful. It's it's it's good. It's encouraging.

How are you coping right now, Anna?

Oh I think I'm doing okay. We're we're looking forward very much to being released on Monday evening, coming if all things being equal.

And Ken, do you have another walking adventure planned for your mom?

We're going to send around a little bit of a safari around the game park there and getting there for a couple of days. And then I was thinking of flying over to Vancouver Island and walking her down the West Coast Trail.

It's a wonderful. It's so great to talk to you both, and I hope you can get some real life visit soon. That would be wonderful for you both. Thank you, Anna, and thank you Ken. .

Thank you.

Anna Neufeld just walked the number of steps it would take to climb Mount Kilimanjaro all through a whole whilst being locked down in her apartment at the Rockcliffe Retirement Residence. She got daily climbing instructions from her son, Ken. The goal was to raise money for Tembo Canada, a charity which helps girls in northern Tanzania receive an education. [MUSIC]