Going for Gold

WOW, so many emotionally charged events have taken place here in Africa since our last blog post. Sorry we have not updated you since then but after we said our sad farewells to our team at Kilimanjaro Int'l Airport, they boarded their flight home and we flew to Nairobi to climb Mt. Kenya. We were on the mountain for the past three days and now with Internet connection again we are finally able to share the most exciting and memorable part of the entire adventure (and that means a lot considering how many exciting and memorable experiences we've all had).

On September 12th after our final day on Safari we headed to the bustling city of Arusha for the long-awaited race chair presentation. As we pulled up to the Ilboru Safari Lodge we were pleasantly surprised by this lovely venue where the lush garden area had been transformed in to a proper celebratory setting. The owner graciously hosted food and drinks for all 40 of us. The group consisted of nine athletes, the leader of the Kilele Foundation, our CAFrica team as well as local media representation. Seeing these athletes entering the garden filled us with the same enthused anticipation that a kid feels on Christmas morning.

One by one they filed in and we greeted them with handshakes and hugs. We could see the excitement in their eyes. After introductions we said a blessing and expressed our gratitude for this enormous event to finally come to fruition. Some of us spoke a few words and then it was time to try out these race chairs. The athletes jumped in the chairs and took them for a test drive. Their competitive spirit shone through as they raced each other and their gigantic smiles from ear to ear told the whole story. Many of them have their sites set on the Boston Marathon 2013 and the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio was a hot topic among them. With the help of this equipment it would not surprise us to see some gold medalists come out of this fit and determined bunch.

Our hearts were filled with gratification and a bit of sadness when we had to say goodbye to our new friends. We look forward to seeing what their future brings and we are thrilled to have the honor of giving back to these most-deserving athletes.