By The EastAfrican

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A group of 27 climbers with varying disabilities recently conquered Mount Kilimanjaro and could be the largest single such group to trek to the summit.

The trekkers, drawn from Tanzania, Peru, Aruba, Israel as well as Texas, Montana, New York, and New Jersey in the United States, used the Marangu route — preferred by many non-professional climbers and also known as the Coca Cola trail — to reach the peak.

Among the climbers was a woman who was initially paralysed in 2009 and while regaining her ability to walk, got involved in a car accident and suffered a higher vertebra injury paralysing her even further.

There was a Tanzanian man with paraplegia who lives at the base of Kilimanjaro and always dreamed of making it to the top. There was a paralysed woman from Peru, who travels the world by herself advocating for inclusivity and accessibility. There was also an Israeli adventure and thrill junkie who got paralysed after an accident.

Others were a marathoner who had a debilitating injury and uses trekking poles to cover long distances; a 9/11 first responder who was injured on that fateful day, and several people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some of the team members help the physically challenged trekkers up Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. PHOTO | COURTESY | FAISR

Organised and supported by the New-York based Friends of Access Israel, the group set out on February 4, for the five-day trek and summited the “roof of Africa” on the morning of February 9.

This feat lived up to the organisation’s objective of raising awareness on the need to improve accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities and the elderly; and to enable them to live a normal life, enabling them to work, travel and study, with dignity, equality and independence.

“Twenty-seven people arrived with the same forward-thinking individual goals. Yet it was a desire to share their goal with others in verse and deed that enabled them to conquer many barriers to reach the peak,” said the executive director of Access Israel.

Friends of Access Israel uses education, advocacy, travel and technology to advance ideas that break down barriers for people living with disabilities.