LAUNCH DAY!

Look how innocent we were before all this began...

            This was a bad idea. That’s what I was thinking at the ¼ mark of the Grouse Grind the other day as we started our first ascent since deciding that we would devote every ounce of our physical energy in the next month and a half to climbing up a mountain. I won’t tell you what I thought at the half way mark (to print it would likely scare you away). It wasn’t that I thought I was going to die then and there as since we’ve lived here Jill and I have done it a number of times. It’s that I knew there would be coming days in the next little while when I would see this sign everyday and think every time about what came over us. I wondered what Jill was thinking? I decided it was something completely different as she seemed to be smiling (though I knew she was in pain). We agreed this summer that we wanted to do something different this coming year and since my parents, Monty and Connie, had volunteered for a medical mission in Tanzania we were interested and, after hearing all about it, excited about going along.

            By now you may have realized that we’re not trying to raise money by carrying beer up the grind to offer cold Moosehead Lager* as an alternative to the prices at the restaurant at the top. Nor am I planning to collect and bottle the fourteen gallons of sweat that seem to engulf me starting at about the 1/400 point on the trek (I’d like to see Don Draper try and market that). Jill and I have decided to subject ourselves to the Grouse Grind as many times as physically possible in the next month and a half (before it closes for the season and the polar bears migrate down to inhabit it) with hopes to raise money to help subsidize our medical mission. For those who's first thought is that the Grouse Grind is a new sexy, but fowl, dance that those darn kids are doing you're only partially right. It's also a 2.9km long arduous hike on the North Shore of Vancouver that has 853m of vertical gain that has been dubbed 'Nature's Stairmaster'. Feel free to learn more about the Grind by clicking the link to the right.

A Tough Sell

            The medical mission to Tanzania is run through the Canadian-Africa Community Health Alliance (CACHA) and provides medical care to those in Africa who have little or no access to healthcare. After hearing of some family friends that had attended a similar medical mission and some of the stories they had come back with we felt compelled to go along and help. From given children with life-threatening injuries and illnesses a chance at life, to providing used eyeglasses to adults who for the first time in their life see what it’s like to… see!

            At the same time I understand that a lot of people on this list are probably a lot like us and don’t have a ton of extra cash flying out of their pockets and/or get emails like this weekly so if you just want to come along for the ride and read our blog that’s cool too. Or not, we probably won’t call and quiz you but we hope it makes you stay interested in our endeavors and maybe have a few laughs (often at our expense). However, anything you can send us would be greatly appreciated and will go anything but unnoticed.

            The money will go towards our transportation and the provision of medical supplies. Together we need to raise $9000 and since the sweat market has dried up (or I’ve been informed never existed), Jill and I are hoping to fund at least some of it with help from you. In January, I’m hoping to take two weeks away from the office and Jill’s temporarily leaving her masters so we can try and do something for others in need… in Africa.
Cliché? Yes. Unoriginal? Yes. Overdone? Never.

            The Tanzanians that we'll treat have little or no access to proper healthcare and often have conditions of illnesses that, if left untreated, result in death. CACHA was created in 2001 and has since treated over 100,000 of those in desperate need of medical attention and hopes to continue its legacy well into the future. For more on CACHA, feel free to read our blurb on the right side of the blog or check out our links for the official website.

            We’ll be on a medical support team that travels in a caravan around the Kilimanjaro area and will be helping organize the medical centre and patients on a daily basis. 12 hour days will be the norm and 36 degrees will be the average temperature (remember the sweating? I do). My primary role will be in helping to design and build a “Prevention Through Empowerment” Women’s Centre for single mothers to live and receive the necessary education to eventually leave and work in the community to support their families. My goal is to design and detail the structure to modern building standards using local materials. This is critical as catastrophic natural disasters often result in heavy unnecessary casualties in third-world countries due to a lack of structural knowledge and resources.

            We tried to think of different ideas for how we were going to Fundraise; from $500 plate dinners** to “Dunk” Tanks to Beerpong tournaments, though none seemed to fit. Finally we realized that the area we’re going to is near Kilimanjaro and since we won’t get a chance to climb it this time we thought it could play into our cause. Our goal is to climb the grind the equivalent elevation, from sea level, of at least 3 Kilimanjaros or 2 Mount Everests. Bravely, we've also decided to accomplish this feat without the use of oxygen or sherpas. We promise you that we'll push ourselves to summit as quickly as physically possible and hope to take about 10 minutes off of our current time (55 mins to 45 mins).  A friend wisely suggested we use the pledge system that I remember so well from peewee hockey skate-a-thons. We’re going to ask that you pledge a set amount, whether it be $1, $10, or whatever you’re willing to give, for every time we summit the Mountain. We ask that you send an e-mail indicating the amount you’d like to pledge on a per-grind basis. At the end of October we’ll tally it up and ask that you donate directly to CACHA, who will gladly send you a tax receipt! Every little bit counts*** and would be appreciated. The best thing about this is the more you pay, the more pain we feel. Don’t worry, it’s a good pain. Unless you want it to be bad pain… whatever kind of pain you want it to be, it’s that.

            Were going to make it a purely interactive 21st century experience by using the ”internet” to bring you updates on our adventures on a Grindly basis. We’ll blog and post pictures about our latest grind adventure and keep you posted on how we’re progressing. In addition, we’ll put together a package from our medical mission and tell you all about the our experiences and the stories of those we’ve helped.

*Product Placement, cough it up Moosehead

** $500 plate dinners are still available, book now and you get to choose whether you prefer original or white cheddar

*** Cliché