You are hereBlogs / Glenn's blog / Trekking for Keren Owens.com
Trekking for Keren Owens.com
Hi! Glenn here!
I will be trekking the Machame route from Monday 3rd November 2008, to raise funds, and public awareness of the fantastic work carried out at the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice.
My wife and I had our third child in April 2006. Very shortly after her birth, she was diagnosed with quite a rare genetic disorder, called Trisomy 18, or Edwards Syndrome. This syndrome is extremely life-limiting, and wee Keren was only with us for eight weeks, four days. Keren was cared for wonderfully in her short, precious life, by the medical staff in the SCBU in Antrim Area Hospisal, and also in the Causeway Trust Hospital, and we met many wonderful,caring people in these hospitals, that we will never forget. The Children's Hospice is the focus of my fundraising this year, because Keren spent her last week there, and the Hospice made such a lasting impression on our family, and will always be remembered with fondness, for the outstanding treatment that our whole family received when we were there.
The Northern Ireland Children's Hospice is an extraordinary place, totally funded by public donation. It really does a wonderful work, not just for the patients, but for whole families. The way they took our other two children under their wing, entertaining and helping them, was fantastic...it really was a "Home from Home". Lofty, the resident rabbit, is still remembered fondly! It is impossible to say, in a few words, how much the Hospice meant to us at that time, and ever since, but we are trying over the coming months, to relate some of our memories, and feelings on our website... www.KerenOwens.com please feel free to visit, and browse around. You can read articles about wee Keren, and follow the training for Kilimanjaro, and I will be posting photographs, and info, in the weeks following our trek.
My five companions are raising funds for the BCFC Academy, Kenya, and their site is www.kilimanjaro2008.co.uk, great bunch of guys, I couldn't wish for a better group to go with.
Myself at the Causeway Coast
Please visit www.KerenOwens.com and cheer me on!
- Glenn's blog
- Add new comment
- 297 reads
Hey Glenn,
I'm truly sorry for your loss, and that's a touching site you put together in memory of Keren. It looks like you've done a great job fundraising, and I made a small donation to the Children's Hospice on behalf of KiliTrekker.Com.
A couple of things I wish I had done for my Kili trip are:
1) Instead of bringing all my newest hiking gear, bring more of the old unused stuff (e.g. rain jacket, fleece sweaters, mittens) hiding in the back of my closet, and donate it to the porters at the end of the trip. Some people are uncomfortable doing this, thinking that the gear will just be resold as soon as the porters get off the mountain, but I think that's legit. Another alternative is to donate gear to an organization such as the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project which lends it out to Kili porters.
2) Bring items to trade with local Tanzanians. Lots of people tried to sell me souvenirs in Tanzania, but what surprised me was that many of them seemed just as interested in trading their trinkets for my stuff as for cash. Wristwatches, hats and t-shirts with logos from home, sunglasses were all in demand. Unfortunately I didn't have any extras to trade. I was never really sure if people wanted them for their own use, or to resell, but perhaps that doesn't really matter.
Hope you have a great climb, and come back to the KiliTrekker.Com site to let us know how it went, and to share any advice of your own!
--Turtle
PS, I really liked your photos of hiking on the Emerald Isle... they made me want to revisit my ancestral homeland in Donegal!
Turtle says "pole pole"
Has anyone any last minute advice? We are doing the Machame route, with Adventure Alternative, and we will be staying in Moshi.
Thanks
Glenn
[ www.kerenowens.com ]