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Cape Town - Cape Town student Chaeli Mycroft describes herself as an ability activist, wheelchair user, student and co-founder of The Chaeli Campaign.
The campaign is centred around her journey to becoming the first female quadriplegic to summit Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest free-standing mountain in the world - in seven days no less.
Chaeli and her team kicked off the epic adventure on Friday, 27 August and on 30 August she celebrated her 21st birthday en route to achieving the new world record saying, "Guess what? I’m 21 today! I couldn't have asked for a better place to celebrate it. What a backdrop! I’d love to show you some pics, but our signal is very limited here."
The Chaeli Campaign is made up of a team of climbers who aim to positively change the mind-set and mobility of children with disabilities. Chaeli, herself has cerebral palsy and says she created the Chaeli Conquerors to show the importance of working together to achieve seemingly impossible goals.
"Just because someone has a disability, doesn’t mean there should be a limit to what they can achieve,"says Chaeli.
Chaeli hopes that the Mount Kilimanjaro climb will help raise funds to support the Inclusive Early Childhood Development Centre run by the Chaeli Campaign.
The climbers are being led by East Africa expert, Carel Verhoef, who has climbed Africa’s tallest mountain nine times before.
Chaeli is climbing in a specially designed wheelchair, with a team of 15 people assisting her to Mount Kilimanjaro’s summit. In areas that are too narrow, a customised carrier backpack will be used instead of the wheelchair.
The Kilimanjaro ascent will take longer than most climbs, as the team will move slower due to the wheelchair and to acclimatise to the challenging conditions of the mountain.
You can follow Chaeli and the climbers’ progress on Kilimanjaro in real-time here via a website designed by Discover Africa, which allows users to follow Chaeli’s journey to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Have you conquered Kili, what was it like? Share your travel experience emailing info@traveller24.com. You can also join us on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts.
