“Huuuuuurgh, huurgh” by Harriet

A much needed rest!

“Huuuuuurgh, huurgh”. No, that’s not a Swahili phrase we learned and remembered because it had a personal resonance for us all. It’s the sound of me not very discreetly vomiting on the side of the mountain, quickly followed with the response “it’s malaria” from a passing walker.

Oh yes, I was sick, but it wasn’t malaria and I wasn’t going to let my weak and sickly constitution (code for suspected altitude sickness) hold me back. Incidentally, if Sallie were writing this, she would probably tell you otherwise, but that’s because she misinterpreted my cries of “get me off this mountain now”. And in all seriousness, big thanks to her and the rest of the team for looking after me and keeping me motivated during my three days of curious stomach complaints and odd bouts of wheezing.

I’m sure everyone in the team will write about the scale of the challenge; the ever changing scenery; the great comaraderie between us all; and the sheer elation of reaching the top. They were all highlights for me too. The thing that really struck me though, and even more so because I was ill, was how difficult it was not to have running water or proper toilets. It’s probably an odd thing to note, but I hadn’t realised just how much I take them for granted in my own life. It all made me appreciate, and so much more than I had before,  just how great the work that WaterAid does is. And if I had to give just one highlight of the trip for me, it wouldn’t be the mountain, it would be visiting Qash village and seeing a WaterAid project in action. Witnessing the difference a simple water pump had made to the villagers was genuinely awesome.

And, I really want to emphasise that we couldn’t have done it without the great support we had from: the porters on the mountain; our colleagues at Severn Trent Water; the Water Aid team in York (particularly for translating our fatigued ramblings over the satellite phone into a really great blog); and everyone who sponsored us. The £32,000 we’ve raised so far has made it all very worthwhile.

Harriet