Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for Just.Equipping 
John de Vries
 
The seven hour summit climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro was gruelling and challenging. After our dark 11:45 pm start, the 50-60 degree upward climb seemed endless. Each hopeful look ahead revealed the headlamps of climbers before me almost perpendicularly above. Holding tenaciously to crevasses or rocky protrusions to make sure there were no missteps, I decided that the best strategy would be to focus on the heels of the climber in front of me. The words of our guide, pole pole (Swahili for slowly, slowly) were reassuring and helped us set a slow and steady pace upward. At 18,000-19,000 feet the air was increasingly thin, cold and windy.
Our fund-raising climb began almost a year before the actual ascent. While spending February and March 2011 in the African Great Lakes Region with Just.Equipping (a Canadian charity committed to educating, training and equipping in the area of restorative justice), I learned much about that organization’s work in Rwanda, Congo and Burundi led by the Rev. Dr. Pierre Allard and his wife Judy. With the Rwanda genocide (1994) becoming more distant history, finances have become a recent concern for Just.Equipping. The solution came somewhat unexpectedly when Monty, an ex-warden, heard Pierre speaking on Ontario Today (with Rita Celli) about the life-transforming ministries of restorative justice. Monty and Donna set up a luncheon with Pierre in Kingston and suggested a fundraising climb. Word filtered through the Correctional Services of Canada (CSC), where I had served as a chaplain, and I was grabbed by the possibility for adventure. If a senior oncologist friend of mine was able to peak Mt. Kili, why not me?
Thirteen people signed up for the trip, and I hadn’t met even one of them before. But when we shared our bios and pictures, I told my wife that I would be in good company. Seven of my teammates were experienced climbers, four were runners, one was a gymnast, and all had a passion for restorative justice. It was a winning combination. On Jan. 20 we met for the first time at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, en route to Tanzania and Mt. Kilimanjaro.  
You might be wondering what exactly restorative justice is. While criminal justice asks what rules were broken, who is to blame and what the punishment should be, restorative justice asks what happened, who was harmed and how do we fix it. Restorative justice involves community, and nurtures healing and renewed life together (see CRC Synod 2005, Restorative Justice Study Report). So we were climbing for a very worthy cause.  

Reaching the top

Many climbers do not make it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is 19,351 feet above sea level. During our climb the realities of HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) made it important to attend to our twice-daily oxidization and heart readings. We were told that we were a strong and fit group, but high altitude diseases do not spare the healthy. It was very important for us to listen to our five trained guides, and to faithfully drink 3-5 litres of water per day. “Water is life,” Brytton, our lead guide, unfailingly reminded us. 
As we approached the summit, firm hands and fingers were needed for a better grip to propel the body upwards. After two long hours of climbing in darkness, it comforted me to know that our final assault of the world’s highest freestanding mountain was one-third over. Only four more hours! Would I make it? Remembering that more persons have died climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro than climbing Mt. Everest was no comfort.   	
Successfully reaching the top was an amazing experience, and 12 out of 13 of us made it. What was equally (if not more) amazing was the harmony and relationship experienced among our team. As life as a team evolved, I took on the role of chaplain. I facilitated evening prayers and each day invited members to share their “thought for the day.” This gave us material to share and reflect on at the end of the day in our porter-carried dining tent.  
Another amazing thing about our team was its intercultural unity. As our first day fell on the Chinese New Year, we remembered this celebration in honour of Ben, a CSC researcher of Chinese background. On Jan. 23 we ate Scottish Haggis and celebrated Robby Burns day in honour of Alister, a Scottish Correctional Manager. Later we celebrated a Quebec evening, after which Lynne and I – the representative Dutch on the team – were called up to highlight a Dutch evening featuring Dutch diet, history and practices. It was good fun that eased the strain of our gruelling climbing days.    
What is our next goal? That question wasn’t answered per se, but as we parted we took with us fond memories of the climb and the relationships we’d formed. After all, restorative justice is all about relationships. There will always be tensions and differences, but by using what kids in restorative justice schools would call the “talk it out solution,” the healing outcome is up to us.  

Rev. John de Vries is a retired CRC chaplain who has worked for CSC and served as Regional Coordinator of Chaplaincy Services Ontario. He is currently employed part-time as the Canadian CRC Restorative Justice Coordinator, serves as vice president of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC), and represents the CRC on the Federal Interfaith Committee of CSC. In April he plans to run the Boston marathon to raise funds for the CCJC.