Mary Kalikawe and William Rutta reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro: post 2 of 4

Mary Kalikawe is the Managing Director of Kiroyera Consulting, a tourism company based in Bukoba which opened a branch office in Mwanza in 2010. She joined the 3^rd Annual Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb in December 2010. 

While I set off from the west with Jaffar Amin from Londrossi Gate on 7th December 2010 on the Lemosho route, Mary and William Rutta also set off from the east from Marangu Gate on the Machame route. 

In this second of four posts she shares her experience of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Mary Kalikawe

A day before the beginning of the gruesome climb, I and William Rutta, Chairman of BUDAP, met Madaraka and Tshombe Jaffar in Moshi at a press conference arranged to publicize the event. It was an uplifting feeling to be in the presence of these two great sons of Africa who are putting reconciliation ahead of a now forgotten bitter history.

At the press conference: L-R, Mary Kalikawe, Madaraka Nyerere, Jaffar Amin, and William Rutta.

Tshombe Jaffar, father of five children, now running a private business in Dubai is a flamboyant cheerful character. He is very dark like his father, tall and on the handsome side. He is a writer like Madaraka and has a keen interest in history, especially of his tribe and its legends. He talks of his youth and the many questions he used to ask his father. He tells of some harsh treatment he sometimes got from school from those who would dare not confront his father but found Tshombe’s then docile character a room to revenge. They pinched him for being a Moslem and for being the son of the ruling president. It made them happy, a little revenge that they got away with. 

Coffee break after the press conference. L-R, William Rutta, Mary Kalikawe, and Jaffar Amin.

Tshombe Jaffar believes the exceptional fame in the two names of their respective fathers, Idd Amin Dada and that of Mwalimu Nyerere should be harnessed to draw development to the East African nations. Why should all the books and movies on his father go without any yield, he asks? Other clever people are earning big money on his name, he laments.

Next: Tackling Mt. Kilimanjaro

Other posts related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/06/mary-kalikawe-and-william-rutta-reach_14.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/06/mary-kalikawe-and-william-rutta-reach_16.html