Written by Isabel on the “SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT: Kilimanjaro” tumblr page in 2010.

About 3 1/2 years ago when Kenna and I became friends, he told me about his first trip to Kili, how he didn’t reach the summit. He wanted to return and expand on the adventure of climbing by making it personal, relating to his Dad and to create awareness about the global clean water crisis. At that time, it was just a seed of a thought. Kenna is one of my best friends and he is a man of his word, I never doubted he’d fail to bring this dream to fruition. I just didn’t know what the scale of it would be—it’s become much more immense than I imagined at the time.

I feel like I was emotionally supporting and a part of the project from the get go. It’s such an incredible opportunity to visit a new part of Africa and an amazing adventure for a cause that’s vitally important. And we, in water rich nations, unfortunately have no idea the extent of the problem. Kenna told me a lot about the issue and as I delved deeper, I did a lot of self-informing and I watched 4 documentaries…FLOW (For The Love Of Water), Blue Gold, A World Without Water, and The Acid Test. What most hit me was how disconnected and unaware so many of us in western cultures and fast-paced society are. And this is not a minor issue that’s not going to go away, this is a looming catastrophe.

I feel fortunate to be in the position to where I have the opportunity to talk about things I care about and hopefully many others do too. This is a new cause for me, but it’s related to some others I’ve been a part of—The Whaleman Foundation, Sea Shepherd Society, Protect The Coral Sea Campaign and then the peaceful protest in Japan against the slaughtering of dolphins and whales.

If this were to end today…I feel like I’ve leaned so much. Some of it subconscious which will gradually sift into my consciousness in everyday life. The talks with the educators have been wonderful and really informative. I’ve been fortunate to come to Africa twice before this and what really stays with me is how the beautiful energy of Africa opens your heart. The land, the people, the music and the mountain… Trekwise, it’s been empowering to see when you’ve reached the point where you’re exhausted and have hit your exertion limit and find out you still somehow have energy in reserve…and you see how the body is such an incredible machine and you keep going…

– Isabel Lucas