Maltese climbers prepare for Kilimanjaro challenge

Sixteen Maltese are gearing up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro , Africa’s highest mountain, in a campaign to raise funds for the building of an orphanage in Kenya.

The expedition is being held for the fourth time by the Reaching Out Group, which will be holding several fund-raising events ahead of its departure.

Group leader Keith Marshall, coordinator of Reaching Out, said the participants started intensive training for the gruelling expedition in October.

He said they hoped to raise €65,000 for the orphanage, which will take abandoned children, and children whose parents fall victim to Aids or tribal wars. The group members will meet their own expenses to go to Africa. The climbers include 16-year-old students to 45-year-old professionals.

Mount Kilimanjaro, at almost 6,000 metres, is the highest free standing mountain in the world and presents an exhausting challenge, with climbers also risking hypothermia and frostbite.