A couple of weeks ago I met a young woman, Katrina Sokk, who is organising a fascinating trek to Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, as part of the charitable organisation Ladies Trekking. This is not like every other charity trek, however. The aim of the project is to send a group of 10 women, internationally renowned for their achievements in life, up Kilimanjaro. It will take place in February 2013, and Katrina got in touch with me because she is looking for another (ideally female) photographer to join the trek. My first thought as a possible trekker was Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and all round genius in terms advocating human rights of course, and my second was Clare Balding, all round broadcasting genius, who kept the Olympic flame of sports coverage well and truly burning for the duration of the games.
Back to photography, however….The women’s journeys and stories will be recorded in a high quality book, called Dreamers and Doers, which will be a collection of inspiring stories and breathtaking photos of those extraordinary women who take on the trek. 
And the reason for taking on the trek? For every copy of Dreamers and Doers sold (and they aim to translate it into several languages and sell 500,000 copies), one textbook will be given to Tanzanian children, depending on their age and education level. Most importantly, they will be textbooks compiled to cater for the needs of the local children, not Western imports of Enid Blyton hand-me-downs. In order to help children get an education Ladies Trekking Virtual Club established the Impatiens Kilimanjari Charitable Foundation to help find the right textbooks because, as Katrina points out “We often see charitable donations whereby people in Europe and America send school supplies to Africa. Unfortunately, these textbooks and supplies are used in American and European school systems, which means that they are often unsuitable for the African context. African children must learn from textbooks prepared in their cultural space. They have to learn about the history and traditions of their own countries. Textbooks prepared in our cultural space cannot be used with the textbooks of other cultural spaces. We can learn and share the educational experiences of our own cultural space, but we should let every country use their own opportunities and initiative”.
So together, the trekkers will bring the message “Everybody is entitled to education” to the summit. The book will not only profile the trekkers (or ‘education ambassadors’ as Katrina calls them) and their journeys, but also address problems concerning education around the world, locally and globally.
Could you be the other photographer? Are you experienced in capturing people’s journeys as well as the journey itself? The commitment as well as the climb? All expenses plus a small fee will be paid, so if you are interested and have relevant experience, please contact Katrina Sokk , Email: katrina@ladiestreking.com