Climb High Foundation:
Changing the lives of women in Western Uganda

The Rwenzori Mountains – which border Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – are in an area that has been plagued by border conflicts for decades. Because of the violence in the area, these mountains were closed for many years, but they opened up again in 2001. I planned to go there with some friends in 2005 with the goal of summiting Uganda’s highest peak (Mt Stanley), but once we began to research the area, we discovered some shocking facts that changed the mission of the adventure entirely.

The Bakonjo are the local tribe that inhabit this area, and within their culture, local women are actually considered property of men. They have few legal rights (if any), and their subordinate social status translates into a lack of access to education and healthcare, low life expectancy (42 yrs) and a life of poverty. Clearly this is unacceptable, and we wanted to help these women level the social and economic playing field.

Of course the best way to do that is to give them some economic power. Given the mountains were right there in their backyard, teaching them skills that would allow them to benefit from trekking and climbing-related tourism would enable them to earn a sustainable living wage which would lead to an improved quality of life for them and their families. We started small – and initially trained 7 local Bakonjo women to work as porters and trekking guides and then got them jobs in Rwenzori National Park — which is HUGE because it was the first time these women had ever earned an income.

With the money they earn they are able to make meaningful, long-term improvements to their quality of life. When I returned home I started an organization called the Climb high Foundation to help these women and have since returned to the area several times to train more and more women to work in these jobs. For me, it’s never about reaching the top of a mountain. It’s about having some impact along the way.