Alumni Spotlight: Kevin Welch

Kevin climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with Ilya Brotzky and the Fistula-Free climb in January, 2010. Read on to hear his thoughts and reflections from the experience!

What did you wish you knew before climbing?

What I wish I knew going into the climb: bring a camelback that has an insulated tube. For the summit climb, mine froze and I had no water for like 8 hours! Haha, but I'll assume you want some more general advice. I would say go into the experience open-minded, and flexible, yet prepared. You should know it is very difficult and you will need to be dedicated. Treat it like you're running for a marathon. Out of the 11 people in our group, I think I had the best experience physically/emotionally, by effectively training before the climb. Between October and mid-December, I spent 6 days at the gym doing cardio in split daily sessions. In the morning I would run for ~30 minutes doing interval jogging/walking and then do resistance training, and then in the evening I would put the treadmill on maximum incline and do an additional ~30 minutes (my daily goal was burning 800 calories). In hindsight, I think I would have focused less on full-body weight lifting routines, and focused more on legs/back/core. I don't want to say it was excessive because it made the experience much more comfortable and enjoyable for me, and I think this could knowledge could really help other participants, but I know it's difficult to put that much time and effort into the training. A side effect of successfully training for the climb is I was in excellent spirits during the climb, and my body seemed extremely resilient to the altitude and other illnesses associated in being in a developing country. I'd also suggest start drinking water now and make it a habit, since dehydration is a major risk factor of altitude sickness and you don't want to shock your body by drinking 3-6L a day for the first time when you start climbing. In addition to being athletically conditioned for the climb, I got into amazing shape and have managed to retain my athleticism and have made my personal health and wellness an important aspect of my life. Also, be sure you have proper gear (which can be expensive - I'll address that in the next paragraph!)

Do you have any advice for fundraising?

Unique advice for Fundraising/Cost relief: Unfortunately I didn't raise nearly as much as wanted to since I had a crazy schedule that semester. However, I did reach out to my university's newspaper, as well as the regional and local newspapers in my city/hometown. Awareness through Facebook also helped, and friends and acquaintances made some donations. I departed right after the holidays, so I asked family members to donate instead of buying my Christmas gifts, and politely brought it up to any interested extended family members at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Gear/equipment for the climb was expensive. My undergrad graduation was in December, so as a graduation gift my parents contributed to my flight and some gear costs. You can easily find gear for affordable prices- use Craigslist and eBay to buy cheap hiking poles, used winter jackets, goggles, anything Gore-tex. I also went to Walmart and picked up waterproofing spray, which I used on my frame backpack (day pack), outside of my jacket, hiking gaiters, my duffel bag, and my boots. I think the only thing I bought brand new were premium hiking boots w/ medium ankle support (lightweight) which I wore around town the preceding month to break them in. Bottom line, materials/equipment you can easily find cheap used, and fundraising is easy if you network and show your dedication. How did the climb influence your life? The climb was highly influential and inspirational, not just for me, but for my friends and family as well. Personally, it is a very unique and amazing experience to raise money for a cause like this, and then be able to meet the people in the clinics who you are directly helping. It inspired me to go on to get my MPH in Global Health from Tufts University School of Medicine, where I returned to Africa for a semester and worked on preventing blindness in Ghana, and lead to a job at Harvard University conducted community-based participatory research on disease prevention among vulnerable populations. The climb inflamed my passion for global health, social justice, and preventative medicine (and of course adventure!) and I'm now back in school working on my Doctor of Public Health degree in Epidemiology (study of the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health) and I have pioneered the first ever "doctorate-international" in which I will complete my epidemiology rotations through the Peace Corps. I will be embarking to Malawi for 2+ years starting in March to continue global health work, and completing Peace Corps service leads to eligibility for high-level global health positions in a career w/ the CDC. Much of this is due to the amazing experience I had in Tanzania with Mountains for Moms, not just as a resume booster (which is definitely is - it has absolutely contributed to me getting health sector jobs and graduate school admission) but it's also a very remarkable way to demonstrate passion, ability, determination, cooperation, and dedication to a cause.

Special thanks to Karina Kedo, Mountains for Moms President at Northwestern University for the interview!