KILIMANJARO December 1996 -January 1997 Objective: take to the summit of Africa's highest mountain (5895 metres) a substantial group of young people aged between 14 and 18 years-old, and give them their first major experience of international mountaineering. Take the young people close to the reality of Africa - its uniqueness, its natural environment - but also its strident social problems. Organisation: Gruppo Alpinistico Redorta of Villa di Serio (BG), the Gruppo Alpinistico Presolana of Scanzorosciate (BG). With the collaboration of the Provincia di Bergamo, Comune di Villa di Serio and of Scanzorosciate and the Unione Sportiva of Scanzorosciate. Patron: UNICEF Expedition leader: Massimiliano Giuliani. Sports significance: the Kibo 96 initiative was the closing phase in the long job of athletic preparation, which took place both in the mountains and the gymnasium, coordinated by a team which included trainers, doctors and physiotherapists. The young people chosen to go to Kilimanjaro all took part in this programme which intends to verify specific methods of training for young mountaineers. Scientific significance: verify, under the control of a specially formed medico-scientific equip, the physical response of young people to high altitude. Parallel initiatives: take medical assistance to the pediatric hospital of Nairobi, founded by Dr. Parenzan of Bergamo. Diary of the journey... Every one of us during our lifetime has experienced numerous emotions, joy, pain, satisfaction and bitterness. We are convinced that all men, every now and then, must stop and listen to the voice which comes from his heart and recognise those messages sent by the pure part of himself to the part most contaminated and, therefore, most subjected to pressure and the less attractive elements of the world that surrounds us. For those who like the mountains, this sensation and this possibility can occur often and, therefore, for such people it is easier to enjoy the fruit of life and feel the desire to transmit their enjoyment to others: to the youngest, to the young people, to children. Instead, those in life who already dedicate particular attention to their fellow man, whether for the work that he does or for a particular sensibility, cannot but notice that we do too little for the weakest among us and that our selfishness, even if we do not notice it, often provokes irreparable damage. Both these two types of consciousness or, in more fortunate cases, a sum of the two, has encouraged the growth in some of us of the desire to transmit it to others and this sparked off a series of finalised initiatives to this end. It is by now natural that many of us, adults and young people, are no longer used to walking, perhaps uphill, for many hours each day, for several days, and that, therefore, when we do so it represents for our bodies a considerable upset in our habits. So, as in every sports discipline, it is useful to evaluate one's own attitude to long periods of stress and reach an acceptable level of physical training. In any case, both from the medico-scientific point of view and from that of physical preparation, we have not underestimated the smallest detail. To go from ordinary altitudes to 4000-5000 metres without a minimum of adaptation can create conditions favourable to the appearance of the pathology which can be classified under the generic definition of "mountain sickness". It must be understood that, right from the first day, bad adjustment of the body to high altitude, even if it produces no apparent problem to begin with, is extremely dangerous, because such a situation can create greater, even dramatic pathological problems, which manifest themselves later in the climb to even higher altitudes. The ideal situation is when, progressively, a climber first affronts an altitude of between 2500-3000 metres and then returns to a lower level or, better still, stops and rests. One must arrive at the camp no later than the early afternoon, so as to have available the necessary rest time, perhaps tidying the camp or preparing the meal which will always be in the late afternoon. Before taking on a climb, it must always be remembered that the body, notwithstanding acclimatisation, progressively loses part of its aerobic power by the time the relatively low altitude of 2000 metres is reached, that at altitudes higher than 3000 metres the available energetic aerobic mechanisms are quite substantially reduced and, above 5000 metres, the body is subjected to a general deterioration which is quite marked at the level of some organs and mechanisms such as, for example, the muscular mass which diminishes in volume and in functional capacity. It is indispensable not to be in a hurry to climb, to eat and drink as much as possible in a balanced but varied manner and always top up salt and liquid reserves.