The Planning

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Trip Start Sep 29, 2007 Trip End Oct 29, 2007 Next
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  Buffalo, New York, United States
Monday, September 10, 2007

The continents collide, the mountains then rise,
We humans can move, but can I also rise?
My goal: to rise, to climb, to see Everest Base Camp.
My task sounds awesome, but it can be done.
 
At least my doctor says: It can be done.
I mount the treadmill, set the angle high,
The elliptical awaits, its gears gives challenge.
They both offer meters, show improvement each session.
 
The trek is planned, the route is clear,
Kathmandu as a start, exotic but dusty.
A short flight to Lukla, noise our seatmate.
Did I really plan, is my kit full, complete?
 
I studied the list, I checked off the stuff,
I broke in the boots, down into the gorge then up,
Then down again and up, each step gives hope,
That my body is ready, that my kit is complete.
 
But first a challenge, by Rotarians near and far:
We had faced up to Polio, it seemed far too hard,
Mass immunizing the answer, drops on the tongue,
The numbers are dropping, is Zero in sight?
 
With polio down, although not yet demolished,
We find in our sights, other challenges to face.
Huge Africa awaits, its needs are immense:
Malaria a blight, AIDS / HIV a scourge.
 
So Ethiopia is our target, its plans our purview,
Can a plan be established, a goal put down true,
Which gives us a program, all can sign off on?
Westerners to finance, Africans to act.
 
We must have the details, a plan all can see,
Then with challenge in place, steps aligned,
We send home a signal, and bring back
The parchment, the plan, of how it will work.
 
Rotarians of Western New York, plus those
In Southern Ontario, can join in a team
With those in Ethiopia, all aligned on the goal:
Simple to state, hard to do: slow the scourge of AIDS.
Homer, in the Odyssey, calls Ethiopia the most remote part of the world.
Not today - only four hours from Dubai, world shopping capital.
But shopping is not our goal in Dubai, our time there so important:
Gulf 4 Good, our trek leader, must be convinced to support Himalayan Health Care.
 
Only then is it on to Nepal and the start of our trek
Namaste: greet our sherpas warmly, they will be key
Up to the Base Camp and back, then on to Ilam, Eastern Nepal.
Is the clinic we helped build there, operating smoothly?

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