After a phenomenal climb of Africa's highest mountain, a Cape Town-based deaf graphic designer has reached her other target - raising funds for hearing aids and cochlear implants for children. Tracy Duncan 's main mission for summiting Kilimanjaro was to reach a set target of close to R100 000 to help raise money to help hearing-impaired children.
“I have raised R70 000,“ said Duncan ”but the organisation, Be the Best Version of Yourself Foundation, I have teamed up with is still accepting donations until October. We want to give more children the gift of hearing.“
Duncan was born with hearing loss and her life changed when she underwent a cochlear implant operation at the age of 30.
“I became more confident. I would love for deaf kids to have the same opportunity that I had. The earlier you have the cochlear implant, the better you will hear.”
Duncan described her Kilimanjaro journey as having taught her a lot about her capabilities and other people.
“I saw how humble and helpful the Tanzanian guides and porters were during my journey. They earn a minimum wage yet they go beyond the call of duty with a smile on their faces. They have helped me summit Kilimanjaro by carrying my bag, giving words of encouragement and holding my hand when I was struggling.”
Duncan also learnt lessons from the experience.
“The experience has taught me that I am mentally stronger than I thought. I had challenges throughout the journey. I had altitude sickness for two days. I had the flu two weeks before I left for Kilimanjaro. I have a mental illness and my medication was less effective at high altitude, so I had minor hallucinations.”
Despite the challenges, Duncan managed to reach the top of Africa's highest mountain.
“To successfully summit Kilimanjaro, you have to walk slowly, ‘pole pole’ in Swahili. This taught me that no matter how slow you walk, you can still reach your goal as long as you keep moving. Nature doesn't hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Duncan’s next biggest challenge is to tackle Mount Everest in a few years’ time.
But first she will also give more attention to her family and mental health.
“I’ve been very busy with my reign as Mrs Deaf South Africa 2018, Mrs Deaf International 2019, running my own non-profit organisation called Deaf Confidence and working with the Best Version of Yourself Foundation who initiated #Climb4TheDeaf Challenge up Kilimanjaro."
To help giving the gift of hearing to many children, donations can be sent via the online link : https://gogetfunding.com/climb4thedeaf