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L I V ING OUT HER DREAM
Climbing Mount
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A moment
of reflection
JOCELYN BAILEY, MD,
a
hospital medicine physician at Faith
Regional Health Services, was one
of 13 women who recently climbed
Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest
peak, in an effort to raise funds for
Africa New Life, an organization that
is building a hospital in Rwanda.
“I have wanted to climb ‘Kili’ since
the first time I saw the mountain on a
mission trip in 2005,” says Dr. Bailey.
“I also have a deep passion for medi-
cal missions and to help complete a
hospital in the developing world.”
After months of dedicated train-
ing to get physically ready, Dr. Bailey
began the nine-day climb on Jan. 14,
2017. “When you first get to the base
of Kilimanjaro, you can’t see the
summit. I walked into this beautiful
jungle scenery, which took me off
guard. I had pictured that a volcano
would be dust and rocks, not a lush,
green, beautiful area.”
Night two was the first time the
climbers saw the summit. “It was just
breathtaking,” says Dr. Bailey. “It was
our first look at Kilimanjaro as the
clouds parted to reveal this gorgeous
view of the mountain. We were also
greeted by the porters, who welcomed
us with singing and dancing. What an
amazing experience. I’m pretty sure
I cried.”
The group ranged in age from
22 to 65 years old with differ-
ent athletic abilities. The women
experienced some obstacles during
the climb. According to Dr. Bailey,
the altitude made some of them
feel sick, have nausea or experience
headaches.
Staying focused
There were nights when Dr. Bailey
couldn’t sleep well, making it difficult
for her to get up in the morning, put
on all of her gear, then repeat the day
before. When she felt like she couldn’t
take one more step, she would remind
herself that she wasn’t alone. She was
out there on this magnificent moun-
tain with 12 other women, all work-
ing toward the same purpose. And the
incredible support she received from
family and friends back home, includ-
ing reading letters she carried in her
backpack, made it possible for her
to continue on the journey.
“It was like an entire com-
munity of people went up
that mountain with me, and I
couldn’t have done it without
every one of them,” Dr. Bailey
says.
On day seven, or Summit Day,
she looked up at the glaciers
where the group needed to get to and
realized that they were still six hours
away. This was the longest day, start-
ing at 5 a.m. at 16,000 feet, climbing
up to 19,341 feet, and then dropping
back down to 12,500 feet. It took
15 hours that day alone.
“It was such an emotional day when
At 19,341 feet, Mount
Kilimanjaro is the highest
mountain in Africa.
12 FAITH REGIONAL
HEALTH SERVICES