There’s some serious tech behind this African quadriplegic’s Kilimanjaro attempt

On Saturday, Chaeli Mycroft will begin her attempt to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. What makes Mycroft different to the other 21-year-olds to have climbed Africa’s highest peak is that she’s a quadriplegic.

In fact, if she’s successful, Mycroft will be the first female quadriplegic to reach the summit. And thanks to a bevvy of technologies, you’ll be able to follow her entire journey online.

An ability activist, wheelchair user and co-founder of The Chaeli Campaign Mycroft is attempting the climb in bid to raise funds for her organisation’s Inclusive Education Programme and The Chaeli Cottage Inclusive Preschool and Enrichment Centre.

Mycroft will be joined by seven co-climbers as she begins her climb, the day before her 21st birthday. Interested members of the public can follow Mycroft’s climb on a dedicated website created by safari tour operator Discover Africa, whose East African manager Carel Verhoef organised the climb for Mycroft and her team.

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Users can subscribe to daily email updates on her climb, and take a video fly-through of the route. The progress of Mycroft and her team can be followed in real-time on Google Maps, while they will also be posting regular messages on YouTube. Mycroft and the Kili Climbers will be posting photos, videos and messages to the web page each day of their seven-day ascent of Kilimanjaro.

“The climb illustrates the importance of working together, instead of having disabled people just being awesome by themselves,” Mycroft joked ahead of the climb

Mycroft said it was vital for both the climbing team and the causes it’s supporting that people be able to follow their progress and wish them well via the online platform.

“This is a serious undertaking – both for me but also for my fellow climbers – and it is brilliant that we will have people all over the world willing us on like this,” she said.

“What is also amazing is that by using this site people will be able to find out exactly where we are, exactly what we’re doing, and even see our faces as we make our way up the mountain. As a way of making people feel involved in the climb, it is second to none, and I really hope it makes people feel as if they are there themselves and encourages them to support our cause both now and in the future.”

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According to Discover Africa’s Andre Van Kets, other tech built into the site includes Twitter’s Bootstrap framework, Campaign Monitor RSS-email automated workflows, Expression Engine and “a paid-for HTML5 theme to rapidly build this interactive microsite,” said Andre Van Kets, director at Discover Africa”.

“We believe it’s a great example of how technical innovation can support good causes like Chaeli’s, and urge the public to get involved and support her and her team as they complete this remarkable climb.”

Since its launch two weeks ago the site has already had more than 2,000 page views from 56 countries, with interest expected to grow as Mycroft embarks on her climb.

Users can also leave messages of support for Mycroft and make donations to her campaign.