I Bless The Rains Down In Africa

For those of you who don’t know, I spent the last few weeks marking off one of the items on my bucket list. I traveled to Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.

It was truly a trip and experience of a lifetime, and I have hundreds of delightful and fascinating memories. Longtime readers of this blog have probably guessed that I also spent part of the trip thinking about how the experience related to Imagine! and the work we do.

It wasn’t a big leap to make that connection. I hiked the mountain as part of a guided trip. As such, I was a client of the mountain guide company, and my experience was in many ways parallel to the clients of Imagine!.

As a side note: I understand that the term “client,” one of several terms used to describe individuals in services at organizations like Imagine!, like all of the terms used in our field, isn’t a perfect descriptor of the relationship between provider and individuals receiving services, and not everyone prefers to use the term. But it makes for a good analogy for this blog post, and I didn’t mind the reference, so please bear with me. 

Anyway, I was a client for the mountain guide company. In many ways, I was completely at the company’s mercy. Without their support and guidance, I was extremely vulnerable. I don’t speak Swahili. (OK – I can say “hi,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.”) I didn’t have the means to keep myself comfortable and safe (or indeed alive) without the support of the company. Even with a map, I didn’t really have the capability or resources to navigate the climb by myself. I didn’t have any way of communicating with family or friends without using the company as a go-through.

So of course I accepted and acknowledge their help and assistance. Essentially, I had an IDT to map out how, I would achieve my goal. They documented daily progress along the way. I was well aware I could probably never do this on my own and was incredible appreciative of the time, thought, and effort (both visible and behind the scenes) they put in to helping me realize this dream.

And yet, at times I questioned the degree to which I handed control over my actions to someone else. For example, I had to climb at the pace the guide set, which I felt was way too slow (although of course I was grateful for that slow pace by the end of the journey). I had to keep the guide and support staff updated on everything about my physical condition; what I ate, drank, how much I slept, and well ... use your imagination. Somewhere in Africa there is a file that contains documents of my health and well-being for the week I was on the mountain. I had to wear what they recommended me to wear, eat what (and where and when) they told me to eat. The guide had the ultimate power to tell me if I could or couldn’t make the final assault on the summit, and if he had said “no,” I would have not been able to continue, for my own good, whether I wanted to or not.

I think that is very much like what those who get services from us must feel. Support services enable many of them to live safely and comfortably, but far more important, to meet their personal goals and desires in ways that probably wouldn’t be possible without assistance. But those opportunities come with tradeoffs, especially in terms of giving up control over aspects of their lives that most of us take for granted. It is a delicate balance.

When that balance is correct, like during my experience on Kilimanjaro, then great things can happen; I summited on September 15, 2014. Everyone involved in our services, from administrators to care providers to clients, must work together to make sure that balance is indeed the right one. When it is, the opportunities are endless.

Then again, what do I know?

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