Henry Delouvrier (MSB ’09) and Rahil Gupta (MSB ’09) woke up one August morning and were instantly struck by reality.

Sitting in a crater on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro 19,341 feet above sea level, they were wearing as many layers of clothing as possible, and they found themselves next to two other students in a not-so-cozy two-person tent.

Attempts to keep themselves warm were made harder by ice covering their sleeping bags and lining the inside of the tent.

Nights were brutal atop the mountain, consisting mainly of vomiting and the constant urge to urinate from drinking about six to eight liters of water every day.

But even throughout all of the nausea and fatigue, each member of the 13-person expedition — college students and some of their family members — could only think about one thing: the lack of feeling in their fingers and toes.

Despite all of these worries, the sense of accomplishment that the two felt from reaching the summit made it all worthwhile. “It is hard to describe in words. It is a surreal experience –you feel absolutely free without a worry in the world,” Gupta recently said. “You also feel a deep sense of satisfaction and pride that you have gone where not many others will ever go.”

The reason why Delouvrier and Gupta climbed the mountain was just as admirable as the climb itself. The two helped raise more than $50,000 for the Kucetekela Foundation, which provides money for Zambian children to attend high school. After a whole summer of soliciting donations from friends and others, the members of the group — including Mike Barry, founder of the organization and Delouvrier’s friend — set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, a personal challenge they had set for themselves earlier in the summer.

Climbing the Tanzanian peak was no easy task. The group had to struggle through five different climate zones, ranging from a humid forest setting to an arctic summit. It took the team six days to scale the mountain and two days to descend.

“Choosing what to pack in our day-pack became very important, as the weather towards the end of the day could be much different than in the morning,” Delouvrier said. “Nothing really too dangerous, but along the way, there were a few graves of people who had died from getting hit by falling rocks or [acute mountain sickness], which was pretty unsettling.”

AMS was a threat that loomed in the back of everyone’s mind — even if it went unsaid. “We had all heard the AMS horror stories as well as others saying it had no effect on them whatsoever. The consensus was that it affects everyone differently, no matter how athletic or in-shape you are,” Delouvrier said. “Not knowing how your body will react to the altitude and realizing that something out of your control could threaten your ability to summit was perhaps the only thing that caused slight anxiety… Nobody would admit it until after the climb, of course.”

The trip was a bonding experience for the hiking team, Gupta said. “You do grow very close; you are all in this together and working as a group. If one person is tired during the hike, everybody must wait until he has recovered,” he said.

Delouvrier and Gupta said the climb changed the way they view foreign civilizations. “It gave me a deeper cultural understanding of Africa, as I lived with locals during my stay,” Gupta said. “Also, witnessing helpless poverty reinforced my appreciation of my life and opportunities.”

Delouvrier said that through all the hardships, he kept on reminding himself of the reason for his climb. “If it weren’t for the Kucetekela Foundation’s support, these gifted children would probably suffer the same grim fate as most of those in their generation,” he said. “I am most proud that my friends and I were able to help change a handful of young Zambians’ lives by giving them the gift of opportunity.”