The Tanzania Heart Babies team left on the 1st of May to hike Everest to raise awareness for Tanzanian babies born with congenital heart defects.
This week’s campus celebrity is Malaika Kapur – an avid explorer, a student at the Sauder School of Business and founder of Tanzania Heart Babies at UBC. This year, Malaika and a group of passionate young students climbed to the base camp of Mount Everest in an effort to raise greater awareness of Tanzanian babies born with congenital heart defects. Stay tuned to learn more about Malaika and her trek to Everest!
1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and the Tanzania Heart Babies Project?
Born in India, raised in Tanzania and travelled to twenty-three countries around the world, it seemed natural for me to gravitate towards UBC, a university that provides an extraordinary multi-cultural setting, cosmopolitan environment and a thriving international community.
As an adventure sports enthusiast, my passion for trekking surfaced during my teen years. At the age of 16 I ventured to climb Africa’s highest mountain and the world’s highest free-standing mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, scaling it to reach its peak at over 19,300 feet! I ushered in my 17th birthday as I ascended the final stretch of the treacherous climb at midnight to reach Uhuru peak as the sun rose over the mountain!
The Tanzania Heart Babies Project is a poignant story of the plight of Tanzanian children born with congenital heart disease. As a student initiative on campus, our aim provide a new lease of life to children with congenital heart defects in Tanzania by raising funds for their open-heart surgeries and create awareness about the urgent need for pediatric cardiac surgery facilities in Tanzania. As a passionate group of students from over 10 different countries, we have gathered together to champion this noble cause, share the stories of these children and strive to add a chapter to the life books of these children.
2. What inspired you to start Tanzania Heart Babies at UBC?
Having lived in Tanzania for most of my life and having had the opportunity to complete my higher education in Vancouver, it is hard for me to visualize a world where children would die needless deaths even before average the age of 19 to 21. This project was founded in 1979 by a young Tanzanian doctor, Dr. Rajni Kanabar, and has grown in multifold since then. I have been fortunate enough to be part of this project since high school in Tanzania and see it transforming thousands of lives. Bringing the Tanzania Heart Babies Project here was like bringing a piece of home with me to UBC!
3. Tell us about your charity Everest climb. Can you describe what it was like?
We had a surreal adventure and raised enough funds and pledges to save the lives of 10 Tanzanian children. The money raised and awareness generated by far exceeded our expectations as the trip was initially planned for leisure and then associated with the charity when we realised we needed to create greater awareness about the urgent need for paediatric cardiac surgery facilities in Tanzania. Keeping in mind our two-fold passions, namely adventure and humanitarian work, we proposed to combine the two, to make this a ‘trek with a purpose’ in honour of the Tanzania Heart Babies Project. Our ability to trek to Everest Base Camp also demonstrated the importance of good health and how vital health is to living a fuller life.
On the trek, our team consisted of myself, Anne-Sophie Deman and Kunal Sethi, who were from the Tanzania Heart Babies Project core team, along with 10 more friends (Beni, Tim, Tanaya, Stefan, Juan, Tyson, Sharu, Chris, George and Johannah) from 9 different countries.
For a feel of the trek, please check out the following video compiled by Juan Daniel Leano, a teammate from the trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsEWHybYQhA
4. What was the hardest part of your Everest Trek?
Trekking to the summit of Kala Pattar (a mountain we conquered before Everest Base Camp that gave us a clear view of Everest) was very difficult as we were surviving on very low oxygen levels and had to trek up to over 18000 ft
5. What was it like when you reached Everest Base Camp and the summit of Mt. Kala pattar?
Reaching the summit of Mt. Kala Pattar (5645 m) was incredibly magical. We were greeted by as prayer flags blowing in the wind, Himalayan giants in the distance and a clear view of the mother of them all, Mt.Everest.
At Everest Base Camp (5364m), we all held hands and had a moment of silence in remembrance of all those who lost their lives in the recent Khumbu Icefall avalanche tragedy.
6. What have you gained from being part of the journey?
I feel very blessed to have been part of a journey that was not just mine or my teammates but also that of the 10 children who now have the opportunity to get a new lease of life and reach their own greater heights. The Everest journey for me personally was highly (pun intended) challenging and I realized that at the end of the day it was all mind over matter. It was my mind and heart pushing my body to keep going every day at every point. I felt this during Kilimanjaro as well but I truly believe that it was not only the mountain I had conquered, but also myself.
The THBP in Vancouver engages young students who believe that the world cares and will contribute to saving young lives and bringing a halt to needless deaths. As Dr. Kanabar says: “After all, what greater gift can there be than the gift of life itself?”
7. What are some of the Tanzania Heart Babies projects/events coming up that you would like to highlight?
My years with the Tanzania Heart Babies Project have been very rewarding and enriching, thanks to our core team of incredible student leaders (Ally, Maya, Darshan, Nadia, Anica, Kunal, Colin, Anne-Sophie and Tugce). Our project would not have been where it has reached without the spark created by each of these amazing individuals and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them! This coming year we have a dynamic team of new students taking over and we are very excited to pass on our baton to these promising young leaders and to see the new talent and fresh ideas they will bring forth!
8. If someone wants to support Tanzania Heart babies, where can they find more information?
Tanzania Heart Babies Project
Website- www.tzfortheheart.org
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tanzaniaheartbabies
Instagram – http://instagram.com/tanzaniaheartbabiesproject
Twitter – https://twitter.com/tzfortheheart