Derry woman to climb Kilimanjaro for Children in Crossfire

The uber-persuasive Aisling Cunningham, fundraising co-ordinator of the Children in Crossfire, has worked her magic once more.

As a result, popular Derry singer, Monica McGuigan, who did a fundraising skydive last year, is now in training to trek Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, in East Africa for the charity.

“I’m not wise,” smiled Monica, “that’s how they roped me in.”

“After the skydive, Aisling would have been in and out of Doherty’s Bakery here in Bishop’s Street where I work and she happened to say one day, ‘The next big fundraiser is Kilimanjaro’.

“I did the same as I had when she first asked me to think about doing the skydive - I laughed and said, ‘I don’t think so’ and Aisling said, ‘Ach, I just thought I’d let you know’. 

“Well, she was back in another day and she was chatting about it and I started thinking, ‘You know what, this is the opportunity of a lifetime and it can change lives’. 

“Any money I raise can change lives. It can make people's lives a lot easier. It can also bring awareness to people here that maybe they can do something good for other people. 

“When I told Aisling I was thinking about it, that was my fate sealed. That was as good to her as me saying. ‘I’m doing it’.”

Rationalising the enormity of the Kilimanjaro trek, Monica said although it was a “massive undertaking, if it can help people or if it can do some good, I am fit for it”.

She added: “I’ll be 62 when I’m doing it and all I keep thinking is, ‘These are things I would never have dreamed of doing or thought were possible when I was young.”

Monica and her group of trekkers, who come from all over Ireland, will leave Derry on February 15, 2025.

“We land in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on April 16, after a 19-hour flight and we spend the night there. Then, on the Monday morning, we set out Mount Kilimanjaro and we climb for seven days.

“We are going by the Machame Route, also called the Whiskey Route. We have an itinerary for climb. We will go a certain distance each day. 

“We are also going to hit altitude and then we are going to have to start slowing down. We will have to pace ourselves due to the fact we are not used to altitude. 

“We camp every so many miles along the way. We go as far as the Lava Tower and then we go straight to the Barranco Wall. We will climb for seven days up and down and then we will rest. 

“After that, we are travelling to Dar Es Salaam where we are going to see the projects into which Children in Crossfire has put money. Dar Es Salaam is a massive city. It has a population of eight million people. It has no resources. To me, that scale of need is unfathomable. I can’t visualise being in a city that has eight million people and no resources, with people living in huts and hovels at the side of the road. I am very soft and I will be in bits seeing this.”

Monica said Children in Crossfire was involved in the setting up of day care centres in  Dar Es Salaam to “enable parents to work and earn some money”.

She added: “The existing day care centres are in rundown buildings. They  have no running water, no electricity and the staff that are there are overwhelmed by the number of children they have to watch every day. 

“They don’t have proper food or nutrition for the children. Children in Crossfire is stepping in to build proper day care facilities and to train the staff to provide the nutrition these children need, to give running water and to try and put electricity into these buildings. 

“Children in Crossfire is also looking to talk to the Government in Tanzania, to encourage it to invest in childcare. It is not all one way. Children in Crossfire wants the Government there to invest in childcare as well.”

All being well, Monica and her fellow trekkers will arrive back in Ireland on February 28. 

In advance of the climb, Monica has set up an online JustGiving fundraiser: ‘I'm trekking Kilimanjaro - in aid of Children in Crossfire’ which is going very well. 

She has also dedicated the project to her late husband, Martin.

Derry's Monica's Children in Crossfire skydive

'I got on the plane and my whole insides were churning. I thought, ‘What in under God am I doing?’

“Already people are coming into the bakery and handing me donations,” said a thankful Monica. “I am keeping a record of every penny because I want people to know that  every penny they give me is going to Children in Crossfire.”

Monica has been fundraising for Children in Crossfire for years. She laughed when she recalled, it used to involve “walking around St Columb’s Park twice and building up your steps”.

“In those days, you just used to send in a photo of your steps on your Fitbit,” she said. “Now what have I got myself into?”

“I am just trying to think about people who have nothing. They literally earn a pound a day. I know there are a lot of people here struggling at the minute and who might be asking if the money wouldn’t be better spent here but we have things in place here. In Tanzania, every pound I raise will be put to very good use.”