22 Aug 2022
Professor Frans von der Dunk recently summitted Mount Kilimanjaro as part of the Kilimanjaro Charity Climb. The climb helped to sponsor the building of a sanitary block accessible for 140 students with disabilities at the Port Reitz School in Mombasa, Kenya. Created to serve children with physical and social disabilities, the Port Reitz School was found in 1965 to improve the quality of life, health, and education of these children to give them a better future. To this day, it is the only primary school of its kind in the coastal province of Kenya offering services to needy children.
A number of von der Dunk's University of Nebraska colleagues and Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications alumni donated to the climb. After successfully summitting, von der Dunk shared his completion of the climb on July 21:
"We did it! Two days ago, July 19 at 11.20 am, the inspiration of the team members, the wonderful guides, cooks and porters, the charity purpose and last but not least the many pledged donors got me to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m/19,341 ft). On top of Africa but feel on top of the world, really."