Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
A healing on Mt. Kenya
“This hike will be difficult,” the outfitter warned. “If you get altitude sickness, you’ll feel nauseated and lightheaded, and you may not be able to reach the summit.” I’d grown up climbing mountains, but his words scared me. What if I got sick on the hike?
I attend an international school in Kenya, where children of 91 different nationalities study alongside one another. At the beginning of ninth grade we climb Mt. Kenya, the second-highest mountain in Africa, for our class trip. This is a highly anticipated rite of passage into high school, and I was very excited about the climb.
But when we went through the pre-trip training with the outfitter, the issue of altitude sickness was raised many times. Even though I had already peaked eight of the Collegiate Peaks in Colorado during summer camp—all around 14,000 feet high—this topic had never been dwelt on before. The summer camp is for Christian Scientists, and our pre-trips had involved metaphysical preparation and a pure thought environment, free from fear and an emphasis on physical problems. So it was a bit alarming to hear so much about altitude sickness.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
About the author
Shea Orth-Moore is a senior in high school. She loves to hike and explore the great outdoors. Shea also loves getting involved in her community through service projects and the Global Issues Network, an international student group.
JSH Collections
This article is included in:
2014 - DIGITAL COLLECTION
A Collection for Teens - July–December 2014
JSH-Online has hundreds of pamphlets, anthologies, and special editions for you to discover.
October 6, 2014 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Abby Hillman, Claire Mcarthur, Diane Taylor Dickey, Lovestodance, Eleanor Lee
-
The significance of joy
Ruth Geyer
-
Don’t forget God’s love
Mark Strickland
-
The owl in the log
Anne Holway Higgins
-
Defending true manhood
Rosalinda Johnson
-
Routing out the ‘oppressors’
Steve Warren
-
It’s not about ‘following the crowd’
Irene Schanche Bowker
-
A healing on Mt. Kenya
Shea Orth-Moore
-
Persistent leg trouble healed
Mary Kuhl
-
Saved from drowning in rip current
Deborah Wright
-
Infection healed
Meridee Olsen
-
The Journal, Sentinel, and Herald—feeding the hungry
David C. Kennedy