On the 15th of January 1997 the 24 participants aged between 17-21 along with 10 Leaders and a doctor that made up the Irish Youth Expedition to Kenya set off on their 3 1/2 week adventure. The group consisted of members of the Boys & Girls Brigade in Northern Ireland and male and female members of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (now known as Scouting Ireland CSI)

One of the many aims of the expedition was to create cross community links between different religious and political backgrounds. These links were established on preparation weekends held in the Republic and in the North. A week long training camp was held last July in Wicklow. This was the first meeting of the 2 groups and the first time most of the southern group got together. During the course of the week many of the group passed there REC first aid parts 1 & 2 and also learnt some photography tips which would come in handy during the trip.

IYEK members that were MPC staff and previous participants:- Robert Batt, Elaine Brogan, Deirdre Byrne, Alan Carroll, Gavin Daly, Donal Fitzgerald, Kiernan Gildea, Alan McNamara, Louis Mullee, Michael O'Dwyer, Shane Satell & Neil Walshe.

After arriving in Nairobi on the 16th a couple days of rest were enjoyed, along with some sight seeing in Nairobi. After the recuperation period the real adventure began. Everyone was 'adopted' by a family for 2 nights and enjoyed Kenyan hospitality, a genuine experience of a life time. Then it was off to Chegoria at the base of Mt. Kenya, where the group again stayed with families and experienced Kenya at grass roots level. The group was now also accompanied by members of the Kenyan boys brigade from Nairobi that also helped the group learn more about Kenyan people and to discuss and appreciate the different cultures.

The next day was Monday the 20th of Jan. Everyone regrouped in Chegoria after breakfast and packed their rucksacks for the week long expedition up Mt. Kenya (5199m the second highest in Africa). This day was a was a long slog up from the Forest Gate to the Mt. Kenya National Park entrance. It took about 6 hours in blistering heat. That night we camped at the Park entrance beside a herd of Buffalo. They didn't seem to be interested in a group of exhausted dehydrated Irish people!

The next morning after haggling with our porters about what they were carrying and for how much we set off for lake Ellis. This leg took about 5-6 hours on relatively steep ground. A lot of the scenery was similar to Irish Mountains and everyone was wondering when were they finally going to see the peaks of Mt Kenya:- Nellion(5199m) Bation(5188m) and Lenana(4985m).

It would be the third day between lake Ellis and Mentos before the 3 peaks were revealed to us in all their glory. It was on this day that we also began to feel the altitude. One of the group under our doctors advice retreated accompanied by a guide and leader. The rest carried on with headaches and breathing trouble. Among those having trouble that day was Donal Fitzgerald a MPC team member and holder of MCI (mountaineering council of Ireland) rockclimbing leader and mountain leader award . He felt it was just lack of his normal hearty quantity of food that was slowing him down as we were on a healthy rations of one boiled egg for breakfast, one slice of spam and 2 slices of bread for lunch and rice and some kind of rehydrated flavourings for dinner.

That night our doctor Eithne Synott offered to put him on a drip but he refused saying that he hated needles and instead scrounged a Mars bar that someone was keeping (for a special occasion) though in fairness he did divide half of it between the four of us sharing the tent with him. He just wouldn't take no for an answer when we told him to eat our share himself.

The next day (day 4) the group split in two. One to climb the climbing peak Nelion and the other to climb point Lenana the 'walking peak' There was 10 members in the climbing group. 4 of these from the MPC Team; Donal Fitz, Mike O'Dwyer, Shane Satell & Neil Walshe. They headed off for the Austrian hut (about 5100m) and the rest headed for Shiptons (4100m) Up at this altitude the weather was unbelievably predictable, it would rain with some mild sleet between 12noon and about 2:30 and then clear up again. At night it would freeze hard to about - 5 to -10 C but with 5 in the tent in decent sleeping bags you'd barely notice unless you had to go to the toilet !

Day 5 was the start of our summit attempts. One group that included 8 MPC Team members set out for Lenana at 3am under a full moon and successfully summited just after dawn. From the top they could make out the climbers (who started early that morning as well) making their way up Bation at the other side of the glacier. They then descened into the Austria camp expecting the tents to be empty. But Donal Fitz popped his head out of the tent to their surprise, he said that he hadn't been feeling well that morning and decided not to proceed. The group talked him into coming down with them as he wanted to stay till the climbers returned. So they split up his gear and headed off back to Shiptons where he was seen to by the expedition doctor. She immediately put him on a drip and he perked up enormously. Photos were taken so that he could prove when he got home that he had a drip in each arm. (in case no one would believe him)

The next day the second group (containing 5 MPC Team members) set out for Lenana at about 2:30am, and reached the top for daybreak. The could see and shout at the climbers who were after a cold night bivouaving on the top of Bation. After a quick descent back to Shiptons, the previous days walkers packed up for what they thought was a 2-3 hour walk back to Moses hut. Shortly after their departure the doctor became more concerned for Donal health. She asked the group that was still at Shipton to get a stretcher ready so they could get Donal to Moses hut as soon as possible. During the night his strength had slowly deteriorated. He was in a semi conscious state as the stretcher party set out with Donal on an improvised stretcher made of survival bags and the frame staves out of rucksacks. An hour and a half into the journey in the McKinder valley Donal Died The stretcher party had to leave his body where he died and head back to Shiptons to the tell those left behind the tragic news. By this stage another group of hikers staying at Shiptons had made contact by satellite phone with the park rangers. They arranged porters to carry his body down the rest of the way to Moses. (The distance from Shiptons to Moses was not 2-3 hours as thought but in fact it was a 7-8 hour walk. It took 18 porters another 12 hours to carry Donal the rest of the way to Moses.)

The climbers had to be told what happened when they arrived at Shiptons at about 11pm. The group at Moses camp still had no idea what was after happening, they didn't hear the news untill early the next morning. Everyone at Shiptons departed the next morning and arrived after the group at Moses had taken their prearranged lorry trip to Nanyuki. The same lorry came back and collected the rest when they arrived later.

The group was finally together again in Nanyuki where we stayed until Wednesday morning (29th Jan) In the mean time everyone tried to cope in their own way with what happened. Arrangements had to be made to get Donal to Nairobi and then back to Dublin. The group had to try and rearrange their tickets so that they could make it back for the funeral. In the end not enough places were available to get everyone home, so some of the group stayed behind and continued as planned.

The rearranged flights were on Thursday night. As the original plan was to spend a week cycling back from Mt. Kenya to Nairobi, we decided to continue until Thursday with our schedule, so as not to disappoint the local Kenyans who were expecting us in the towns along the route and to take our minds off what had happened. On Wednesday we cycled to Kigango were we were given an unbelievable welcome. The whole town turned out to greet us. Our last night in Kenya and our last chance to see the stars in the southern hemisphere. The next morning we cycled the relatively short distance to Nayeri where we were greeted by the local Scout Troop at Baden Powells grave (the founder of scouts). From there we said good bye to the other half of the group that were staying. We departed from Nairobi that night and arrived back in Dublin for Donals funeral. The rest of the group came home as planned the one week later.

Donals death should be looked at not as just another mountaineering accident. He should be remembered as a peace maker, because the friendship and understanding that was gained by young people from both sides of our divided island will still be filtering through long after our trip is but a distant memory. As a continuation of the theme of co-operation it is plannned that the Kenyan Boys Brigade will pay a return visit as part of the exchange sometime during the summer of 1998.