Kilimanjaro Initiative USA- KI USA

Kilimanjaro Initiative USA- KI USA Kilimanjaro Initiative USA sponsors inner city youth leaders on a yearly climb up Africa's tallest mountain with a goal of promoting self empowerment.

KI-USA exists to promote self empowerment in New York City-area youth leaders between the ages of 18 and 25. We’re building a network of youth leaders who demonstrate hard work, perseverance, global sensitivity and positive attitudes to reach new heights personally, professionally and within their communities. KI-USA’s signature event is the annual ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain

on the African continent and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Each year, we train a small group of youth participants and then accompany them on this life-changing climb. For most of our youth leaders, it’s their first trip outside of their home country. For all, an opportunity of a lifetime.

The BIGGEST thank you to who donated the proceeds of her show “Happy Ending Live at Green Room 42” to KI USA! We are so...
12/07/2025

The BIGGEST thank you to who donated the proceeds of her show “Happy Ending Live at Green Room 42” to KI USA! We are so grateful for your contribution and support of our mission. You can find the link to the performance below!

https://youtu.be/AcY7uNC4OOM

The Solo! Our climbers are currently participating in a 36 hour solo. They are given a bag of food, some contents in the...
07/31/2025

The Solo!

Our climbers are currently participating in a 36 hour solo. They are given a bag of food, some contents in their bags, 2 pieces of tarp and some string to make a camp. For 36 hours, they are free to journal, daydream and think about the past 10 days of their training camp. It’s a time for reflection and thought. Some get very creative with their camps!

We are excited to see how they feel once they return!

Let’s plant some trees! 🌲 Our climbers visited OI Karia primary school to meet with the students and plant trees on the ...
07/31/2025

Let’s plant some trees! 🌲

Our climbers visited OI Karia primary school to meet with the students and plant trees on the school grounds. This has been a yearly tradition with KI! Some of the trees you see in these photos were planted by previous climbers. Plus, the students love it!

Our climbers have been in Kenya for 8 days and there has been no shortage of adventure, team-building and fun! From walk...
07/28/2025

Our climbers have been in Kenya for 8 days and there has been no shortage of adventure, team-building and fun!

From walking through Kibera, playing games at Kibo Slopes, rock climbing in the Maasai plains and more, our climbers have been developing new skills and preparing for the climb of a lifetime - Mount Kilimanjaro ⛰️

Leila, Nour and Kiara from the US
Calvin, Zion and Byela are from Tanzania
Eunice, Sheila, and Jared are from Kenya

Our last selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Nour! Nour (26) was born between Egypt and Sudan, but calls Brooklyn home. Sh...
07/08/2025

Our last selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Nour!

Nour (26) was born between Egypt and Sudan, but calls Brooklyn home. She is passionate about community building, the environment, and the inner world like art, poetry and music.

For her first time camping, the Catskills taught her many things. One morning, she woke up and her boots were soaked from rain the night before. But she never complained! Nour and her teammates threw plastic bags in to keep their socks dry and kept going. She embraced adaptability.

Nour is so excited to experience all of Kenya and Tanzania’s beautiful nature. She’s looking to exercise the muscle and bond between herself and nature throughout the experience.
“Being in the gym for my mind, bond and soul.”

We are so excited to have Nour joining Kiara and Leila as they take on KI 2025! ⛰️

Onto our next selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Leila! Leila (22) is from The Bronx. She is always eager to learn someth...
07/02/2025

Onto our next selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Leila!

Leila (22) is from The Bronx. She is always eager to learn something new and take on new challenges and now she’s headed for the slopes of Kilimanjaro!

Leila is passionate about community development, travel and cultural exchange. She loves to hike and she isn’t afraid of heights! The view is always worth it.

The Catskills proved to Leila that she can handle difficult situations. She doesn’t shy away from pushing herself to accomplish a goal she has set.

“I’m capable of so much more than I originally thought.”

She’s looking forward to exploring more of Africa through new food, a new language, and the climb to the top of Kili. We can’t wait to see what Leila continues to achieve! ⛰️❤️

We are THRILLED to introduce our first selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Kiara! Kiara (20) is from Harlem and before the...
06/30/2025

We are THRILLED to introduce our first selected climber for Kilimanjaro- Kiara!

Kiara (20) is from Harlem and before the Catskills, she had never been camping before! Now she’s off to conquer greater heights in Kenya and Tanzania next month.

The Catskills revealed a few key things for Kiara: physical endurance, knowing when to lead and when to follow, when to give and when to let something be. Kiara expressed that throughout her experience in the mountains, she was “…shining in terms of individual connections.” Getting to know everyone more and grow as a team allowed her to embrace more of herself.

Kiara is passionate about people, and her compassion leads her through life. She is interested in how people are raised and how it shapes them, how we treat others. She also enjoys musical theatre, media and the Lorax!

She’s excited to travel outside of the country for the first time, to explore new terrain, meet new people and embark on a new journey! We are so proud of Kiara and we cannot wait to see her continue to shine on Kilimanjaro. ⛰️❤️

Catskills ‘25 on digital! We had an amazing time
06/17/2025

Catskills ‘25 on digital!

We had an amazing time

THANK YOU! We received so many applications for KI USA 2025 and our team is diligently reviewing applications. If you re...
03/12/2025

THANK YOU!

We received so many applications for KI USA 2025 and our team is diligently reviewing applications. If you reshared our posts, sent the application to a friend or applied yourself, thank you! We are so excited to kick off another wonderful year for KI USA. Stay tuned for more! ⛰️

Stephen Rocky Mtui is a 29 year old Lawyer from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His favorite part of the climb was the stretch ...
10/13/2022

Stephen Rocky Mtui is a 29 year old Lawyer from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His favorite part of the climb was the stretch "from Kibo Hut to Uhuru peak", but that was also the most challenging part for him. He took from the climb that we need to "learn how to live with people from different areas and different perspectives. Also we need to support eachother in this life." "

Gathungu James Muchoki is an 18 year old student from Kibera, Kenya. His favorite part of the climb was reaching the top...
10/05/2022

Gathungu James Muchoki is an 18 year old student from Kibera, Kenya. His favorite part of the climb was reaching the top. The most challenging part of the climb for him was the fact that it was his "first time experiencing such a cold. Due to that, (I wanted) to go back, but I believed in myself and finished the climb." What he learned from the climb was to "appreciate one another even when one has not be able to reach the summit, (and) motivate your friends because I (motivated) other people that we must make it up to the summit and we did it."
"

Florence Macha-Malaika is a 19 year old student from Moshi, Tanzania. Her favorite part of the climb was "the way to gil...
09/28/2022

Florence Macha-Malaika is a 19 year old student from Moshi, Tanzania. Her favorite part of the climb was "the way to gilman because people showed solidality to eachother and that made us to accomplish the journey." The most challenging part of the climb for her was "the way to uhuru. It was very hard to reach due to lack of oxygen but we struggled and helped eachother to reach." What she took from the climb is "that life may be difficult but always we should not give up and pull ourselfs together to make sure we reach to our goals." "

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