A group of Burnaby students got a lesson in redefining the possible last week from a legless man who climbed Africa’s highest peak, mostly on his hands.
Spencer West, who lost his legs just below the hips to a genetic disorder at age five, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro two years ago and last year made his way by hand and wheelchair from Edmonton to Calgary, all to raise money for Africa water projects.
The Free the Children fundraiser and motivational speaker touched down at St. Francis de Sales Thursday during his cross-country We Create Change Tour that ended this week in Toronto.
“One of the things that I try to do is use myself as an example,” West told the NOW. “I’ve got a bunch of challenges; we’ve all got challenges. If I can do these things, so can you. That’s sort of what I hope they walk away with.”
His message wasn’t lost on the nearly 300 students from St. Francis de Sales, St. Mary’s and St. Francis of Assisi who gathered to hear him speak.
“I heard that he wanted to stop, but he kept going,” said Grade 7 student James Iglesias of the Kilimanjaro climb. “That really inspires me.”
The same feat stood out for Grade 7 student Mia Malinowski.
“Him climbing that mountain was just, wow,” she said. “It just shows that you can do whatever you put your mind to and to never give up.”
Classmate Anna MacGregor, meanwhile, said she was touched by a story she had once heard West tell at We Day, Free the Children’s annual youth empowerment event aimed at motivating kids to get involved in local and global issues.
When West was in Kenya helping Free the Children build a school in 2008, a young girl had said to him, “I didn’t know this sort of thing happened to white people.”
The We Create Change Tour was aimed in part at celebrating the support Free the Children has gotten from students across Canada.
For its size, St. Frances de Sales has raised a fair chunk of change for local and global charities, including $2,500 for Free the Children last year.
“It’s really important to teach them a sense of stewardship and that we are responsible for one another in the world,” principal Irene Wihak said. “When you’re blessed to live in a place like Canada, it just gives you extra responsibility to lend assistance to parts of the world where people aren’t as fortunate.”
