Kilimanjaro climbers kick off a deluge of celebrity visits to Washington.

CLIMBER BLOG: Santigold

WHY I JOINED SOTSK

I came on the climb for several reasons. Kenna first mentioned it to me a long time ago as a very loose idea. He said he was going to climb Kili and I was going to come. It sounded fun, so I said yes. But then I didn’t think about it for awhile. Later, Kenna told me the climb was going to be for the global clean water crisis and it made me even more interested. I didn’t know much about the issues, but the little bit I knew was reason enough. I didn’t train as soon as I would have liked, so I started to get a bit scared about whether or not I would be prepared in time. Kenna could sense my apprehension and started telling me it was no big deal…that the climb was like a “2 on a treadmill.” I can assure all of you, that this is definitely MUCH tougher than a 2 on a treadmill! So he tricked me a bit, but it made me more confident to come and I’m so thankful I’m here!

Another reason that it’s appealing to me to do something like this is because the state of American culture is so upsetting to me right now, especially as an entertainer. The stupid shit that takes up so much of your time…the menial things that don’t mean anything. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t deal with all the extra. People are famous for sex tapes and having too many kids. Red carpets create an atmosphere where people feel they have to have plastic surgery to be beautiful or  feel awful if they don’t. And if you’re a kid growing up in that world, you don’t know to have any interest or initiative to find out about things other than Octomom, Sweet 16 and the Kardashians.

But it’s a new year and a new decade and it’s a great opportunity for entertainers and influencers to bring back some old values. And the great response we’ve gotten so far shows that people are interested in things that are substantive and truly important if and when they are exposed to them. I saw SOTSK as an opportunity to stop complaining about what I didn’t like and take steps to help make the world more the way I’d like it to be.

If the trip were to end today, other than the symbolic act of reaching the summit on behalf of those who don’t have clean water or are dying of waterborne diseases, I’d feel that I’ve already achieved my goals on the trip of learning more about the global water crisis…

Imagine if a 747 filled with kids crashed into a mountain every two hours of every day and you’d have a sense of how many kids are dying from lack of clean water.

The demonstration of PUR at the village visit showed how much an individual can do with little effort, how something so simple as adding a PUR packet to contaminated water (virtually a chlorine compound) can save lives. And it doesn’t seem very difficult to get the message out so I’d like to spread the word on how critical the issue is and how simple the solution can be!

- Santigold