White Rock's Juliet (Jhet) van Ruyven is no stranger to rising above adversity.
Born in the Philippine village of Pader, she grew up in a life of poverty. Her family shared a one-room, bamboo-floored home, and as the third oldest of 12 children, van Ruyven would sell fruits and vegetables on the beach to help support her siblings.
Education helped her realize her childhood fantasies of living in a mansion and jetting around the world – she's set foot on every continent, including Antarctica, since arriving on the Semiahmoo Peninsula some 37 years ago.
This month, the mother of two reached an entirely new height – literally. She summited Mount Kilimanjaro.
The dormant volcano, located in Tanzania, is Africa's highest mountain and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. One of the Seven Summits, an estimated 30,000 people ascend it every year; a little more than half of those successfully.
Van Ruyven, former owner of two digital-printing businesses, turned 65 in January. Just a few months later, she heard that a friend's husband was planning to make his third ascent of Kilimanjaro in the fall. That, she said, is when her "adventurous heart" kicked in, and she set her sights on conquering its 5,895 metres herself.
Though she's no stranger to hikes – the 129-kilometre Camino de Compostela in Portugal and Spain is among her list of achievements, as is the Inca trail in Peru – van Ruyven took a moment to research if age matters when undertaking such an arduous endeavour. She quickly set any concerns around that aside, however, after learning that an 80-year-old would be among her fellow climbers.
Inspired, she hoped to inspire others.
"Thought since I’m working hard to prepare for the climb at my age, we might help others who are on the fence about doing something they could have done if they only muster their courage and just do it," van Ruyven told Peace Arch News ahead of the trek.
The sentiment is similar to one she shared in her first PAN appearance, in 2005, when she was featured after penning and self-publishing her autobiography, The Tale of Juliet.
"I want to be an example to a lot of people," the then-46-year-old told this reporter.
"Big dreams do come true. I have to really pass this message that there's hope. I'm planting the seed of hope."
Thousands of copies of the book were printed in the Philippines, and van Ruyven received speaking invitations from around the world. Nearly 20 years later, The Tale of Juliet is still available on Amazon, both in hardcover and Kindle.
Van Ruyven said she realized shortly before she left for Africa that she wanted to climb "for a higher purpose," and began fundraising to help high school students in her Philippine barrio whose parents do not have the income to support their children with education.
"I used to be like them," she said in an email interview.
"Through the kindness of others I was able to achieve higher education and helped my brothers and sisters continue their schooling too. It was a family team effort to support one another."
With the help of one of her daughters, she launched a GoFundMe campaign, setting a goal to raise $1 for every foot of Kilimanjaro: more than $19,000. As of Thursday (Oct. 24), $2,350 had been donated, and van Ruyven is crossing her fingers that the cause will resonate with those who read her story. All of the proceeds will be managed by a local teacher and released as needed directly to beneficiaries, she noted.
Training for the climb, she said, was both a mental and physical task, with extreme weather and high altitude the most daunting of obstacles that laid ahead. Van Ruyven tackled White Rock's most strenuous routes, and North Vancouver's Grouse Grind and BCMC trails, multiple times to help prepare.
A motor vehicle crash in May – that fortunately was not catastrophic – strengthened her drive to "always live with gusto."
Another "hiccup" two days before the climb, however, came closer to sidelining her summit aspirations. Nearly fainting, a doctor told her climbing guide that if there was a recurrence anywhere along the route, she'd have to turn back, she said.
Fortunately, that was not the case.
Van Ruyven described summit day as the second-biggest challenge of her Kilimanjaro climb, behind conquering the effects of the altitude on her mind and body.
"Your stamina, physical and mental department will be challenged," she cautioned others mulling the trek.
"It is the long hours of steep climb all the way to the top then the descend down right away. We were navigating on moon-like terrain, loose gravel… plus patches of big boulders of rocks and lava stones.
"These factors will test your deep core, push you to the limits and turn on your Divine spirit and inner power to guide you. You need to prepare to hike for up to 18 long hours on high altitude," then descend more than 2,700 m (9,000 ft.), all in one day.
Van Ruyven set foot back on home soil on Oct. 20, following a week of post-summit safari adventures with her husband.
In addition to continuing to adventure, she remains focused on reaching her fundraising goal, and said she'd be thrilled to to share her story in person with service groups and any others interested in having her as a featured speaker.
"I believe we all have the power to reach our own summit in life," she said.
"I not only conquered climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, I also learned to conquer myself and be at peace whatever is happening around me."
Van Ruyven may be reached at jhetvanruyven@gmail.com
