OIU News met up with Daniel Street (OR98), who has just completed the ultimate adventure, conquering one of the world's great peaks — Mount Kilimanjaro; the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It's 25 years since Daniel was a recipient of the Grumitt Scholarship, which he completed with John Kenyon, who was School Captain of Saint Aloysius' College in 1998. A quarter of a century later they decided to tackle some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world to reach what is often referred to as 'the rooftop of Africa'. 

OIU NEWS: Huge congratulations on reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. No small feat! Where did the idea come from? 

Thanks. I'm stoked to have made it. The idea can be traced back to 25 years ago when I first hit the African continent as a recipient of the Grumitt Scholarship. This was essentially a year of service work throughout the world after I left Riverview. It took me and Charles Magnus (OR98) — together with the four other guys from other Jesuit schools in Australia — to new frontiers. This included setting foot in Africa. Even back then the continent was vibrant with great cultural, ecological and economic diversity, as it is today, and since then it has held a magnetic hold over me. I should add that despite development progress, Africa still faces multidimensional challenges. The big difference, however, from first going there 25 years ago has been the phenomenal rise of digital technologies. So, when my good mate John Kenyon, who had gone to Saint Aloysius College and with whom I shared the Grumitt Scholarship with, called me and floated the idea of doing an adventure, I thought of Africa and Kilimanjaro. We had previously hiked together in Nepal, and with technology now at our fingertips, unlike 25 years ago, it wasn't hard for us to do the research into what it would take to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro. And before long, we had booked! 

OIU NEWS: The Grumitt Scholarship clearly stretched you. Was this endeavour to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in that same spirit? 

I think so. Certainly, that year we had between school and university, through the different types of service-oriented experiences afforded to us, delivered some valuable life lessons, which have endured with the passage of time. From an Ignatian perspective, the biggest lesson of all was don't wait to be hit by a 'cannonball'! Dare to do so much. In practice, this has included the importance of being alive to opportunity and attentive to when opportunity knocks, as well as savouring the natural wonder of our world, staying in the present, living in the moment, and yes – stretching yourself by taking yourself outside of your comfort zone. Change doesn't occur when you're comfortable, but when you're being tested in some way. And when you get out of your comfort zone you're reminded of resilience. So, seeking to tackle Kilimanjaro was a test of physical endurance, and a reminder of the power of mental strength. Reaching the top was the only option in my mind for me. 

OIU NEWS: How hard was it to get to the top? 

It wasn't a walk in the park, that's for sure. It was a five-day ascent. The key was to go slow, which is aimed at mitigating altitude sickness. At altitude the body must work harder because the air is thinner and there is less oxygen to breathe. The toughest day was summit day. I woke up not feeling flash because I was already oxygen deprived, and had experienced altitude sickness in the days prior. So, I want back to a mantra of 'Remember why you're here'. Challenges can provide such a sense of accomplishment. So it was one foot in front of another. There was a time when I was struggling and my friend John pulled me aside and said, 'Mate, you've got this'. The power of positive words can have a huge impact, as it did at that time for me. Climbing Kilimanjaro requires not only a high level of physical endurance but also mental strength. So we trekked through the night and suddenly first light appears. Then dawn broke, and we were at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was at that moment I thought to myself 'worth it all'. To be at the roof of Africa following such a hard slog, and to be treated to the most astonishingly beautiful sunrise made it all worthwhile. 

OIU NEWS: What was it like at the top? 

I was overcome by awe. In sharp contrast to having set out in a rainforest and hitting barren land, at the peak there's ice, and so it's also freezing up there. You're nearly six thousand meters above sea level, and far above the clouds. We were fortunately blessed with magnificent sunshine on summit day and so could see over into Kenya. It was unbelievably special. In the space of a week we had gone from walking in lush rainforest conditions to what felt like being at the North Pole: all this just a stone's throw from the Equator! 

OIU NEWS: Is ice melting on top of Mount Kilimanjaro? 

Yes. The glaciers on top Mount Kilimanjaro are in retreat, both in terms of the horizontal shrinkage of the ice and reduction in depth. It's not just the scientists saying this, our guide, named Bosco, confirmed it to us too: he's been going up the mountain for the past thirty years, and had seen during that time, with his own eyes, much of the ice disappear. We were surprised how little ice there was. 

OIU NEWS: Did you get an opportunity to unpack the experience of the Grummitt scholarship? 

Yes. John and I have been close mates since we first journeyed to Africa 25 years ago, and so a quarter of a century on, and being back in Africa, provided great time and space to think and reflect on that extraordinary experience. Even after all this time we joked that we haven't run out of conversation as we're always talking about the world's challenges, and solutions. It was also a good chance to have a good catch up on each other's lives. John lives in New York these days, and so it was great to catch up on all his cheerful doings of late. 

OIU NEWS: You're working as an international development practitioner these day with the world's largest development institution, the World Bank Group. Do you think your time in Africa as an 18-year-old helped inspire you to get involved with this kind of work? 

Absolutely. It sparked the intellectual curiosity of addressing the core question: how do you make a country grow, and in a sustainable manner? As the late and great Nelson Mandela once said: "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings." I later gained the right theoretical training to answer this question – which is always country-specific – about how you make a country grow, especially a developing country. At its heart is developing policy so that the benefits of globalization can be enjoyed by the many, and not just the few – the many who inevitably suffer its disadvantages, while the few benefit disproportionately. 

OIU NEWS: Has your work brought you to Africa? 

Yes, it has brought me to Ethiopia. I was part of the World Bank Group team that negotiated what was the 'Addis Ababa Action Agreement' back in 2015. It was an agreement on how the world would pay for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. I was initially involved in the groundwork for this agreement at the United Nations in New York, and this occurred over several months. But it culminated in us going to Ethiopia to bring it all together. At the heart of this agreement was making clear that the scale of investment, innovation, technological development and employment creation required for sustainable development and poverty eradication falls far beyond the range of the public sector, that the power of the economy to forge inclusive and sustainable growth and create value beyond narrow concepts of wealth is essential. Markets and entrepreneurship, therefore, have to be a prime driver of decision-making and economic change. And here we are in 2024 and never before has it been more important to make clear that we have to work better together in solving common problems and advancing shared interests. Quantum change is possible when willing actors join hands in forward-looking coalitions and take the lead in contributing to sustainable development. 

OIU NEWS: Would you recommend people go to Tanzania? 

For sure. It's a socially cohesive and politically stable country and home to a symbol of stirring natural beauty with Mount Kilimanjaro. From a development perspective, whilst there has been sustained economic growth in the country, it is yet to fully realize its growth potential to build a more prosperous and inclusive economy. It's a country of approximately 62 million people, and has an advantageous geo-strategic location, diverse natural resources, and nature-based tourism is certainly a comparative advantage for the country. 

OIU NEWS: What's your advice to a young Riverview Old Boy who is looking to stretch themselves?

I think in the final analysis it's about the lens with which you choose to see our world. And I think one of the gifts of our Jesuit education experience is an Ignatian ethos that teaches never rest on your laurels. Always search to do 'more' and be 'more'. That's the spirit of the 'magis' – more. So it's a blessed and beautiful world to which we belong, but it's also a very broken world too with many people in it in need of help and healing. The words of the mustic Meister Eckhart really resonate: "We progress by stopping". Whilst stretching yourself is important, it's also important to ask yourself 'for what?'. And so this speaks to importance of stopping, pausing, think critically and reflecting deeply. For any young graduate from Riverview it's such a thrilling and stimulating time to get involved in helping construct a different world – one that is more humane, more sustainable and more just. Keeping up the daring and the doing is a lifelong journey!