On October 29, 2011, Jeff Hauswirth and friends ascended Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds to support the Kids' Health Links Foundation and our initiatives. At 5,896 metres, Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's and the world's highest free-standing mountain.

The Kids’ Health Links Foundation's technology solutions help to alleviate stress, isolation and loneliness for children in medical care in order to help children heal faster and better overcome traumatic medical experiences. We thank Jeff and his team of climbers and everyone everyone who supported this fantastic mission by donating to the Foundation.

Message from Jeff

My name is Jeff Hauswirth and I’m on the board of of Kids' Health Links Foundation, which created Upopolis, a private social network that connects young hospital patients to their family, friends and school network.

Hospitals can be scary.

For most of us being hospitalized is like moving to a new country: you don’t understand the language, you’re exposed to bewildering sights, sounds and smells and communication with the people you rely on for support is limited. Now imagine for a moment how this would feel to a young child. Fortunately, thanks to advancements in social technologies, we can connect these children to their friends, family and their schools ultimately helping to restore a sense of normalcy to their hospital stays.

With Upopolis patients can:

Share:  their experiences, thoughts and opinions and upload photos via their personal blog space and use the discussion boards to share their hobbies and interests with others.

Learn:  about their condition by accessing medical content written specifically for kids enabling them to better understand what their diagnoses means and find out more about the tests and procedures they may undergo.

Have fun!: Upopolis allows patients to customize their profile by choosing from various fun themes and cool colours, play exciting games online, share fun facts about themselves with others and use the information found in other patient profiles to find online friends with similar interests.

We thank everyone whose donations enabled this us to reach the summit as we support the Kids' Health Links Foundation.

With many thanks,

Jeff Hauswirth