Potomac-based Mozella Perry Ademiluyi is a lawyer and educator who recently wrote a soon-to-be-released book inspired by her experience of climbing 19,330-foot Mount Kilimanjaro on her 50th birthday.
Why did you decide to climb Mount Kilimanjaro?
I actually saw Kilimanjaro for the first time when I was 10 years old. I had moved to Uganda with my family in ’62. I wanted to do something significant with my sisters, something that was really a wonderful experience on my 50th birthday. For us, it was like going home.
What happened during that experience?
Well, I learned that mountains are very much like life: Different layers, different challenges, you have to work with nature, work with what is. It was a wonderful experience; we did have some challenges, just like in life. It was difficult but exhilarating. I think one of the most significant things was to be up there with the clouds.
So that experience was motivation to write the book?
Absolutely. In fact, the title of the book, “Love Is a Mountain,” was actually the title of a poem I wrote in anticipation of the climb. I think finally I just decided to write about my experiences of growing up in East Africa, the climb and [turning] 50. All that just kind of converged together, and out came a combination of poetry and prose to share some of those experiences.
Tell me about your nonprofit organization, Rising Sun Programs.
I started that 18 years ago. When I turned 18, when I first came back to the states, I was first introduced to the power of thought … and I decided that if young people could have access to a methodology, a philosophy about what wealth really is: the whole combination that wealth is a total well-being. … I think it could help them with a lot of the challenges they face.
