A team of Mapala of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) and chairperson of Student and Alumni Development Board of UMY, Sugito, S.IP., M.Si., met chairperson of The National Sport Council (KONI) of Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY) on Wednesday (7/9) at office of KONI of DIY. The team coordinated with the chairperson dealing with Mt. Kilimanjaro expedition.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest volcano in Africa, and the summit height is 5,895 meters above sea level. The volcano is located in Tanzania, and is included in 7summits. Mapala of UMY reached two of seven summits, namely Carstensz Pyramid in Papua in 1997 and Mt. Elbrus in Rusia in 2014.

Chairperson of KONI of DIY, Gusti Bandoro Pangeran Hario (GBPH) Prabukusumo welcomed and supported the team of Mapala of UMY. “I think this expedition is a great idea after Mt. Elbrus expedition in 2014. Mapala of UMY is versed in expeditions. I guess this is good to enhance discipline,” he declared.

Besides, chief of Mapala of UMY, Vian Jamaludin Amin informed that Mt. Kilimanjaro expedition in a seven-summit program of Mapala of UMY. “A team of Mapala of UMY successfully reached the summits in Oceania and Europe, and now the team attempts to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I wish that the previous expedition experiences would be valuable for the next expedition,” he stated.

Series of Mt. Kilimanjaro expedition has been conducted since August 2016 and will end in July 2017. “One of the series is this meeting with KONI of DIY. The departure of the expedition itself is on 20 March 2017, and the team is back in 6 April 2017,” he mentioned.

In this expedition, the team of Mapala UMY will try to break MURI record to wear batik in the highest mountain peak. “After successfully wearing batik in the summit in Europe, the team of MMapala of UMY will wear it in the summit if Africa. This mission is one of our responsibilities as young generation to promote Indonesian cultural identity,” Vian ended.