By Douglas Robb

The Chronicle Express

PENN YAN — Julie Sprague was born in Hammondsport. Uncle Paul and Aunt Lois Sprague still live in Penn Yan, but Julie only summers here. She is a health teacher in Naples, Florida. Next Tuesday. July27, at noon she'll be speaking to the Rotary at Miller's Essenhaus on her plans to climb Africa's highest mountain,, 19,000 foot, Mount Kilimanjaro, "The Roof of Africa."

Sprague has climbed in the-Adirondacks, the Sierra Nevadas and the Cascades, but admits she has never climbed anything as high as Kilimanjaro. "I have been preparing for the climb by training on an elliptical machine and taking long hikes." Sprague purposely has hiked in inclement weather to help prepare herself for the extremes she'll face in Africa. She'll start at 5,000 feet in a hot, arid environment, and climb through 5 different eco-systems until she reaches the glacier-topped peak.

“We'll do the climb in stages and stop just below the peak, making the final assault after midnight. The next day we will quickly descend. We will each have an experienced guide to assist us”

Sprague hopes to teach her classes at the Medical Academy at Gulf Coast High School while making the climb. She is the Director of the Academy.

Sprague has even more important reasons for making the climb. She is raising money for two AIDS-related charities: 90% to Friends Together (www.friendstogether.org) and 10% to The River Fund, which supports an Uganda AIDS orphanage (www.riverfund.org).

Sprague met Cathy Robinson-Pickett 12 years ago when Sprague invited Robinson-Pickett to speak to a health class. The two have been friends ever since. Sprague volunteers at Friends Together camps, has been involved with World AIDS Day and coordinated an AIDS Quilt display at Gulf Coast High School. Sprague's students also made a documentary of Robinson-Pickett's life.

Robinson-Pickett was infected with HIV when she was raped in 1984. She and her husband, Steve, created Friends-Together to further AIDS education. The organization provides testing, support groups and training.

To make the climb Sprague had to raise a minimum of $5,000 in donations/pledges and pay her own expenses. The climb alone costs $1,000.

Anyone interested in making a donation to support Sprague can either go to the Friends Together website at www.FriendsTogether.org, or mail or phone it to: Friends Together, Inc., P.O. Box 8054, Lakeland, FL 33802-8054, Phone: (863) 686-7475.

While Friends Together camps for children with AIDS or children with parents with AIDS are located in Florida, anyone may attend. At the camps, adults and older teens can safely meet with others dealing with the same issues. The camps are free to all participants.

Adults receive life skills training, including wills, guardianships, assessing services and managing money. Teenagers and young adults talk about dealing with the issues of secrets, illness, grief and guilt. For the children the main focus is fun.

Cumulatively through December 2002, 859,000 AIDS cases have been reported in the United States. The top five leading states reporting AlDS cases were: New York, 155,237; California, 128,064; Florida, 90,233; Texas, 59,772; and New Jersey, 45,237.

Males account for 82% of cumulative reported AIDS cases. Whites account for 42% of AIDS cases; Blacks account for 40%; Hispanics account for the remaining 18%.