Arusha — A group of young mountain climbers from the United Kingdom may have been placed in the Guiness Book of Records after playing music on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

They may have been the first such group to perform under the freezing conditions on top of Africa's highest mountain. During their recent adventure they managed to raise 250,000 British Pounds which will be donated to support the fight against cleft pallete, an ailment affecting the mouths of children and most prevalent in Africa.

The group of 16 reached the top of Mt.Kilimanjaro late last month, having scaled it from the Machame gate and descended on Tuesday through the Mweka route. Mathley Swai, the operations of Moshi-based Ahsante Tours said the money raised would be channeled to charities which would remit to countries most affected by the problem.

Cleft pallete is a deformity affecting the mouths of children and is said to be critical in Africa than any other continent. He said the group came to Tanzania under a charity called Smiles Train based in the UK. During its one week adventure on Africa's highest mountain, the group was accompanied by about 40 local tour guides and porters and spent sometime at the ice covered Kibo summit.

"They played music at the summit under the freezing conditions" he said, adding that it was through conquering the mountain and making history by playing music there that Chasing Rainbows Tour managed to raise funds.

The group later visited the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) hospital in Moshi to see the condition of some children said to be suffering from cleft pallete. The group was accompanied by the regional director of Smiles Train company in Africa Dr.Githinji Gitahi who said there were at least 1,000 children suffering from cleft pallete in Tanzania.

The ailment is treated through an operation. Thousands and probably hundreds of thousands of children children in Africa need surgeries because of cleft pallete, he added.

The Kenyan doctor, who operates from Nairobi, says several hospitals in Tanzania offered treatment services and surgeries for the disease. These include KCMC, Bugando in Mwanza and Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

Others are CCBRT (Dar es Salaam), Besha in Tanga and a health facility in Biharamulo, Kagera region. The company has paid for treatment costs to the hospitals in question. Further reports had it that at least 50 children with the mouth deformities were awaiting surgery at KCMC hospital in Moshi. The money raised by the charity would be sent to 77 countries in the world with the problem.

The group leader David Spillane told reporters in Moshi after conquering Mt. Kilimanjaro that they were likely to get a place in the Guiness Book of Records for staging a music show atop the snow-capped mountain.