“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid”.
This was a quote written on the wall of the Rainbow Hope Secondary School that Dame Kelly Holmes and the Orbis team visited in Malawi. Instantly apparent to the team was the wealth of talent the children had to offer - all that was needed was for this talent to be nurtured and given the opportunity to flourish.
That’s exactly what the Orbis Challenge: Sport with a Purpose aimed to achieve. Through a dedicated series of fundraising activities, they hoped to help reduce infant malnutrition and afford these children such an opportunity. Along with our sponsorship, we kitted out the team in our engineered tops to help them tackle the Malawian trails over a series of challenges.
Working with the charity ‘Open Arms Malawi’ the team set out to raise £10,000 to provide food for 550 children for a year. On completion of the challenge they had raised more than double this - a fantastic result for everyone involved.
The community projects the team participated in proved instrumental in their fundraising by shining the spotlight on the effort the Malawian people have gone to in order to create a better future for the next generation.
“Hearing Malawian people talk so passionately about how they are developing the youth of Zomba and bringing them out of poverty is humbling and so inspiring. Seeing the little children run with us with such joy and hope in their eyes was incredibly moving.”
-Polly @pollyhaywood - Orbis team member
Some members of the team went one step further and sponsored secondary school pupils for the duration of their 4 year education. Unlike in the UK, secondary education in Malawi is not available for free and 90% of the pupils at Rainbow Hope rely on the generosity of others to be able to attend the school and better their future.
“Believe me the talent is amazing and only with opportunity will they ever get a chance for a better life. It’s not a lot but I am glad I can do my bit.”
-Dame Kelly Holmes
Images shot by Venetia Norrington
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