Here at SFC we are committed to educating, enabling and empowering youth, but there could be billions of children out there that may need that sort of encouragement to inspire them to be the champions of tomorrow. We at Sports for Champions have always had the drive to offer our enthusiasm and tools to help overseas in places that unfortunately aren’t blessed with the kind of support and aid that we are offered here in Great Britain.
So, in 2019, we ventured out into The Gambia where we met and created two unlikely bonds with Jolly Friends Nursery and St Mary’s Immaculate School; a nursery and junior school situated in one of the most unique and breath-taking parts of the world, not to mention being home to a fantastic group of people.
To explore and discuss his experience and the work he did whilst in Africa, I’m joined by Darren Emmanuel, Managing Director and visionary of Sports For Champions.
A lot of support work was completed as part of our first venture overseas all the way back in January 2019.
“We travelled in 2019 to the western division. Main purpose was to provide sporting equipment to two schools over there; Jolly Friends Nursery and St Mary’s Immaculate School. We supplied Tennis rackets, balls, Footballs, Badminton rackets, stationary for the school, and supplies for the teachers as well”
Within Western Africa, the lack of basic amenities is quite concerning, some of the children go without food in Gambian schools each day, it is a situation that deeply saddens us, and we are looking to help in any way we can. Because we at Sports For Champions believe that birthplace shouldn’t affect your ability to grow up and live a healthy lifestyle, this is why we have set out to partner with NGO’s and other like-minded individuals that want to make the difference that these communities deserve.
Looking to the future in hopes of making that difference, Darren Emmanuel has some big goals and aspirations that he hopes will have a massive impact on the well-being and sustainability of these communities.
“I want to provide both schools with wind turbines that will create their own electricity and is Eco-friendly. On top of that I want to build two working kitchens for both schools because the parents pay a subscription fee for their children to attend the school and part of the school’s fees is to provide lunch, but some parents can’t afford these fees so the children go without lunch. There’s no social support like we have here in Britain, unfortunately”
The futures of Jolly Friends Nursery and St Mary’s Immaculate School certainly look prosperous and I’m sure our efforts will aid the wider community too as we plan on bringing clean, running water to the local villages.
“I want to provide a clean drinking water fountain situated outside the schools gate for villagers to also benefit from”
With a lack of support financially, basic human rights such as access to clean, running water are almost forgotten about, an aim that Darren Emmanuel has had his eye on for years, with aspirations to implement running water in some of the most rural areas, he’d also like to make an impact on other aspects of the peoples’ well-being.
“I want to build two kitchens where the schools provide their own cook. However, I will be donating food each month for those children that can’t afford to have lunch each day”
“I think that the government could do a lot more as they get a lot of money from western companies to mine their country and I think that things should be put in place for these schools so they can cater for all children whether they can afford to pay that fee or not”
There have been many instances of governments essentially handing out the natural riches in exchange for a cash sum, this can hurt industries and deteriorate people’s livelihoods too. The practice only affects the tradespeople that work tirelessly to provide an income for their family, but when products like fish start to become scarce, the prices go up, and they have to find other means of being able to afford to upkeep their family and take care of themselves, it’s a catastrophic scenario to be landed in, especially when someone doesn’t have any control over the situation they’ve been placed in.
“Whilst we were there, we realised how much they were struggling and how many kids were going without food”
It is saddening to see that children in need of food and nutrition are unable to receive it. However, using the aforementioned plans, we hope to see a change in at least the schools we have visited.
“There is a world of opportunities for uplift and outreach within some of the least privileged communities on the planet, but there is equally a lot of restrictions and constraints. How do you plan on overcoming these constraints to achieve what you are setting out to do in the future?” I inquired.
“I wouldn’t be able to take any tools or tradespeople over, but all that is available in the country. I will be looking to raise the money, and take the money with me in order to then re-invest the money that has been generously donated to us into their society”
The work that we are planning in Africa gives the locals a way of supporting themselves, it also helps to develop their skills. By investing into the tradespeople and businesses in the local area, we won’t just be supporting a business, but also a family, and they can take the skills they will learn from the installation of our planned projects and grow their business to be able to provide for their family for years to come using the skills that they learn with us.
“A Dutch company would be willing to build the wind turbines for us, but I’d like to source that work from local tradesmen that will benefit from the work and have the chance to develop their skills”
“Another idea I have for sustainability within those villages is to create jobs within those communities, so I’d be creating a job for someone to cook the children’s’ dinners”
It seems like there’s a lot to be done in terms of infrastructure, giving them the tools to be sufficient and providing the community with new opportunities will allow the people to sustain their business, families and local area using these new facilities, but also giving them access to what matters most, the simplest form of sustainability; food and water.
“I want to provide a clean drinking water fountain situated outside the schools gate for villagers to also benefit from”
There certainly is a lot to be done, and it’s an incredibly humbling experience to come from a country with support networks and financial aid free and available to everyone. It’s a tremendous feeling to see the spirit and appreciation for even the smallest of gestures such as handing out pencil cases, t-shirts among other things.
At Sports for Champions we believe in equal rights and want to make a difference to every child on earth, this is the reason we expanded our scope and impact on the wider community with our efforts in The Gambia and even mainland Europe. We hope that one day, we can be inspiring children from around the world to be the champions of tomorrow no matter their background, with our values and initiatives we hope to make a difference everywhere!
With all that said, there is a sense of distrust surrounding charities nowadays with exposé news stories and scandals becoming more and more common unfortunately. To combat this stigma, Mr. Emmanuel has a plan.
“I want it to be completely different to other fundraisers, I don’t want to do this for recognition or support”
“I’d like this to be completely transparent, I’d like to lay all of the receipts out and show everyone exactly where their money is going”
With all that said, there was a lot to take away from this venture as it helped to expand the scope of our efforts to some of the least privileged parts of the world we live in. It gave us a new perspective on the completely separate world we live in from those less fortunate. Unfortunately, one of our team members contracted Malaria throughout their travels, but thankfully they were ultimately okay and only displayed mild symptoms.
Finally, if you’d like to donate towards our second venture into the Western Division then we would appreciate any donation big or small that would help us in achieving our future goals. Find our fundraiser here.
Have you ever had the chance to lend a helping hand anywhere overseas? Let us know how your experiences went on our social media outlets or take a moment to comment here!
