|
While
the rest of the English footballing brethren will be jetting off
for a few weeks well earned rest on the beach somewhere, West Brom’s
Darren Moore and some of his colleagues from the Faith & Football
charity – including Pompey’s Linvoy Primus – will
be putting their summer holiday on hold for a few days more yet.
They’ll be trekking along the Great Wall of China, a mighty
journey where they’ll be looking to raise up to £100,000
for the charity that tries to help disadvantaged youngsters in particular
both at home, in India and in Africa.
If you read this column regularly, apart from needing psychiatric
help, you’ll have seen Darren’s report from his trip to
Goa last summer where he helped with
many education projects out in the Indian sub continent. But if
anything, he’s raised the bar this year, because the conditions
in China are going to be pretty tortuous.
“We’ve got a party of more than a dozen people who are
going to walk the Wall, including Linvoy, Wayne Jacobs from Bradford
City, and Mick Mellows who used to play for Portsmouth and is the
founder of Faith & Football. Last year in Goa was a magnificent
experience for all of us, and I think it’s very important not
just to try to raise money, but to actually go and see things for
yourself, to take part in the work that is going on there.
“We’re hoping to raise something like £100,000 from
this walk and we’ve already made a good start, but there’s
a lot more to do. The money we raise is intended for two specific
projects, including funding a school in Ibaden, Nigeria. They try
to help children’s, many of them are orphans, who get caught
up in begging, are forced into child labour or prostitution or are
severely disabled.
“Then we building an orphanage, school and medical centre in
Brittona in Goa, to help children who have to live on the streets
at the moment. When you look at what our money can do – because
£100,000 in our money does a huge amount in places like Goa
– it doesn’t seem much of a sacrifice to give up a week
or two to raise money for that. Although my wife’s not sure
how I’ll get on with the walking, because she’s always
saying I get tired after walking round the shops for an hour!”
This might be a sponsored walk in name, but it’s a completely
different challenge to a couple of laps of your local park, as Darren
admits.
“It’s going to be a hard physical challenge. The terrain
is difficult, a lot of it’s very steep, it’s not like
just climbing stairs! The temperatures can be very extreme there,
they say it can vary from minus seven overnight to 30 degrees plus,
and very humid with it, in the day. It’s just as well the season’s
over, because it wouldn’t be the best place to be doing your
pre-season!”
Taking on the greatest man made structure in the world – the
only one you can see from space – in order to combat man made
problems of poverty and neglect seems a very appropriate reaction,
and as Darren points out, the decision to go to China was essentially
made for him.
“When we were thinking of our next challenge to follow on from
Goa, it seemed that the Lord was leading us in this direction, that
the Great Wall was where we should go. And if we can raise the money
we want, we can do so much with it. In Ibaden £480 a year
will save a child’s life, in Goa it’s only £360.
When you see those numbers, it’s not a question of why are
you doing it. How can you not go?”
You can follow Darren’s progress at www.chinachallenge.org.uk
and you can also donate to the cause through the website too. Once
Darren’s walked the walk, let’s give him the tools he
needs to do the job. Good luck Mooro!
|
