Journal · 28 June 2018

Sun glass at the Street Child Marathon 2018

In May 2018, the Charity Street Child Marathon took place for the seventh time in Sierra Leone in favour of children's aid projects. Sonnenglas founder Stefan Neubig was one of the participants in the run for a good…

Sonnenglas founder runs for children's aid projects in Africa

Since 2012, the British organisation Street Child has been organising a 42-kilometre run in Sierra Leone, Africa, for the benefit of humanitarian projects. In May 2018, Sonnenglas founder Stefan Neubig took part in the charity marathon through the jungle.

The small country of Sierra Leone in West Africa between Liberia and Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world. 7 million people live here and over 70 per cent have to get by on less than one US dollar a day. Many children are particularly affected by poverty. The aim of the Street Child organisation, which was founded in the UK in 2008, is therefore to give children who have no home in Sierra Leone and other parts of the world access to education and thus a better life.

Sonnenglas founder Stefan Neubig in Sierra Leone / © Street Child

One of the highlights every year is the charity marathon organised by Street Child in Sierra Leone. Participants from all over the world take part in the run, the proceeds of which are donated to local projects. The founder of Sonnenglas, Stefan Neubig, also took part in May 2018. For the experienced marathon runner, it was his first run in the African country, which was the battlefield of a civil war in the 1990s, experienced a terrible Ebola fever epidemic in 2014 and is only slowly recovering.

"I was inspired by the humanitarian idea of the marathon. We were on site for almost a week and got to know many people and especially the children who benefit from the Street Child projects. We got a very good feeling for what people need and how we can help in the rest of the world," says the 31-year-old.

Over hill and dale

The more than 500 runners started at 6 a.m. before the heat arrived. The marathon then took them over sand, stone, hills and through the middle of the jungle during the day in temperatures of well over 30 degrees Celsius and humidity of almost 90%. The athletes were allowed to choose their own distance depending on their experience - the routes were between 5 and 42 kilometres long. The starting point for the marathon in the West African country was the third largest city in Sierra Leone, Makeni. From there it was a 2-3 hour walk to the capital Freetown.

The marathon participants organised their own travel and accommodation and purchased their marathon ticket via a donation to the Street Child projects in Sierra Leone. This raised a total of over 170,000 euros. For five days, Stefan was not only able to get to know and directly support the work of Street Child, but also met many children who attend the schools built by the organisation. Street Child also trains teachers and tries to get running children off the streets and integrate them into family environments. In small workshops, the runners also learnt a little "Krio", a Creole language based on English, which is spoken by around 5 percent of the population.

Street-Child-Marathon-Sierra-Leone-Fußball-2.jpg — Soccer connects: The runners playing with the children in Sierra Leone / © Street Child

For Stefan, these were exciting and touching moments that have encouraged him to further expand Sonnenglas' commitment. "It was overwhelming and made me think a lot. Seeing how many children have to do hard physical labour instead of being able to go to school made me realise that we can do even more to improve the lives of children in Sierra Leone and elsewhere through local partnerships."

At the finish line: Sonnenglas founder Stefan Neubig / © Street Child

About Street Child

Worldwide, 121 million children are unable to attend school. The Street Child organisation, founded in the UK in 2008 by entrepreneur Tom Dannatt, is therefore trying to get as many children as possible off the streets and give them access to education and safety. Street Child is active in Sierra Leone, Nepal, Liberia and Nigeria.