On Thursday, HIC staff donated one hundred Help Africa Move Forward t-shirts to the MilanoKumbo Sports Academy to be used as prizes in their Summer Vacation Sports program. The Institute also presented athletic training books to complement the sports equipment that was donated in June.
Roland Mbenkum, founder and executive president of the Academy said, “What we are having here in Kumbo is a lot of raw talent. The Himalayan Institute provides the means to develop it.”
Since its inception in 2005, MilanoKumbo’s Summer Vacation Sports has grown to include four hundred young participants in five sports: basketball, soccer, handball, table tennis, and athletics.
Like the Himalayan Institute Cameroon, MilanoKumbo is a young NGO operating in a region where talents are many and opportunities few. The two also share a close history.
Last year the Institute donated three hundred text books to participants in the annual Summer Vacation Sports. During the 2007 Bui International Marathon in Kumbo, HIC volunteers followed the runners in their van, picking up tired and injured athletes, as well as giving out water and food.
Seven months later, the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania lodged four MilanoKumbo athletes and their coaches while they prepared for the 2008 Boston Marathon.
Looking back on his trip to the US, Mbenkum added, “Every encounter with the Himalayan Institute has been a major step forward.”
