Greg Bertish is sailing in a tiny boat called an “Optimist” in the hopes of raising funds to revamp the bathroom at the Astra School for children with mental and physical disabilities.
Cape Town, South Africa (31 August 2022) – Greg Bertish, 51 years old, founded the Little Optimist Trust after overcoming a diagnosis of Endocarditis and undergoing open heart surgery. He hoped to inspire children to follow their dreams.
Greg was 30 years old when he was diagnosed with Endocarditis, which is caused by a bacteria that attacks the heart valves. He spent 200 days in hospital recovering from the surgery.
Years later, in 2016, Bertish sailed an 8-foot Children’s Optimist dinghy around the Cape of Storms. He crossed False Bay, rounded Cape Point and headed for Langebaan Lagoon on the wild West Coast. His 200-kilometre journey matched the 200 days he had spent in hospital fighting life-threatening heart infections.
The journey inspired him to launch The Little Optimist Trust. Along with the opening of the trust, he wrote a children’s book about a little believer with a HUGE heart. The book teaches children that being small, sick, poor or different is okay. The message is that they too, can survive and thrive, get better, be better and follow their passions and dreams.
To date, the trust has raised over R3.2 Million rand and has impacted more than 500 000 children. Each year, the event brings people together to race around in “Little Optimist” boats. The event welcomes charities to come together to work at raising funds for special causes.
Greg’s cause for 2022 is the Astra School for learners with mental and physical disabilities. The school caters to around 300 students aged 5 to 18 years. The school also has a hostel that cares for 45 learners.
The facilities are badly rundown, so Greg is raising R70,000 to go towards upgrading the bathrooms. Since the project’s launch, more than R20 000 has been raised through kind contributions from 13 donors.
“With this initiative, not only will we finally have working bathrooms again, but this will bring love, hope and positivity to these kids who need this more than anything. Thank you for helping us to restore our dignity” – says Melanie Mabotha, Principal of Astra School.
In collaboration with Italtile Ceramics and Italtile Foundation, The Little Optimist Trust has thus far raised over R100 000 to start their project and has received tiles, baths, and basins to the value of R133 000 from Italtile stores across the country.
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All donated funds will be paid into The Little Optimist Trust account, which will then be paid to contractors for building materials. All donors can receive a section 18 A certificate on request. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.
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