The expedition’s partnership with Goodbye Malaria will allow the team to distribute effective, long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to pregnant women and mothers with young children, along with teaching communities how to prevent the disease.
Johannesburg, South Africa (01 February 2022) – While the world was focusing on fighting COVID-19, malaria made a comeback on the African continent. The World Health Organization’s research reveals that the death rate among children from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa has doubled in two years and that a child now dies from malaria every minute on the African continent, compared to every two minutes as previously reported, before the pandemic.
Goodbye Malaria and the Kingsley Holgate Foundation are continuing their fight against malaria, setting out on a world-first, 30,000km Land Rover Defender transcontinental expedition to take the tools to fight the disease to communities across the African continent.
The first-ever ‘Hot Cape to Cold Cape’ expedition, departing from Cape Agulhas on the southern tip of the African continent to Nordkapp in Norway’s Arctic Circle, will cross 30 countries in Africa and Europe over some of the roughest and most demanding terrains. Its first stop after departing Cape Agulhas was at Johannesburg’s Constitutional Hill on 28 January to officially launch the journey and acknowledge how South Africa’s constitution unites and guides its people.
“The significance of Constitution Hill symbolises the expedition so well, which is why it’s the chosen launchpad for the long journey ahead. Our constitution holds us together as a nation and guides us, especially in this time of economic turmoil and COVID-19 recovery. The words Aluta Continua are found at the Joburg landmark and mean ‘the struggle continues’. This expedition symbolises the grit, patience, and determination needed to fight a disease like malaria,” says Sherwin Charles, co-founder of Goodbye Malaria.
The expedition’s partnership with Goodbye Malaria will allow the team to distribute effective, long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to pregnant women and mothers with young children, along with teaching communities how to prevent the disease. It will also support the successful Goodbye Malaria indoor residual spraying programme in Mozambique.
As with all Kingsley Holgate expeditions, the principle of ‘using adventure to improve and save lives’ will be a strong focus of this journey and aims to assist 300,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa with:
- Malaria prevention
- Eye tests and distributing reading glasses to poor-sighted people in remote communities
- Water purification systems
- Encouraging the conservation and protection of Africa’s wildlife and habitats
- Providing nutritional food packs and ECD teaching material to children and teachers
- Spekboom-thicket and tree planting to offset the expeditions carbon footprint
It was over a decade ago that our Goodbye Malaria team, inspired by Nelson Mandela’s call to eliminate malaria, joined Kingsley Holgate on his team’s first expedition.
“Since those humble beginnings, we have helped protect more than three million lives from malaria in South-East Africa, and we are excited to galvanise communities and equip them with the tools and knowledge they need to fight this disease and get malaria elimination back on track.”
In 2021, Goodbye Malaria ramped up its efforts to realise a malaria-free Africa by spraying 18 districts across Southern Mozambique, protecting over two million people from malaria, of which 264,864 were children under the age of five. Between the 2020 and 2021 spray seasons, Goodbye Malaria reached 98% in indoor residual spraying protection coverage, exceeding the WHO’s mandate of 85%.
“This expedition promises to be one of our most challenging and significantly humanitarian journeys to date, and it wouldn’t be possible without the support we’ve received from Goodbye Malaria,” says Kingsley Holgate, South African explorer and humanitarian.
“We’re grateful to have partners like these, as well as the countless volunteers, friends, and communities who have helped our work grow from strength to strength while touching millions of lives over the years.”
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