Top photo: Joaquim Ngomane (Gorongosa Health Manager) and Allyson Felix (RTP Ambassador) exercise their Right To Play with children in Madzimachena School in Gorongosa District.
Allyson Felix, the most decorated female U.S. Track & Field Olympic athlete of all time visited Gorongosa National Park in May to learn about the surrounding districts and communities.
Felix’s visit is part of a program designed to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the districts and communities surrounding Gorongosa National Park by increasing agricultural production, access to water and health care, and sexual and reproductive health, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of women and youth.
Felix is a board member of Right to Play, a global organization that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity using play.
“I get to run for a living and that’s great”, Felix said. “But the work Right to Play does is much more important.”
Felix and Right to Play staff toured the Gorongosa Project’s new youth education programs underway in districts surrounding the Park.
On the heels of qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games in 2021, Allyson Felix committed to donating her winnings in Tokyo to inspire others and make a lasting impact on childhood education.
Felix has been an active, engaged supporter of Right To Play and its mission to protect, educate and empower children.
Established in 2000, Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has programs in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America. The NGO is based in Canada and implements programs for 2.3 million children and young people in 15 countries.
In addition to Right to Play, program partners include the Dutch government and the Gorongosa Restoration Project.
Left photo: Track and Field Olympian Allyson Felix learns first hand about the Park’s nutrition program. Right photo: Janélice da Conceição Basílio, Gorongosa coffee factory supervisor (left) and Track and Field Olympian Allyson Felix.