Africa's newest country comes into existence on 9 July 2011 following decades of conflict between north and south. Holgate will initially head for base camp at Nile River Explorers at Bujagali Falls and from there the expedition party will split, with some volunteers taking a 600km Nile journey by inflatable boat to meet the Land Rover team in Juba, in time for the Independence Day celebrations.
Like all Holgate's previous expeditions, his team will carry a "Scroll of Peace and Goodwill in Support of Malaria Prevention" as well as mosquito nets supplied by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The expedition forms part of United Against Malaria's activities in Africa, of which Nando's is a partner.
"We thought that we'd completed our odyssey to embrace every country on the continent and help take a malaria prevention programme throughout Africa," commented Holgate. "But Africa is not that easy and it delights in throwing the occasional curved ball. So here we are back home after an incredible journey, only to find that after 30 years of war, South Sudan is about to secede from the North and so another journey must begin."
Nando's representatives will fly into Juba in July to assist Holgate in the distribution of mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and children in the new capital of South Sudan. As is tradition on Holgate's expeditions, "A Journey To Juba" will also include the distribution of spectacles through the Rite to Sight programme, as well as a football match on a pitch just outside of Juba, featuring Holgate expedition team members, and representatives of UAM and other Global Fund-aligned organisations as well as citizens of the newly formed South Sudan.
New York-based UAM campaign manager, David Kyne (who was also present at the Lesedi Village send-off) acknowledged the role of South Africa's private sector in raising funds (via United Against Malaria) for the Global Fund. The fund has already distributed millions of mosquito nets in Africa.
"Since the World Cup, UAM has evolved significantly, driven by the energy and creativity of companies who adopted the campaign and now help to shape it," Kyne commented. "From the outset, multinational companies like ExxonMobil and Vestergaard Fransden supported the campaign in a variety of ways and that momentum has been accelerated due in large part to the leadership of African corporate partners including Nando's."
Said Sherwin Charles, Nando's director, "It's incredible to support the Journey To Juba with Kingsley and his team. Not only does this mean that Nando's is playing an important role in Kingsley's malaria prevention expedition to the only country in Africa he hasn't visited - but Nando's staff will also be in South Sudan at the birth of a new African country which is something really special for a brand that came to life on the African continent."
