Mission of Row4Life
Building Future Leaders of S. Sudan by Promoting Global Diversity
NEWS FLASHES:
DEC 2023; Kyle and Row4Life were invited to attend Boys in the Boat movie premier and Red Carpet Gala in New York City. See official trailer and other videos in section below.
JAN 2024; Kyle gave an in-depth radio and podcast interview to Dennis Puska at the Sports Hub Network. See the following link.
https://on.soundcloud.com/P8ZUjBc1fiQqAWKy8
JAN 2024: Kyle gave an in-depth television interview to Jackson M'vunganyi and his Up Front TV show at the Voice of American network (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5ozG57rq4) broadcast around the world "on the air" to 326 million people in 48 languages.
August 2024: Kyle made another visit to South Sudan where he donated additional erg concept 2 rowing machines to the Juba and Wau Row4Life sites. As of now, Row4Life has a total of 14 rowing machines in South Sudan in 6 states: Juba, Central Equatoria (8), Wau, Western Bahr el Ghzal (2), Torit, Eastern Equatoria (1), Malakal, Upper Nile (1), Warrap Town, Warrap State (1), and Bor, Jonglei State (1).
December 2024: Samuel Aru, a 17 year old senior 1 (U.S. equivalent of a high school freshman) Row4Life Scholar-Athlete who is 6'8 tall and the son of a local chief received a 7:19 2K Erg time! This is an incredibly fast erg time for a beginner level rower and Samuel is only increasing that time as he continues to practice. Samuel looks to be our first potential prospect for being a recipient of a rowing scholarship to a U.S./UK university!
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Row4Life will, though erg-rowing competitions mitigate conflict, foster friendships among all ethnicity and genders, establish national pride, and avoid a return to civil war in South Sudan. The key to everything is Global Diversity
Row4Life Actions:
- Provide Concept-2 (world standard) erg rowing machines to various locations (schools, community centers, etc.) throughout South Sudan.
- Students (boys and girls) between ages 12 and 19 will be introduced, and trained, and encouraged to compete.
- Competitions will be sponsored throughout S. Sudan, and can be between schools, towns, States, and also between SS and other countries. Modest monetary awards will be given to encourage participation. In S. Sudan, the average wage per month is about $10 USD, so a $20 prize is a HUGE deal.
- Athletic super-stars, ages will be identified, nurtured, and coached. Exceptional athletes ages will be provided a 20-30 day clinic in Juba for English and math tutoring as well as athletic coaching on the erg.
- U.S. Colleges recruit for Rowing based primarily on Erg times for 2,000 meters. Once students reach these metrics and are 17-19 years old, visa applications will be made and these students will visit the U.S. for 2-3 weeks for on-the-water training in Virginia and to visit various universities and their rowing programs.
- Nobody else is recruiting for any other sports in South Sudan except for Soccer and basketball, from time to time. These sports to not require athletic excellence, and instead are much more focused on skill. Rowing requires skill, which can be taught, but it's absolutely essential requirement is athletic excellence. This is measured by the erg!
This project has several positive effects on the youth of South Sudan:
- Mitigate conflict amongst the youth of South Sudan by providing an outlet for competition other than crime, violence, and mortal combat.
- Groom future leaders of South Sudan by discovering rowing prodigies amongst the youth, who can then be awarded athletic scholarships from top world-class universities. Upon graduation, these athletes (men and women) are South Sudan’s future leaders.
- It is important to note that #2 above is not just a vision or hope. Scholarships are already being awarded to American high school students based nearly entirely on their score on the Concept-2 erg.
NATIONAL PRIDE
It is our dream as well as our realistic expectation that within ten years South Sudan can enter and competitively race in world-level rowing competitions (Olympics, World Games, etc.) as the South Sudan Rowing Team.
CLICK on this picture for latest brochure and PowerPoint for Row4Life
Status, Latest Slide Deck, and Brochure
Status and Updated Slide Deck
I visited South Sudan (Juba and Wau) for nearly two months in 2020, three weeks in July 2022 and six weeks (Juba, Malakal, Bor, and Torit) in July-Aug 2023. Click below for updated slide deck.
Seven erg Concept2 rowers are now present in Warrup Town, Wau, Juba, Bor, Torit, and Malakal. These are the capital towns in six of the country's ten states. Juba has two ergs at the same location, and is designated as the South Sudan National Erg Rowing Training Center.
Ambassador Natana (S. Sudan Ambassador to the U.S.) has agreed to help with future shipping costs. Once in South Sudan they will be assembled and placed at schools in the remaining four States.
YOUR DONATIONS ARE CRUCIAL
Your donations are very important. Please give generously. We also renovate used erg Concept-2 Rowing machines, and so we will gladly accept these donations, too.
