The Omar Samra Challenge

Not new to philanthropy, mountain climber and public speaker Omar Samra is hoping to instill the community development spirit in the nation’s youth through his latest initiative, The Omar Samra Challenge. “For me, I think everybody doing any activity for themselves should explore how to use this activity for the greater good, no matter how small,” Samra explains.“Since climbing Everest I have always looked at how to leverage what I do to have an impact [on others].” Working with three international schools in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as the NGO Educate-Me to bring underprivileged students into the equation, Samra is challenging students to see who can raise the most money for The Right to Live Association (RTLA). Established in 1981, RTLA is “the first parents’ organization in Egypt to provide care and training to persons with intellectual disabilities,” as stated on their website. The association  seeks to improve the living conditions of people with intellectual disabilities and works toward more integration into the society. RTLA has a number of initiatives to promote an inclusive society, including work placements in companies. They also run a housing facility for those in need. “Mixing privileged and underprivileged kids as well as able and disabled kids adds a lot to [the experience,]” says Samra. It wasn’t an easy ride, however. Samra adds that it was impossible to work with public schools directly because of bureaucratic issues as well as  lack of interest from several school administrators. But through the education NGP Educate-Me, the challenge will include students from public schools. Samra felt the need to take his initiatives to a younger level, one he explains he has always been interest in. “I have always been very passionate about education […] I saw a gap where I felt this sort of learning environment, the idea of a challenge and setting a goal and overcoming challenges for a good cause, was missing,” Samra adds. The winning fundraising team will not only get to experience the joy of philanthropy firsthand, but will also win an all-expenses paid hiking trip with Samra and receive mentoring from him on community development. Samra is working with Alsson, Misr Language School (MLS) and Future International School (FIS) students above the age of 11 to tutor them on raising not only funds, but also awareness for the cause. Teams of four students from each school will have six weeks, working independently, to generate funds for RTLA. The students have received coaching on creativity in fundraising, including holding car washes and selling their own crafts. Samra, along with Educate-Me and other volunteers, are organizing an event where the students in the challenge will meet RTLA children, so they can better identify with the cause. The winners will be ranked not only on how much they money raise, but also on the creativity of their fundraising ideas. When asked about how fair a chance kids from public schools have fundraising against those from private schools, Samra explains that the competition isn’t a quantitative one only; those with the best ideas and efforts still stand a chance. Samra is hoping that through ongoing collaboration with the schools and Educate-Me, the the challenge will become an annual event that supports different causes each year. During a series of visits to participating schools, Samra shared with the kids his experience and tips on goal setting and overcoming challenges to achieve them. Afterwards, one of the teachers sent Samra a letter about how the students reacted to his visit. “One girl’s goal was to conquer her fear of heights,” the letter read. “She said that if Omar Samra could climb mountains and get over his asthma, she was going to climb mountains and get over her phobia.”