Jakobi Wilmott: Unsung hero

The prevalent headlines in recent days has been a plethora of negative stories featuring Black boys. Whilst we at OBV, do not condone the recent violence and criminal acts, there are many unsung heroes in the community. We would like to commend the many fantastic achievements and successes of our young Black men, exemplified by 16 year old Jakobi Wilmott.

Jakobi Wilmott from Catford, London is a young man who will be taking part in the World Challenge project. World Challenge is a school expedition company that gives students the opportunity to travel to another part of the world. During this expedition they will be trekking through part of the country and volunteering in local villages to help the community.

Jakobi has signed up for the Africa expedition in Namibia and Botswana where for four weeks he will be trekking from Botswana's Lobatse heartland to Namibia's Waterberg Plateau. Afterwards he begins a project with his fellow challenge seekers to help the people of Namibia and Botswana. To get an idea of the type of work they do, last year the World Challenge team helped a community in the Kalahari Desert obtain their first water tap. The type of work Jakobi's team will be doing will definitely have a major impact on the people in these communities as well.

He is now in secondary school year 11, studying Math, Economics, French and Biology and is particularly interested in learning languages. This is one of his reasons for partaking in the adventure, along with meeting and helping the people and community.

He said exclusively to OBV that his expectations are seeing how the people live their day-to-day lives and exploring amazing scenery and landscapes. He is excited as he anticipates his journey the following summer. He is looking for sponsors for the funding of his challenge. If anyone is interested in helping Jakobi in achieving his goals they can click here.

Those who are also interested in taking part of this experience as well can click here to visit World Challenge website or as Jakobi did, find out from their school. I'm sure this will be a once in a lifetime experience that will definitely give Jakobi an incredible experience he will never forget.

The team of OBV wish him the best of luck on his journey.

Picture: Jakobi Wilmott

Misha Sylver