EDUCATIONAL institutions, especially secondary schools, have been advised to set aside a special day for sports, including long marathon races, in order to build a culture for young people to exercise to protect themselves from non-communicable diseases at a young age.
The advice was given at the end of the week by the Member of Parliament for Moshi Urban, in the Kilimanjaro region, Priscus Tarimo during the St Mary Goreti School marathon and a charity walk, held at the grounds of the Moshi Cooperative University (MoCU) and attracted more than 800 participants including students, teachers and parents.
“Sports, including long races, are important in building health, so it is better for young people to start developing the habit of participating in various sports to avoid non-communicable diseases such as heart diseases instead of starting doing exercises after getting health challenges”, he said.
In addition, he urged the managements of other schools and even those of the higher learning institutions in the region to consider the competition organized by the leadership of St Mary Goreti School as an example of starting competitions in their areas.
“The decision to start such competitions in educational institutions should go hand in hand with the establishment of a special sports bonanza every year, which will involve students from different schools in the region”, he said.
He added, “Such a bonanza apart from building physical health among students, it will also be used to promote unity and cooperation among Tanzanians at the school levels due to the fact that it will unite students from different parts of the country who are pursuing their studies in Kilimanjaro region”.
For his part, the Chairman of the Kilimanjaro Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA) Abraham Mikumi congratulated the management of the St Mary Goreti School for organizing the race and the charity walk whereby he urged the leadership to think of making the race an annual event.
“With our expertise, we noticed today that this event could be an opportunity that we as athletic leaders in Kilimanjaro region can use to identify and develop new talents in the field of athletics due to the results of the winners in today’s event”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Head of the school, Sr Clementina Kachweka, the school’s Deputy Head Sr Cleopa Sarita, said that the race and the charity walk were organized by the management of the school with the aim of raising funds for the renovation of the school.
“This festival is part of the events that we are continuing to organize as part of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of this school, which is expected to take place next year”, she said.
She mentioned other events apart from the recent launching of the celebrations as the tree planting exercise which is been conducted in various places within the region, blood donation for the needy along that of people checking their health status through the special camps organized for the exercise.
Some of the students, teachers and parents of St Mary Goreti Secondary School starting the school’s Charity Run/Walk. The event, which is part of the school’s activities to mark the 25th Jubilee Anniversary set for next year , took place at the Moshi University of Cooperatives (MoCU) in Moshi and attracted more than 800 participants.
On her part, the Moshi District Scout Commissioner who was an official guest at the event, Emerensiana Mbena, appealed to educational stakeholders, parents and the alumni of the school to join hands with leadership of the school in order to achieve the target of the funds needed for the renovation of the school.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the management of the school, the KAAA and the Executive Solutions company for organizing this event which will give a big boost in improving the environment of the school and thus increase the morale of the students, teachers and other staff of the school in implementing their daily duties”, she said.
During the race, Billgates Mhina won the men’s 10 km category, whereby he was followed by Abdulrahman Yassin while the third place was taken by Ramadhan Wilson.
In the women’s 10 km category the winner was Esther Silvanus, closely followed by Hawa Karim, while the third place was taken by Sonia Ally.
During the event, a young boy aged 8 year John Baraka was the center of attraction after taking part in the main 10 km race from start to finish.
