SiGMA `ɥݥåɥ㥹:Keith MarshallSiGMA ؔ
Keith Marshall of the SiGMA Foundation is no stranger to our readers. Keith is known throughout the island as an energetic, fun-loving, fund-raising force of nature. Kamil caught up with SiGMA to find out what keeps the charity arm busy.
At the beginning of the SiGMA Foundation’s Grassroots Talks, Keith Marshall spoke about the Eman Pulis, the founder of the company, and himself have a tradition of about 20 years. Pulis isn’t just about events and climbing ladders. True to his roots beyond the growth of SiGMA, Keith explains how Eman pitched the idea of the SiGMA Foundation to hima way of life that can give back to society.
“I jumped at the opportunity because I always wanted to be an important part of the world and actually provide a legacy that I could follow.”
“We are all part of the circle of life, and this can be seen as something that we can take over. This has been around for nearly three years and hopefully will continue to exist for decades to come.”
What are the main involvement of the SiGMA Foundation? Marshall, who has always disliked the idea that philanthropy is tied to donations, explains how the fund has built a loose business model. “We’re bringing people together, training them to be part of any expedition, and raising money while having fun.”
With several successful charitable causes, including his personal Kilimanjaro Challenge, Keith has a strong desire to help others. In Ethiopia and Kenya, we have earned a staggering 1 million for various relief activities. For this challenge, Keith, along with a team of trained people, engaged in the challenge of climbing the highest mountain in the air, the summit of 20,000 feet in the air.
“It was a bit of a struggle because we couldn’t actually simulate the conditions of the mountain, but we were able to achieve the highest record of 7.5 billion people on the summit of Mount Uhuru in Kilimanjaro State. I’m proud of it.”
Foundation in the age of COVID
COVID-19 has presented many challenges in maintaining communication with those who benefit from the SiGMA Foundation abroad. That’s because restrictions and social distancing make it impossible to provide donations or practical means of support. Knowing how far Keith Marshall’s efforts had come, this didn’t stop him.
“Obviously, during COVID, we hit a huge wall, and we had to change our policy because Tanzania was all red. There was no more Kilimanjaro left, but we approached the house. We shifted our focus to a new challenge: the Camino de Santiago, Spain’s famous religious pilgrimage, which is doing very well.”
Marshall assures that the challenge of Kilimanjaro Challange is not over yet and is secondary for now, but says that the new Santiago Challange will have a 26-man expedition starting next week. The second one was confirmed by almost 30 people, and another two are scheduled to follow up in September.
For now, another interesting project that had to be postponed due to regulations was Mount Tubkal in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The expedition was a challenging fundraising project in Africa and unfortunately had to be shelved, as Morocco remained a dark red zone for Malta.
How do I join the SiGMA Foundation? How can I help?
Keith Marshall once told me that a very special person once told him, “If you want to get people’s attention, you have to lead by example.” Over the course of 20 years, Keith has built 10 major projects in Ethiopia with the Fund, costing more than 1 million euros in total, as well as engaging 220 people on the highest free-standing mountain on the planet. He goes on to explain that being able to see what’s going on and gain experience from a distance can have a profound effect on moving individuals forward.
No matter what level of contribution you have, forget about general financial contributions, he said. Faced with an astonishing idea, Marshall believes that anyone can come forward and contribute to the expedition at any level. Being a donor can take many forms, whether it’s within the scope of your donation, sponsoring, or actually participating and physically jumping on the bandwagon.
“Anyone who wants to contribute comes forward and reaches out through the SiGMA Foundation’s Facebook page, and that’s the first level of engagement. From there, it depends on the person and possibly the situation. Everyone has something to give in this world, and the devil’s playground lies in the fact that you know that there is this voice that is speaking to you, and in fact, you choose to brew tea instead of listening and saying let’s give value to this voice. Let me see if I can take this to a higher level in some way, form, or way.”
“It’s priceless just to contribute and be there for the next person, and it’s very beautiful when you get the symbiotic effect of a lot of people coming together for a common goal or cause.”
Keith also thinks it’s important to build different spacecraft because different people have different aptitudes. When it comes to challenges, different people have different bar heights.
“We’ve been doing this for years, so now we know what challenges are right for the individual, and last year, at the age of 68, he joined the Camino de Santiago. Kilimanjaro is too far away to swim, so I won’t be pitching, but if you can swim 115 km in five days with just a few months of training, it’s going to be a big deal.”
“So if you want to contribute, we encourage you to come to our office and sit down and discuss the best way forward.”
What is Keith Marshall inspiration?
Twenty years ago, Keith had the opportunity to meet a priest from Brazil. Mr. Keith, who was shot twice for trying to break the racket of child prostitution, found it very inspiring to risk his fate by acknowledging his efforts and going there and being aggressive in the situation. This priest illustrated his actions by example. Mr. Keith, who offered the painting to the now founder of the SiGMA Foundation in exchange for a donation, met him again and gave him cash, believing that his obligation to the act had been fulfilled.
When confronted with the question of whether this money will really save the lives of 200 children, the priest returns the money to Keith and offers him the experience of a lifetime of visiting Ethiopia with him. Keith said there was no mentality behind the move to take the experience as a challenge. He describes this moving involvement as life-changing.
“I was frustrated by what I saw and experienced there, and I wondered how I could live peacefully in a safe home knowing that other people were living in hell. When I came back from Ethiopia, I didn’t do very well.”
“I became very bitter about our society and felt that we needed to be meaningful, and we needed to create a structured way in which we could actually contribute to this divide and to life. Knowing that we live within the confines of safety and isolation and that these children are just living day by day, it was simply unacceptable in my eyes to struggle to survive.”
No excuses
“There are 99 excuses every day for slapping me in the face to keep people from getting attention, but it’s natural for my children to do that, so there’s always a good reason for me to move on.”
His passion for the subject is palpable, emphasizing the fact that there are no excuses. Keith is convinced that there is a future for these children he is trying to help, and for all the reasons he has lost his way, and the excuse not to move on with it is not the way to carry it out. Imagine that you are dealt 52 cards. The outcome of your life, he says, depends entirely on which cards are dealt. A child’s future can never be determined, but the fact that the child was born in a third world country is not an excuse to give them up.
Keith tells listeners in tune that all we can do is provide the basics of life, including dignity, shelter, protection, food, and education. Every child on this planet deserves at least the basics of life. “If we hold this spirit, this belief, in our hearts, even if we hear 99 excuses, we will never betray our goal because it is noble and humane,” he said.
Do you have any plans for the future of the SiGMA Foundation?
There is a very interesting project that the SiGMA Foundation is developing in Sri Lanka. Having just returned from there, Marshall believes the SiGMA Foundation could move forward with this.
“If there’s something in life that really matters and you want to do, don’t wait until you’re 60 to do it now, do it now.
“We can do it today, next week, next month, maybe even next year, you never know what’s right there. So seize the moment and run with it.”
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