In contemporary China, the relentless focus on academic success risks depriving children of healthy exercise and outdoor play. This problem is sometimes masked by the country’s sporting success, but that is largely based on the early identification and intensive training of budding talent. A better guide to general levels of fitness might be the rising incidence of obesity and myopia in Chinese teenagers (given the growing evidence that a lack of natural sunlight hugely increases the risk of near-sightedness).
Now two young men with a passion for fitness and volunteering have decided to do something about the problem. We talked to Pablo De Arriba about Fitness 4 Hope, the charity he co-founded.
“Ever since secondary school I have been involved with volunteering,” De Arriba told us, “and have worked with children since graduating from university.”
De Arriba was born Spain but grew up in England, and first came to Beijing four years ago to work for Disney.
“I started volunteering with schools and orphanages in the area,” he said, “and consequently I was awarded the 2016 Volunteer of the Year in China by the Disney Corporation, and became the Beijing representative of the Volunteers Leadership Council. After leaving Disney last year I wanted to continue helping and working with these schools and orphanages, and so we started what is now Fitness 4 Hope.”
The charity was co-founded by De Arriba and his friend Kodi Shiflett.
“We are both really into fitness and sports,” De Arriba said, “and so we wanted to find a way to combine that with helping children in need. We started initially by offering free weekly boxing and fitness classes, open to parents and children. After the class parents had the option of donating any amount they liked towards helping the disabled orphans of Our Learning House. These classes served numerous purposes – they gave parents and children the opportunity to stay fit and learn new skills, whilst helping orphans and creating a culture of giving.
“From there we wanted to expand the program to try and help all parents and children, since we realized two things: many parents are extremely busy and therefore don’t have time to exercise regularly, and children nowadays spend up to six and a half hours every day staring at screens. Therefore, we had the idea of making Fitness 4 Hope, an international community that can connect parents from all around the world.”
The new venture meant expanding beyond just the classes, to reach a wider audience.
“As well as continuing to do fitness events throughout Beijing, we are now creating online content. We have a program called ‘Getting Back to Nature,’ in which we make videos that are intended to motivate watchers to spend more time outdoors and get fit, and which highlight the beauty and culture of the location we’re filming. And our second series are fitness videos that we make to give parents ideas for exercises they can do with their children. But more importantly, parents can send in their own videos. So far we’ve had submissions from all over the world of parents sending in their fitness videos with their children, and this is great because not only is it educational, but it also promotes cultural awareness and a sense of community on an international level.”
We asked why fitness was so important to them.
“Because it’s something we love,” De Arriba answered. “Growing up, we would both spend all day outside with friends, playing sports, swimming, and hiking, and all this was very formative for the both of us. So we wanted to do something that gave less-privileged children that same opportunity to grow up healthy, happy and full of hope. Also, we both feel like, with the development of technology in the last 20 years, children are becoming very disconnected with nature. And finally, because we firmly believe in the unifying power of sports and fitness for families and the community in general. You have but to look at the World Cup to see that sports are one thing that can bring people together regardless of race, gender or belief.”
Fitness 4 Hope are keen to expand their community and activities, De Arriba said.
“First and foremost, we want to get parents and children involved! They can subscribe to our account and send in their videos, or simply follow and learn. Also if there are sports coaches, instructors or teachers that want to volunteer some time to give a free class that would be wonderful too.”
For De Arriba, volunteering is as important as fitness when it comes to living a happy life.
“To use one of my favorite quotes: “Happiness consists in giving and in serving others,” and I truly believe this. The people that are happiest are not the ones that have the most money or possessions, but the ones that give the most. And I think the most valuable thing we can give is our time. But it has to be done in a loving and non-self-interested way… you shouldn’t volunteer just so you can take a selfie to put on your Instagram page so that you can show everyone how ‘kind’ and ‘giving’ you are. Go, give, and help others, and the happiness you receive in return will be more fulfilling than any amount of ‘likes’ you could ever receive on social media.”
To get involved, add ID: fitness4hope on WeChat.
This article first appeared in the beijingkids December 2018 Charity and Goodwill issue.
Photos: Courtesy of Fitness 4 Hope
