AUSTIN (KXAN)—A couple of months before the Paris 2024 Olympics, Olympic Synchronized Diver Alison Gibson sat next to a complete stranger on the plane home from a competition, who would change her life forever.
“[Her name is] Mary Kamau, and we ended up talking for six hours of the eight hour flight,” Gibson said.
Kamau founded The Missions of Hope International (MOHI) in 2000, an organization that has been helping impoverished communities in Kenya by building schools and providing families with basic needs.
One soul-filling conversation about this work with Kamau, would lead Gibson to take on something bigger than the Olympics.
Competing at the Olympics, and sponsoring children in Kenya
Gibson, an Austin-native, qualified for and competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics. This was after she retired from the sport two years earlier.
“When I made that decision, I told myself it wasn’t about me,” Gibson said. “I wanted to do something bigger. It was about encouraging and inspiring those around me and everything that I did.”
So, when Gibson met Kamau, she knew the stars had aligned. For Gibson, it was a direct response to what was in her heart: using her Olympic platform the second time around to draw attention to something bigger than herself.
“[Kamau] grew up in Kenya, and she felt called to build a school for those less fortunate in these really, really difficult areas of Kenya,” Gibson said. “She sacrificed her career. Her husband ended up sacrificing his career, and they took their own personal funds to build schools…over the past 20 years, it’s grown into over 30 schools across Kenya, impacting over 30,000 children, employing 1,500 people….not only changing lives, but transforming communities.”
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Missions of hope, working to provide basic needs, and better quality of life for people in impoverished areas in Kenya. (Photo credit: Missions of Hope). -
Missions of hope, working to provide basic needs, and better quality of life for people in impoverished areas in Kenya. (Photo credit: Missions of Hope). -
Missions of hope, working to provide basic needs, and better quality of life for people in impoverished areas in Kenya. (Photo credit: Missions of Hope). -
Missions of hope, working to provide basic needs, and better quality of life for people in impoverished areas in Kenya. (Photo credit: Missions of Hope).
Gibson sponsored a child in Kenya, and made it her mission during the games to get as many children sponsored as she could. Other athletes took notice and also donated, including LeBron James, Gibson said.
A trip to Kenya, and a new mission
Less than a year after the 2024 Olympics, Gibson continued to use her platform to help MOHI.
One of MOHI’s donors anonymously funded a trip for Gibson to meet the children who she was able to get sponsored. Before she leaves in May, Gibson will host a gala fundraiser to raise $100,000, which she said will be used to build a medical center in a small village.
“I just felt a tug on my heart to do something more,” Gibson said. “Right now, the current like hospital [in Kenya] is like 80 miles away, and they have to walk. They just don’t have resources.”
The Horizon of Hope Gala will be on April 27 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Buena Vida Estate in Austin.
“Angela and Scott, who own the house [Buena Vida Estate], basically offered for me to host the event there for free, which was so incredible,” she said. “And Kévin D’Andréa, who is a chef here in Austin…him and his company are helping provide the food.”
Gibson said that she hopes to continue the conversation around athletes using their platforms to spread awareness about philanthropic nonprofit efforts.
“With this mission, I’m like, what does it look like to do something, to build something that will change lives and save lives for many, many, many more years,” Gibson said. “While I have this platform to actually make a difference past my lifetime?”
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