About Comrades of Children Overseas
COCO endeavours to break down barriers to children’s education and health worldwide as well as helping to reduce infant mortality in developing countries. The charity concentrates on educational projects that aim to improve the life chances of children who would otherwise have a grim future ahead of them COCO has found support from all over the world and helped raise in excess of 400,000 since 1998, funding projects in Bosnia, Romania and South Africa to name but a few. It’s been quite an impressive record for such a young charity, which raises much of its money through sponsored runners, known collectively as TEAM COCO and other valuable fundraisers around the globe.
COCO recognises the recommendations of the 2003 UN Human Development Report, which highlights that developing countries need investment in basic education and health as preconditions to sustained economic growth. Growth in turn, can generate employment and raise incomes - feeding back into further gains for education and health.
The report helps to reinforce COCO’s focus in many of the observations it makes;
“A lack of education robs an individual of a full life. It also robs a society of a foundation for sustainable development because education is critical to improving health, nutrition and productivity. The education goal is thus central to meeting the other goals.”
Our history
COCO was born out of the infamous Comrades marathon back in 1998. Comrades is the ultimate Ultra Marathon from Pietermaritzburg and Durban, South Africa. Established in 1921, the race is a living memorial to the spirit of the soldiers of the First World War. The story begins with a childhood dream of the British soldier and co-founder of COCO, Jim Panton.
Jim decided to bring the Comrades to Bosnia where he was based with his peacekeeping corps back in ‘98. He measured out the required distance of 87.3 kilometres over a hilly course from the town of Jablinica to the stadium in Sarajevo and persuaded some of his fellow soldiers to start training with him for the event.
The town of Gornji Vakuf in central Bosnia where Jim's unit was stationed was almost completely destroyed by war. Most hard hit were the children. No longer were there any decent schools or facilities. He decided to include in his Comrades a fund raising initiative that would be used to help the Gornji Vakuf community rebuild their school.
In order to add a little sheen to the proceedings Jim contacted 'Mr. Comrades' himself, Bruce Fordyce, 8 times winner of the race and asked him to participate. "I was absolutely stunned when he said he would come out," remembers Jim.
To further spruce up the field, Jim also contacted Steve Cram. Cram is probably one of the most well-known middle-distance track athletes. Since he was not a long distance athlete, Cram agreed on condition that he could drop out after ten kilometres or so.
And so it was that on a damp and chilly morning on May 20th, 1998, a motley crew of NATO officers and two ex running legends found themselves on a makeshift starting line at Jabronica. Local children and teachers, who promptly jumped on a bus that would take them to the finish line, cheered them on.
"If one had to hit the bushes for a quick leak, we couldn't," remembers Fordyce. "There was a worry that there might be landmines. It was then that I realised that this was more of a war zone than I had imagined."
"Every village you go through has some scars of the conflict," says Jim. "There were destroyed buildings all around and people trying to make do with what was left. You couldn't get away from that, wherever you were."
Although there had been some training done, it soon became evident that they were woefully ill prepared. The end of the run took them through the war-ravaged streets of Sarajevo, including the infamous snipers alley, where snipers shot civilians for money - up to $1 000 per head. They ran past the spot where Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 - the event that sparked off the First World War. In effect, the Comrades as a marathon has come full circle with this chapter. The race was founded by Vic Clapham to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the First World War.
After 9 hours and 50 minutes a ragged looking group finally made it into the stadium at Sarajevo - still well within the official cut-off time of 11 hours. "Occasionally in life you do things on impulse," Steve Cram, who managed to stay with the group right through the entire race. "Running 54 miles is not something I would have imagined I could do on impulse, but it's the meaning behind the run that's important. You can always build new walls again but the key is building new relationships and to ensure that they never go through it all again."
The run managed to raise £5500 through sponsorship - not enough to undo the damage of the war, but at least a small contribution to reconstructing this war-ravaged country. The event in 1998 triggered a spark that turned into the COCO we know today. Jim and Steve worked together to build a small team to compete in the actual Comrades a year after their Bosnia event. This raised in excess of £12,000 and with that the pair were determined to start their own children’s charity where they could have an influence on the type of projects money raised would go to support.
The Comrades trip of 2000 saw the official birth of COCO. Activities developed each year after that and Comrades groups continued to visit South Africa each year and more children in more countries received help. In March 2003, COCO was strong enough to open a small office with a small group of staff and things really have started to fly.
COCO recognises that the future of struggling communities depends so much on the health and education of the children. By helping these children, COCO aims to improve individual lives so that they can help their communities in the future. COCO still carries the name and remembers its early beginnings, Comrades of Children Overseas continues with the drive and determination Jim and Steve gave it back in 1998.