Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XVI

Sentebale – meaning ‘Forget Me Not’ in Sesotho – works to provide healthcare and education to many of Lesotho’s most vulnerable children, many of whom have been left desolate and without the necessary family structures needed to help them lead healthy, happy lives, due to extreme poverty and Lesotho’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. The commitment and hands-on enthusiasm of co-founders Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho is at the heart of Sentebale’s ethos and work ethic, and the charity has strived to use innovative methods and strategies to achieve visible results throughout Lesotho. The flagship Mamohato Network and Camps Programme offers affected children and young people the opportunity to fully explore the reality of living with HIV. The programme offers a residential weeklong camp and follow-up monthly clubs that empower these children to address the stigma and health issues surrounding them, enabling them to live healthy and fulfilled lives. In 2010 the programme was highlighted as a model of international best practice by the United Nations. The programme was lauded as being “effective, having ethical soundness, cost effective, relevant, innovative and sustainable”. Fundraising for Sentebale through the polo event celebrates the sport whilst focusing attention on the plight of the vulnerable children of this region. Many would argue that the Basotho horsemen are the only indigenous horse culture in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Basotho are said to be fast and fearless riders and the Basotho pony is renowned as sure-footed, brave and with great powers of endurance. We found it fitting, then, that such a great part of Basotho culture is celebrated with polo – a spectacular game of skill and bravery played out on horseback – through the Sentebale Polo Cup. Sentebale is currently building the Mamohato Children’s Centre, a purpose-built residential centre, due to be completed next year. The centre will enable Sentebale to provide support to many more vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho and will serve as the platform for expansion into other affected southern African countries. The Sentebale Polo Cup will allow this work to grow, reaching even more children in Lesotho and across southern Africa, who are so desperately in need of all the help that they can get. Speaking of his work for Sentebale, during the dinner speech Prince Harry commented: “Work on the Mamohato Children’s Centre in Thaba Basu, Lesotho, is well underway. The centre is due to be complete next year and will enable us to reach four times as many children than we are currently able to. Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, in Abu Dhabi, at the fifth Sentebale Polo Cup, you can help support us in our mission to provide the children and young people of Lesotho with the childhood they deserve. The childhood so many of us take for granted.” It was a very moving and gracious speech, with a powerful message, which capped off a simply magical day of polo at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club. Our deepest thanks to Tom and Jessica Hudson, and to the people of Abu Dhabi for their generous support of this worthy cause. An exclusive interview with Tom Hudson TomHudson is a polo-playing lawyer, based in the UAE. As a contemporary of Prince Harry's at Eton College and co-founder of British Polo Day, he has a unique insight into the day’s events. He graciously agreed to an exclusive interview with Simply Abu Dhabi, about the Sentebale Polo Cup 2014. Simply Abu Dhabi: Tom, what can you tell us about your connection to this amazing event? Mr Hudson: Ever since I moved to the UAE in 2008 — in which time I’ve played polo here, seen the amazing polo clubs and had the idea for British Polo Day – I’ve hoped that Prince Harry, as probably one of the most high-profile international polo players in the world, might come here to play, as Prince Charles had done in Abu Dhabi almost 15 years ago. It was only when we held the first British Polo Day Charity Cup in the UK at Lord Lloyd Webber’s Watership Down in 2011 that we first worked with his charity, Sentebale. Jessica, my wife, had been to Lesotho and seen the plight of the HIV orphans first hand, and we were pleased to raise over $100,000 that day and moved to raise as much as we could for such a worthwhile cause. Prince Harry played against HRH Prince Rashid of Jordan and Saeed Bin Drai’s team that day, and we thought then that a match in the Middle East would be an exciting prospect to build on this event. What role did you and Jessica play in bringing the Sentebale Polo Cup to Abu Dhabi? When Prince Harry and his teamwere debating on a venue for the Sentebale Polo Cup 2014, we had only one response: Simply Abu Dhabi! – the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club's amazing facilities are second to none. We discussed the idea of staging something spectacular around the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix withMatar Al Yabhouni, Faris Al Yabhouni, Abdullah Bin Desmal fromGhantoot (our hosts for British Polo Day Abu Dhabi) and Mohammed Al Habtoor, Vice- Chairman and CEO of the Habtoor Group and patron of Habtoor Polo (our host for British Polo Day Dubai). Andrew Tucker, the Prince’s Polo Manager, and Cathy Ferrier, the CEO of Sentebale, as well as the whole Sentebale team worked tirelessly to put the event on. As with British Polo Day, it seems like another successful joint venture between the UK and the UAE. Absolutely. There are some great British brands such as Land Rover, Huntsman, and Royal Salute who have also supported the Sentebale Polo Cup. I think events like this further cement the ties not only between Great Britain and the UAE, but also between these two countries and Africa. With the generous support of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Falah bin Zayed and HH Shekha Maitha hint Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the event lived up to expectations, raising more than $1.5m for Sentebale – a true testament to the spirit of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. That’s incredible. How will the organisation benefit from today’s events? The money and awareness raised from the Sentebale Polo Cup will support Sentebale’s expansion plans in providing leading emotional and psychological support to many more children affected by HIV/AIDS, reducing the stigma linked to the disease, inspiring confidence, and, most importantly, making a marked improvement in these young people’s quality of life. And as for the future of polo in the UAE? We also hope that the event will further people’s interest in polo in the Middle East and, of course, that the annual British Polo Days that we hold in Abu Dhabi in March, in partnership with Simply Abu Dhabi, will ride that wave of that enthusiasm. We’re very excited about the future! As are we. Thanks as ever, Tom, for your time today and your support of Simply Abu Dhabi. A pleasure. We look forward to seeing more of your readers at future British Polo Day events. 5 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I