IWC and Laureus

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation uses sport as a means of helping to give children and adolescents a better future.

This is now the fourth time that a "Laureus Sport for Good Foundation" special edition watch from IWC Schaffhausen has set off in aid of a good cause. Thanks to the support of IWC and the commitment of the Foundation, the Laureus blue on the dial of the Portuguese Automatic is now the colour of hope for underprivileged children throughout the world.

In December, five years will have passed since a seaquake in the Indian Ocean triggered the destructive tsunami which struck the coastal regions of Southeast Asia and claimed hundreds of thousands of victims. Since 2005, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation has been making a positive contribution to ease the suffering of the past in Sri Lanka by supporting the Seenigama Sports project. In the region most severely affected by the tsunami, around a thousand children and young people are coming to terms with their traumatic experiences by participating in sporting activities. On a shabby, unmarked pitch in the village of Seenigama, a couple of dozen enthusiastic young people spur on the players with loud shouts of encouragement.

There is great excitement when the batsman scores another run ... cricket reaches out to everyone in Sri Lanka. Long before the island state took the World Cup title in 1996, cricket was already a national passion. Seenigama is one of the coastal communities which were worst affected by the tsunami. The water travelled inland for up to two kilometres. Two thirds of the inhabitants lost their lives, and 60 per cent of the buildings were destroyed. Hundreds of orphans were left behind. Hope for children and young people In April 2005, four months after the tsunami catastrophe, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation made its first visit to the area around Galle, the capital of the devastated Southern Province. The team, under the leadership of cricket legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Sir Ian Botham, investigated the possibility of establishing sporting activities in the crisis area.