Do you know the phrase ‘Career Golden Slam’? This means winning all four tennis major tournaments and the Olympics throughout one’s career. There are only four players total who have reached this level. Serena Williams is one of them, and she is one of the all-time greats of professional tennis. Since winning her first tournament in 1999, she has been a tennis empress. Serena is famous for her excellent tennis skills, but she is also known for her warm heart. She has made great efforts to provide educational opportunities for African children. Let's take a look at how she has done so.
Born in an African-American family, Serena Williams has connected with her roots for Africa since childhood. She said in an interview with the Jasmine BRAND that she wanted to visit Africa one day and confirm her roots. Serena visited Ghana and Senegal through UNICEF in 2006 and was shocked to see the poor living conditions there. When she saw a girl who gave birth to a child as a teenager and was suffering from hunger, she was distressed by comparing her adolescence spent as a professional tennis player. Serena saw Africans living poor lives and felt desperate to give her help. In November 2008, she set up ‘Serena Williams Secondary School’ in Kenya, which provides an education for children who did not have proper educational opportunities. On the opening of school, Serena said she was happy to give a chance to learn to children who could not have a chance to get an education. She said in an interview that "This is my first of many schools I plan to open up in Kenya. It is amazing how education has uplifted the lives of many people and has empowered them to determine their future." She founded the Serena Williams Fund, a non-profit organization that cooperates with various organizations to promote equity in gender, race, education, and other fields. Through this foundation, she continued to contribute greatly to the improvement of the educational environment in Africa. She also established the Salt Marsh Elementary School in Jamaica cooperating with Helping Hands in 2015. After the establishment of school, according to BlackPressUSA, she said, "The mission of this charity is to help the individuals or communities affected by to violence, and to ensure equal access to education."
Serena Williams is truly a noblesse oblige player. She has donated her income as a tennis player through her foundation. She also has built more than four schools in Africa to improve the educational environment for children in inferior conditions. This has made a great contribution to international society in that she has carried out responsibility exemplarily as a social superior. In recognition of her great efforts in educating African children, she became UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador on September 20th, 2011. CAH hopes many people will be influenced positively by Serena Williams' voluntary good deeds to help African children with poor educational conditions.