High Cloud Foundation - Because Dreams Come True

Written by Megan Zingarelli

Matt Clark decided to work for charity when his pro-triathlete career took him to an impoverished region of China.  On one particular race, the biking route went straight through a shanty town.  While touring the course, he met the people who lived there, and he saw their mud houses and deplorable living conditions.

He also noticed that they were happy despite their poverty. This experience stirred his interest in working for a humanitarian cause.

"Meeting these people was the spark I needed I suppose," said Clark.


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Not long after, Matt had become deeply involved in the High Cloud Foundation.  From his home in Australia, he met founders Adriana and Matt Anderson in 2008 when he saw an article about the foundation online.  Soon after learning about High Cloud's work, Clark became an ambassador for the organization.  He promoted humanitarian work even as he trained for and competed in triathlons around the world.

Read more about Matt Clark's career HERE.
 
But after just a year as a High Cloud ambassador, a stress fracture in his femur forced him to quit his fifteen-year racing career.  He moved from Australia to Edmonton, Canada with his girlfriend Mandi Wiersma.  He has turned to a new life of school and full-time work for High Cloud as a program coordinator.

The transition from racing ended one path, but it gave Clark a chance to pursue other adventures.  Clark says his goals include swimming the English Channel, kayaking a Class 5 rapid, and running ultra marathons.  

And one major goal--a backpacking trip through South America--he has just fulfilled.  Clark said that the racing career kept him traveling but constantly training.  He had not had a chance to enjoy a backpacking adventure or to do some local volunteering with High Cloud children.

Last summer, he and Mandi did just that.  They toured through Peru and Bolivia, and they stopped in Colombia to visit one of High Cloud's first missions, the school of El Limonar in Tolima.

Read more about El Limonar HERE.

While there, Matt and Mandi taught the children some English, and they played soccer with them too.  He said this expedition gave him a taste of what "real life" is about and made him look forward to his new role in High Cloud.

"It's a good reality check because people are going through their day-to-day lives, and stupid little things can affect you, which in the big scheme of things are nothing," he said.