Ok, thank you all for visiting my fundraising page - I don’t think I’ve really explained enough about how I got involved in cycling 2000 km for Children's Charities in Vietnam so I thought I’d take that opportunity to do it now.  Rewind 2 years and 4 months ago when receive this message from my good friend Sophie Lewis.

“ Life here in Vietnam is great, the people are friendly but as you probably know there is a lot of poverty here, so I have decided to do my bit and in order to do this I need your help.

In November I am going to cycle from Hanoi to HCMC, it’s a long long way, the length of Italy and it’s going to take the whole month! It is going to be an amazing experience but also the hardest thing I will ever do in my life.

I am raising money for four Vietnamese children’s charities that I have been involved in since living here…… It is very exciting to have the opportunity to change so many children’s lives for the better.

Overall we are hoping to raise $10,000 this is a huge amount of money here in Vietnam ..... it is up to our fab friends and families to help us raise the rest of the money!”

The pioneering riders of H2H 2009 smashed their original target and completed the first H2H ride triumphantly!! Fast forward a year and I'm moving to Vietnam and watching Sophie and Rob Wilson (co-founder of H2H and rider in 2009) support H2H 2010.  9 months whizz by and it all kicks off again, Sophie's lending me her bike and I'm training twice a week on Nguyen Van Linh parkway.  This year another H2H team is aiming to raise $30,000 for the following projects;

The ILA Community Network is a charity that supports a variety of projects in and around Saigon. The bulk of the donation will be spent on specialist staff and equipment at the Go Vap orphanage, where most of the children have disabilities. Other projects include the Green Bamboo Shelter for ex-street boys (aged 8-16), Ung Buou Cancer Hospital Children's Ward, Little Rose Warm Shelter for vulnerable girls (aged 11-18) and Bung Sang Shelter for the visually impaired. The ILA Community Network will receive a flat donation of $5000 from the money raised.

The remaining money will be split 50/50 between two charities.

The Saigon Children's Charity focuses on educational scholarships and vocational training in the areas surrounding Vietnam. Your donation will be spent at Thang Long Vocational school here in Saigon, training disadvantaged kids in areas as wide-ranging as IT, accounting and motorbike repair. It will also go towards a scholarship urgent support fund. SCC currently helps around 3000 kids go to school by awarding scholarships, and the urgent support fund offers support to the poorest of these kids by providing them with essentials such as reading glasses, wheelchairs, bicycles for getting to school, uniforms, etc.

The Children's Initiative is based in Catdang village just outside of Hanoi. Your donation will go towards the completion of a new library and the construction of a new kindergarten facility. It will also go towards a scheme that offers small business loans to poor families. This allows them to create a sustainable future, and has a positive effect on the health and education of women and children in these families.

There's no way I couldn't get involved in this, nor could I do it without a little help from my friends!!  Please support this awesome event and keep following us on our journey.  There'll be blogging and facebooking all the way so join us in this challenge and follow our stories.

Thank you.

Sandra

xx