In April 2017, I shall be cycling through the often beautiful, occasionally mountainous, and at times nerve wracking terrain of Vietnam from its capital Hanoi to its liveliest city, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City); a journey of over 2000 km.

Our group of 20 riders is raising money for a number of charitable causes.  The H2H Charity Ride is an annual event.  Since 2009 this initiative has raised almost USD$250,000!  *AMAZING*

100% of donations go directly to the charities we support, as all expenses related to participation (equipment, accommodation, technical and on-road support etc) are paid for by the riders themselves.

Our charity and non-profit partners for the H2H 2017 are listed below.  Our focus is on assisting disadvantaged children and youths. Having been born in this country and spent part of my childhood here, I'm amazed by how much Vietnam has changed in the past three decades following decades of war and strife.  However, there are many people here, particularly children, who still live in poverty or who are exploited and abused...  

I owe a lot to Vietnam and the people of Vietnam who, in my experience, have been overwhelmingly kind, supportive and helpful since I moved back here.  Taking part in this year's H2H Charity Ride will, I hope, go some way to giving back to a country and people for whom I have so much affection and regard.  You can help by...(and now is not the time to be subtle)...

GIVING US YOUR MONEY 

via this efficient and convenient Just Giving page!  

THANK YOU. 

Mai X

PS I should confess that while I'm intensely excited to be taking part, prior to signing up to do H2H, the most I'd ever cycled was perhaps once around London's Hyde Park. And not in the most dignified, elegant manner either,  I hasten to add. So those who are acquainted with my previous forays into cycling, will know that I am also full of white-knuckled, butt-clenching FEAR.  *MANIC FACE*

OUR CHARITY PARTNERS:

- SAIGON CHILDREN'S CHARITY: this organisation is our principle charity partner.  SCC helps disadvantaged children receive an education through building schools, giving scholarships and vocational training.  Read more about SCC here:  http://www.saigonchildren.com/what-we-do.aspx

- BLUE DRAGON is an organisation that supports the most vulnerable children in Vietnam.  It aims to help children living in extreme poverty and those who are the victims of human trafficking and slavery, reunite them with their families where possible and provide services to help the children recover and grow.  Read more about Blue Dragon here: https://www.bluedragon.org/what-we-do/

- KOTO stands for "Know One, Teach One".  It seeks to empower at-risk youths to break out of the cycle of poverty through practical and meaningful training programmes in hospitality.  Read more about KOTO here: http://www.koto.com.au

- LIVE AND GIVE: a charity based in Belgium that also aims to assist disadvantaged children in Vietnam by building schools and kindergartens. You can check out its terrific accomplishments here:  http://www.liveandgive.eu/home.html

- ILA COMMUNITY NETWORK (ILACN) is the charitable arm of the company I work for in Vietnam. It is a non-profit organisation that co-ordinates fund-raising activities to support disadvantaged children in Vietnam. Its volunteers provide English language lessons at orphanages.  You can read more about the ILACN here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ILA.CommunityNetwork/about/?ref=page_internal

Check out our webpage:  http://h2hride.wixsite.com/vietnam

We will also be blogging every day during the ride to keep you abreast of the highs, the lows, the laughter and the tears (er, tears from joy and general bonhomie, obviously) that will be...H2H 2017!