Inspired by two very impressive women and a book, I have joined Women on a Mission, and will be joining them on their expedition this year to trek across the Lut Desert in Iran, no less.  I am vaguely terrified.  Not only was the hottest temperature on earth ever recorded there (70.7ºC), we will be walking on sand (gulp), for 200km.  Reaching the top of a sand dune has been likened to walking the wrong way up a travelator - you have to speed up to get to the end.  Marco Polo crossed the desert in 1271, but on a camel.  Our goal is to be the first all female team to cross the Lut desert, on foot.

National Geographic have recently written about this expedition calling it “Iran: Mission Impassable” and it only adds to my sense of dread.  This is tough and this is no glamping (no showers, no toilets):      http://www.natgeotraveller.co.uk/destinations/middle-east/iran/iran-mission-impassable/. 

The impressive women are Valerie Boffy and Christine Amour-Levar, who are the founding members of Women on a Mission (see www.facebook.com/WOAMSingapore).  Valerie Boffy, while being a Mum at the same school my kids are at, has climbed Everest (yes, really), adopted a child and set up a charity, in the time that I've been worrying about my kids' packed lunches.  Christine Amour-Levar is equally impressive.  She is a recent awardee of the Filipina Women's Network's Leadership Summit  and features in the book, The Balance Project, about inspirational women.

The book, that I recommend everyone should read is: Half the Sky - How to Change the World by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, sent to me by Kim Short and Michele Frank (thank you).  There are millions of women and girls living in dire circumstances, in conflict zones (where it is more dangerous to be a women than a soldier), in terrible poverty, and in areas with no medical care resulting in high maternal morbidity rates and awful untreated fissures.

I lead a privileged and easy life, so I am going to go on an adventure (yes, it's part of being privileged that enables me to do this) but it is going to be a tough adventure and one I am genuinely daunted by (and there's not much I'm scared of - if only it had been their year to go trekking in Nepal!).  I'm asking my lovely friends and family to dig deep to donate to support me and most importantly Women for Women International who do incredible work for women in conflict zones.   See these two short clips (but there are many more about what they achieve):

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeMkMlXk3NM

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikH7pKFmkyE&list=PLEA186B27C3CECF1C&index=9

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  To acknowledge copyright, the photograph is of the Lut Desert taken by Mark Stratton of National Geographic.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.  You can choose to donate in GBP or USD (or whatever currency you want, I think!).

Huge thanks,

Jenny

P.S. It goes without saying that all the money raised will go directly to Women for Women International and that this is a self-funded trip.

What your money could buy:

£5 could provide the building blocks of
education: a notebook, pen, pencil and ruler for 2 women in our programme.

£13 could pay for enough vegetable seeds to
cover 30 acres and enable a woman to feed her family and sell produce at
market.

£22 could pay for a bakery basket,
containing equipment and supplies to enable a woman to set up her own small
bakery business.

£33 could pay for literacy training. When a
woman learns how to read and write, she is able to run her business with
confidence.

£49 could pay for a sewing machine, to help
a woman set up a home tailoring business and provide an income for her family.

£163 could pay for a bee-keeper basket,
with all the supplies needed to set up bee-keeping business.

£327 could pay for a chicken-coop, to
enable a woman to run a poultry business from home.

£650 could pay for poultry training, to
give a woman the skills she needs to care for poultry and raise money through
the sale of eggs and chickens.

£3,000 could pay for a greenhouse, for a
woman to grow organic herbs to sell at market.