Dear Friends,

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about my third Women on a Mission expedition and the great cause I will be doing it for. Your support can transform a woman's life and have a huge impact on her family and community! 

This expedition will be a 9 day jungle trek in the Mentawai islands,  West of Sumatra, where we will have the extraordinary experience of living with the Sakuddei and Sararakeit tribal people also called the Flower People. The expedition will likely be just as challenging as Iran (crossed on foot the Lut desert)  and Ethiopia (cycled across the Danakil Depression), but a lot wetter, with a lot more creepy crawlies and of course a lot more  interaction with the incredible way of life of the local tribes. 

We will be canoeing and trekking for up to 8 hours a day across thick jungle and rivers, sleeping in the open under a mosquito net and when with the tribe will be getting involved in their daily activities, including long days of hunting for wild boar and monkeys.  It will be a truly unique experience and I know that during every single day of the expedition I will be reminded about the simple comforts in life that we take for granted!

We are already actively training to get fitter and have a few more weeks to figure out a way to deal with my ‘slight dislike’ of bugs and practice mimicking excitement when eating sago worms!

Our group of women is taking on this challenge to once again raise awareness and funds for Women for Women International – UK, a long standing charity which provides women survivors of war and conflict with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency. In 2017, I saw first-hand how WfWI operate as we visited them in Rwanda and am more convinced than ever about the importance of supporting them in their invaluable work!

All donations on this website go directly to Women for Women International UK and where it is most needed!  As a team we are targeting raising $100,000 SGD.

With heartfelt thanks,

Milena


About the tribes - the last shamans of Indonesia

The islands were totally isolated from the rest of Sumatra and South East Asia for thousands of years and the inland locals developed a unique micro-society, dedicated to the spirit of the forest and ancestors who fly upon the canope. These people live in small groups dispersed in the jungle, where they build wooden houses on stilts and eat what the jungle gives them. They don’t know rice, since they principally eat sago paste, fish or shrimp that they catch in the rivers. They talk to trees, believe in black and white magic and love to hunt wild boar and monkeys.   

About Women for Women International (WfWI) 

When there is an outbreak of war or violence, women suffer most – they experience trauma, sexual violence and the death of loved ones. After the conflict is over, the world’s attention moves on, but these same women are left to rebuild their families and communities. Women for Women International supports women who live in some of the world’s most dangerous places. Women enrol on the charity’s year-long training programme, where they learn how to earn and save money, improve their family’s health and make their voices heard at home and in their community.

Since 1993, the charity has helped more than 462,000 marginalised women survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Sudan. With your help, women can graduate
from the Women for Women International programme with the skills, knowledge and resources to become successful entrepreneurs. They will pass on their knowledge to their neighbours and children, creating a ripple effect. Find out more at womenforwomen.org.uk or follow @WomenforWomenUK on social media.  Women for Women International is a UK registered charity no. 1115109.


About Women on a Mission (WOAM)

WOAM is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Singapore, which combines challenging, self-funded expeditions to remote locations around the world, with inspirational fundraising events and workshops, to raise awareness and funds for women survivors of war and to support and empower women who have been subjected to violence and abuse.  WOAM, now in its seventh year of operation, has raised over $1,000,000 Singapore dollars to date, to support organisations that advance the position of women around the world.

http://www.womenmission.com

A Quote from Brita Fernandez Schmidt, Executive Director of Women for Women International - UK, "The women we work with live in some of the
world’s most dangerous places – it can be hard for us to imagine their daily challenges. I find it so inspiring that WOAM push themselves far outside their comfort zone in order to raise money and awareness for women survivors of war. Each trek they take on is just as challenging as the last, and WOAM members truly go the extra mile to leverage their networks and raise incredible sums of money, which make a real difference to the women we serve.”