Two expats complete 2,000-km walk to raise funds for Vietnamese underprivileged children
HCM City (VNA) – Two expat teachers, Jake
Norris, 37, from Australia, and Sean Down, 45, from Ireland on February 24
finished their 2,000-km walk from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City after three months
to raise funds for underprivileged children.
During the walk "Vietnam Charity Walk: A Walk For
Change", they raised 35,000 USD through the site gogetfunding.com/vietnam-charity-walk/ to support charity foundations dedicated to
children in Vietnam.
They set a target to raise the fund to 200,000 USD and
will send all the funds to local charity organisations to develop support
activities for disadvantaged children, and anti-human trafficking.
Jake planned to publicise a photobook with about 60
photos taken during their journey to raise more fund.
Jake came to Vietnam seven
years ago, and Sean Down came to Vietnam five years ago. Initially, both of
them planned to stay in the country for a short time and then continue
travelling to other ones. However, their love for Vietnam kept them stay in
Hanoi, and working as English teachers in the city. They became close friends
before taking the journey together.
The idea for such a journey came when Jake and his
teammates at the Vietnam Swans AFL Club usually visited an orphanage in Hanoi
every year to give gifts to children there. Through those visits, Jake found
that children in Vietnam face many difficulties. He wanted to do something to
change the situation. His ambitious idea for a charity walk began taking shape
three years ago, during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jake started the walk with a friend who withdrew from the
plan later.
Sean accepted to become Jake’s new companion, together
"reviving" the charity walk.
Jake and Sean halted their teaching
jobs in May 2023 to focus on training and fundraising. The journey has
attracted the attention and support of individuals, companies, and communities
from around the world, including the Australian Embassy in Vietnam.
In December 2023, the duo departed from Hanoi Opera
House, walking a 2,000-km route along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Sharing the reason for choosing the difficult route, Jake
and Sean said they wanted to challenge themselves because this route is longer,
not crowded, and has many hilly sections. In addition, they also want to take
this opportunity to learn and interact with local communities in the places
they visit and raise awareness about disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Every day, they started walking at 5 am and stopped at
about 3 pm. Unlike Jake who is used to exercising, Sean said it was quite
difficult for him to keep up with his friend. In addition, both are
vegetarians, so it’s not easy for them to find suitable food, plus the weather
changes constantly, which makes Jake and Sean sick many times.
“It’s really been a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said
Jake. “We’ve just had three months of intense highs and lows. We struggled to
find food at times, and we had an entire week of torrential, freezing rain.
Over the last month, the temperature has soared and we’ve been doing 35 km per
day in 40°C heat. So now we’re often up and out the door by 4am to avoid the
heat!”
“The other side is the incredible interactions we’ve had
and the friends we’ve made. People have been wonderfully generous with their
time, money, and accommodation. Not a day has gone by that someone hasn’t
stopped their bike to offer food or water.”
“We’re going to miss those daily affirmations of peoples’
kindness.”/.