Walk for Hope: $150k/$150k Raised ✅
Nothing easy is worth doing
Hi Team
I’m happy to report that we’ve just raised the full $150,000 for the Mae Tao Clinic. Thanks to over 400 generous donors who have ‘walked’ with me and contributed to narrowing the funding gap left by US Govt foreign aid suspension and the clinic’s good work in healthcare and education. This is the close of a chapter, one that will be etched in my memory for a long time to come.
This is my third and largest fundraiser, and I’ve learnt alot about myself, gained friends along the way and received far more support and providence that I could have ever asked for. That is in essence, grace (undeserved favour) at work.
👉 That I would even know about this cause from a unscheduled visit to the clinic 5 years back whilst shooting videos about and around Myanmar.
👉 That I managed to complete a prior fundraiser last year which saw me cycling from SG to BKK in 14 days, bringing light to the good work which the clinic has been doing and opening the hearts of donors to contribute quickly and generously this time.
👉 Despite the short notice (again), I was well supported by Peter, Aaron and Tor- two of whom I’ve never met before. Peter came through an introduction of Sawang who supported me on the last 3 days of my cycling expedition while Aaron and Tor from the Shade Tree Foundation came on board 2 days prior when it was clear I wasn’t going to complete the expedition in the original 10 days and Peter had to return to work.
👉 My shoes remained dry throughout the 12.5 days of walking, and I even narrowly avoided a major storm in Wang Chao just before reaching Tak, one that blew the roof off certain shops along the highway.
👉 Provision of accommodation, nourishment and protection- from having a roof over my head for every single day and night rest stop, to Peter riding out 40km on day 1 to find me an insole back in Bangkok, finding a pair of sunglasses in great condition on the floor and well-wishes following me on the last 2 days providing moral support & meeting practical needs, it felt like I was walking with a band of angels and God’s hand covering me: I might have been alone but I know whose walking with me.
👉 Perfect timing, arriving at Mae Tao Clinic on 28th March 2025, 1 hour before a major earthquake shook Myanmar. If I had completed the trip according to plan, I would have been in Myanmar on the 28th.
Myanmar Quake Relief Efforts
With the walk behind me, I arrived to Yangon on 29th March and spent the last week coordinating the earthquake relief efforts- with many supporters generously donating toward various causes that are making a real impact on the ground in Myanmar’s time of need.
🙏Thanks to many generous donations and volunteer's hands and feet, partnerships with organisations new and old, we are trying to identify and synergise amidst a relatively opaque situation to the best of our ability.
We're just getting started and as we get reports from this various groups and a better sensing of the ground needs, we hope to double down on the initiatives with maximum impact whilst having an eye on balancing immediate relief with longer term developmental areas which will certainly be harder to fundraise for but of equal if not more importance- to get the affected communities and individuals back on their feet and invest in lasting impact across education, healthcare, nutrition, sanitation and overall human capital development.