‘Life is a balance between giving and receiving. The more you give, the more abundance will fill your life with joy.’ Debasish Mridha

The main purpose of my three treks is to raise funds to support vulnerable women and children in Sri Lanka. My target is to raise £30,000 which are funding grass roots projects overseen by the NGO Women’s Development Centre WDC in Kandy, and the UK charity Their Future Today TFT based in Galle. WDC’s mission is to serve and empower vulnerable women, children and marginalised groups within Sri Lankan society, whilst TFT’s is to get children out of orphanages and living within supportive families.

Objective 1

My primary objective is relatively simple i.e. to trek from Galle in the south of Sri Lanka to Jaffna in the north. I’ll do this by walking, cycling and by parts possibly by tuk tuk, with an epic train journey to get around some of the mountains.

My journey will be a culmination of the past nine years spent volunteering, researching and working with WDC both in-situ and from a distance. I completed Stage 1 of my trek (approximately a third of the overall distance) over March/April 2022 and I’m planning to set off at the end of March 2023 for Stage 2. I’m funding my own flight, leave from work as well as all expenses. Therefore, 100% of all funds I raise will go to help those who need it.

Girls in the Women’s Development Centre refuge learning to weave to help them overcome the effects of gender-based violence

Objective 2

My secondary objective is to help revive Sri Lanka as an incredible tourist destination post Covid lockdowns and political unrest. During the pandemic, Sri Lanka has been profoundly affected by lack of tourists. One in ten people in Sri Lanka depend entirely on tourism for their livelihood. Fazarna Dobbs, chief curator at Sri Lanka specialists Travel Gallery, says she’s hoping to see visitors in the future embrace more immersive travel and explore the culture of Sri Lanka more deeply.

As Earnest Hemmingway said, ‘It’s good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end.’ And for me, I’ll seek to understand the places I’ll pass through and the people I’ll meet. I’d like to embrace that immersive travel and get under the skin of more unusually visited places; those off the beaten track. I’ll continue to write about these in my daily blogs, whilst travelling, in the hope of inspiring readers to want to visit.

Whilst Sri Lanka has been beset by tragedies, eg; its 25 year civil war, the 2004 south-east Asian tsunami, the Easter 2019 terrorist attacks, COVID lockdowns and most recently political unrest, I will focus on the many positive facets of the country that I’ve come to love. 

Get involved!

If you’d like to support in any way please refer to my Fundraising and Advocacy page. In summary though, these are some of the possible ways:

• Attend a fundraising event – next one 16 September 2023
• Host an event of your choice
• Volunteer your skills and time in Sri Lanka or perhaps teach girls in refuges over Zoom
• Donate via Marcia Summers is fundraising for Their Future Today (justgiving.com)
• Join me on leg 2 or leg 3 of my trek and raise funds for this cause
• Sponsor the education of a Sri Lankan girl living in a remote area so she can be educated beyond the age of 14
• Follow my blog and comment on it/share it to help raise awareness

Please read my article The holiday that changed things for the background on how I became involved as this is key to what I’m planning to do next.

Map of Sri Lanka