In October 2016 I will be taking the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I will be taking on this challenge with my cousin and two good friends and we will be fund-raising to support “Miriam’s Vision” which was launched in July 2015. We will be covering the cost of the trip so that 100%of the money raised will
go solely to Miriam’s Vision.

Miriam’s Vision is a response to the way in which Miriam lost her life in the 7/7 London bus bombing in Tavistock Square. Miriam was 32 years old, full of life, kind, ambitious and extremely talented. Her mother, Mavis Hyman, says “For us as a family, the overwhelming feeling was that something very wrong had happened ... which somehow had to be put right ...   There can be positive outcomes to negative events.”

“Miriam’s Vision” is a collection of unique, high quality lesson plans for secondary school teachers, including guidance notes and accompanying
resources (video footage, photographs, reproductions of artefacts from Odisha, the location of Miriam's memorial, the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre).This will support teachers in approaching the topic of the London bombings in a non-confrontational way. Students will develop tools to demand tolerance of themselves and of others to enable them to live more harmoniously in a pluralist society. The plan is to make “Miriam’s Vision” available as widely as possible and to test the impact it is having on secondary school teachers and their pupils. It is secular and non-political.

Given the challenges of extremism which we continue to see throughout the world, this is a very special opportunity to get involved in such a meaningful cause. Speaking about the educational experience, Miriam’s sister Esther has said “I have learnt that you can’t control what happens to you in life but you can control how you respond to it.” I hope that these lessons will teach the students to be more tolerant of others, accepting each other’s differences and will help to break down the barriers that separate us.