Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Since you are here, please give it another few minutes and read my story. Let me try to convince you to support my cause.

I am not a cancer survivor or an addict who turned her life around and is now undertaking a spectacular celebratory challenge.

I am just a soon-to-be 40 yo (post June 15th edit: I am a fresh 40 yo) who has spent the last few years dreaming about crossing the Ironman finish line, to conquer the weakness of my body and, above all, mind. As a former swimmer and someone not averse to all sorts of physical effort, I know that even the half-Ironman distance, i.e. 1.9km swim in open water, followed by 90km cycling, topped with a half-marathon, is no joke. And so it has conveniently never been the right time. But as the "four" is insisting on pushing its way into the tens digit of my age, I decided to take the plunge. If any excuse is good to push my dream away, any will do to make me go for it. And so one December morning, without giving it much further thought, I decided to race the half-Ironman distance in my hometown on August 5th 2018, to honor my turning 40 (June 15th) and to prove to myself that yes, I (still) can. Registered, paid, committed. And in urgent need of a road bike.       

And so here I am, swimming, pedaling (thank you second hand road bike market in Luxembourg!) and running towards my dream and the road to that dream is humbling. The 5h50am swim workouts, the several-hour long bike rides, telling my behind to suck it up because I'm not paying for a new saddle, the daily grind after a whole day at work and imperfect nights. Day after day, every day of the week. Finish what you started. No excuse. Love the pain.

It is a tough journey and although I have not (yet) once (seriously) thought of abandoning it, extra motivation will come in handy as the training intensity takes my body into hitherto unknown territory. That motivation will be knowing that the pain (my old knee injury is protesting against all the miles) sweat, blood (try forgetting to unclip before stopping the bike at a road crossing...) and tears (a bit of drama never hurt anyone) will go for something more worthy than my personal satisfaction.

The thought of using my Half Ironman journey to raise funds for a worthy cause came early on. I spent some time thinking about what or whom I would like to support. Those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn that I considered supporting refugees or environmental protection, two causes I feel very strongly about. I am already regularly supporting the latter (Sea Legacy, https://www.sealegacy.org/, take a look!), so I decided to look for a meaningful and lasting way of aiding refugee children. Since I am convinced that giving refugee children access to education is the best way of helping them try to turn their fate around, a solution was staring me in the face.

United World Colleges is a global education movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. To achieve this, UWC schools all over the world deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people, inspiring them to become agents of positive change. These colleges teach the International Baccalaureate Diploma as their formal curriculum, a qualification that UWC played a major part in developing, while also emphasising the importance of experiential learning, community service and outdoor activities. You can read more about this organisation here https://www.uwc.org/about.

UWC has educated refugees from conflict hotspots like Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Western Sahara, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Tibet, Colombia and Guatemala. On average around 5% of students in these schools come from a refugee, displaced or persecuted background and benefit from full scholarship provision.

In light of the dramatic escalation in the number of young displaced people fleeing conflict, persecution or environmental disaster, UWC launched the UWC Refugee Initiative (https://www.uwc.org/uwcrefugeeinitiative), which aims to raise the funds for an additional 100 scholarships per year for refugee students from 2017 onwards. The 100 scholarships will be allocated across UWC’s 17 schools and colleges. To achieve this, UWC needs to raise $7.5 million which will go entirely towards all-inclusive scholarships, covering the full education program, board and lodging, travel, co-curricular activities, educational materials and student welfare during two years.

The UWC Refugee Initiative is supported by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). UNHCR is supporting UWC by providing authoritative guidance on refugee policy, technical advice and helping to promote the scholarship program among refugee communities and relevant stakeholders. 

I have had the immense fortune and privilege to have been the beneficiary of a scholarship from the UWC of the Atlantic back in 1995. In my class, there were refugee students from Rwanda/Burundi and Bosnia. And so I have first hand experience of the organisation and I know that this aid is real and meaningful. Attending a UWC is a true life-changer. The great majority of refugee alumni will ultimately magnify the impact of aid received by helping their communities and giving back to the society in many a different ways. And so the impact of your donation will be magnified manifold.

If you would like to help give access to first rate education to children who are most in need of it, and by the same token to encourage me to finish what I started, please donate to my cause. I will run that extra mile, cycle up that extra hill, swim that extra lap and push myself harder during the race with every donation that you make. All the funds I raise will be transferred to the UWC Refugee Initiative. And your donation will make a difference.

Just so you know, donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving who never sells them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, your money is sent directly to the charity.

I will be happy to answer any question you may have. Thank you for your time and your generosity.