Since 2005, Maria Conceicao has made it her life's mission to bring a generation of children living in the Gawair slum in the Bangladeshi capital out of extreme poverty. Hundreds of children have been educated, many have already graduated high school and gone to universities across the world. Educating one child is expensive, let alone over 120 children. The constant need for funds and publicity pushes Maria to greater and more extreme limits.

This latest expedition begins in Punta Arenas, Chile, from where Maria and a small group of other explorers will take a flight to the Union Glacier Basecamp on January  3rd to start their skiing expedition of about 111km to the South Pole, followed by an ascent to Antarctica's highest mountain Mt. Vinson standing at 4892m.

Maria will be skiing 6-10 hours a day pulling a 30kg sled. This is an immense physical as well as mental challenge. The extreme temperatures in Antarctica mean that stopping for longer than 2 hours is not possible to avoid hypothermia.

With and average temperate of -28C in January,  this will truly be an extreme fundraising expedition. However, in the words of Maria: "The children in Dhaka struggle every single day. They struggle for education, for food, for shelter. While doing this expedition will be difficult for me, it is nothing compared to what the children in Dhaka go through on a daily basis." 

All funds raised go towards the education fees of our children. There are currently 124 children enrolled in Dhaka, all ambitious and eager to study and break the chains of poverty. 

Please make a contribution, however big or small - it will all help and go towards changing real lives.