In 2016 I got acquainted with Bangladesh through one of her daughters, her background & stories intrigued me and it resulted in visiting her motherland. A short 2-week visit during which I crossed this lovely country. 2 weeks I will never forget, an experience that left a permanent mark on my heart, because of its welcoming & warm people; Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists & Christians all leaving peacefully together.

A great example of this is Abdus Satter, a botany graduate who decided to quit his Dhaka job to go back to his home village of Arjuna to realize a dream: to establish a library in every village of his country and support the youth of his nation.

Today I want to announce my support for such educational vision for many years to come, more specifically to support young Bengali girls.

Bengali (village) girls who maybe don't get the same chances, in a fairly conservative society, as their male counterparts do, but out of first-hand experience, prove to be among the smartest, most passionate & talented people on the planet!

End of 2017, I will roam around the "Land of rivers" by bicycle again. A 1000-km charitable ride to try and raise awareness on gender equality & the need for girl empowerment, with the support of bangla cycling hero Niaz Morshed, his lovely wife Tumpa Gulshan, Abira Khan & many others.

Girls like Sumi, Johanara, Alo or Sokina should be able to do anything a boy can do; they are not bad daughters, bad future wives & mothers-to-be or disgraceful representatives of their religion for pursuing their dreams & following their passion, they are "good examples"!

Empowerment through education, it's one of this campaign's cornerstones ! Hence, I also launch this fundraiser, albeit a very modest one, to help out with tuition of the girls. To kick off this campaign, I, Michael Cornelis hereby solemnly pledge to contribute $1000 of my own funds.

Help us to support the girls & women of this nation, by sharing this campaign across social networks, riding with us, donating books & supporting our fundraiser.

edit: The fundraiser money been fully transfered to the Bangladesh Surf Girls and Boys (http://www.bangladeshsurfing.com)

Upoma will continue with different projects to support these girls. My heartfelt thank you to all who contributed ! Michael