You will be receiving this just after I have started my cycle in Northern Spain. I wasn't sure I was going to make the trip as my father, Viquar Choudhury, has been in hospital in a serious condition after an accident. But he turned the corner last week and is stable now and I know he would encourage this initiative that supports BRAC's work.

I am personally proud of my father's own role in the genesis of this organisation which in 2013 was ranked No.1 in the Top 100 international NGO's when just over 40 years ago he witnessed the devastation of the Sullah region of Bangladesh as he entered the newly liberated country from the Indian border. The humanitarian relief programme he initiated in this region with a group of friends who had worked together during the cyclone of 1969, became the kernel of BRAC, an organisation which has grown over the years under the helm of his good friend Fazle Abed to become one of the world's largest and most innovative anti-poverty organisations originating in the South . It has quietly done it's work under the wider public radar, employing nearly a hundred thousand dedicated staff. 

And BRAC UK, the charity for which I am requesting your support, is at the forefront of taking these programmes to Asia and Africa, often to post-conflict zones where livelihoods have been destroyed. Through a web of initiatives in health, education, micro-finance, livelihoods, legal rights and more together with BRAC's trade-mark approach of cost-effective/high impact delivery and 'scaling-up', nearly 200 million lives have been directly empowered and the prospects for entire communities irreversibly altered for the better.

This small JustGiving initiative is to cycle the Camino de Santiago route from Leon in Spain. My experience is mainly road-biking around Regents Park and I have ridden on a mountain bike in off-road conditions only a handful of times. So this 360km trek under the Spanish summer sun through mountainous terrain is a challenge for me personally. But incomparable to the challenge that millions in poverty face on a daily basis. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Support of the smallest kind will make a difference to someone in South Sudan, Afghanistan, Uganda or the 13 countries BRAC works in.  If you want to have a look at some of BRAC's work, check out www.brac.net or read the Guardian's piece this week on one of our programmes in Uganda: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jun/28/uganda-youth-clubs-marriage-pregnancy?CMP+twt_gu

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you!

Simone