Journey Reports

Idea

“Why don’t you just fly to Vietnam?“, “...or at least, travel by car?” These were just some of our friends' and colleagues' astonished reactions when we started spreading our idea of traveling from Cologne to Vietnam by bike. Their questions were reasonable. It is a crazy idea, indeed. So, let's back up.

Even before Ernest and Jakob met each other, Jakob - inspired by previous hiking experiences - was thinking about doing a long-distance trekking trip. Originally, he wanted to cycle to South-Africa: starting in Cologne, heading to the south end of Italy, crossing the Mediterranean sea by boat in order to reach South Africa via the western part of the African continent.

Since he didn't want to do the trip all by himself, In the mood …he told Ernest about it, who soon was as enthusiastic as Jakob was. The team was formed.

The difficult political situation in Africa, the rising of terrorist groups, destabilization of environment, as well as the spreading of the Ebola Epidemic, however, moved Ernest to reassess the route. But where to go?

“What about Asia? Let's head off to Vietnam!”

As some parts of the Asian continent have a rather low level of security, too, we puzzled our heads over possible routes for quite a long time. This was about three years ago. Recently, we finished our nursing studies and are midway through our preparations for the tour, which undoubtedly became our “Dream Trip”.

In order to finance our project, we were doing double shifts at the University Hospital of Bonn and at the Caritas. We are going to work until March 30th 2016 while finishing our last preparations, so that we're going to be ready to start the trip on April 10th. Vietnam, here we come!

What are the main objectives?

Since both of us are working in the health sector and we really want to support development work, we have set ourselves to raise money for a very special NGO, Don Bosco. Shadow cyclistsThe Salesians of Don Boscos are located in various different countries all around the globe and aid adolescents in need.

Why Don Bosco?

After having finished high school, Jakob has spent one year in East-Timor External link working with the Salesians of Don Boscos on a project supporting and educating young boys. Throughout his experience, he increasingly learned to appreciate the work and general devotion of the catholic organization. At present, the Salesians of Don Boscos are active in 130 countries, some of which are situated alongside our route. That is why we do not only want invoke donations. External link Moreover, we will visit those projects and offer a helping hand and our medical knowledge.

Our supporters and followers will be able to donate money to Don Bosco over a link on our website which will lead to the website of Don Bosco.

How will I be able to keep track?

The Documentary will be made by photographs and videotaping. We will upload pictures and reports on our webpage www.pedalforhumanity.eu to keep our family, friends and donators permanently up to date.

Vietnam...


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