Having been involved in the first Hands bike ride in 2009 and the ride earlier this year, I know how special this event is. It’s about a group of dedicated people coming together, sharing energy and efforts towards reaching targets set to assist the children supported by Hands. Those targets? Raising funds and awareness of the developmental needs of the children, and the range of initiatives taken in support of their local community. What better way to develop an understanding of the children, the context of their lives and the richness of their culture, than by spending time riding through their country.

Not sure at this stage whether i'll do the ride for next year...but...more immediately, Hands is putting a team together with Le Meridien, to run in the Phuket Marathon on 13th June 2010. I have put my hand up to coordinate this event, and am hoping to get around 30 people to participate. Individuals joining the team will each raise $2,000. They can either do a 10.5 km run, half marathon or full marathon event. There's more information to come but in the meantime, people can see details of the course at: www.phuketmarathon.com/racedetails.php.

It's difficult to put words to the experience that was, and my feelings of having done this ride with my sister (on ya' Caz!!) but a few words i will share:

It was fantastic to have reached the target amount of over $12,000! Thank you again to all who sponsored. The generosity staggers me! There were 32 riders in the group this year and while Hands are still processing the last of the cheques to calculate the final amount raised by the team, we know we're heading close to the $400,000 mark, which is just incredible!! I know some feel that charity should begin at home, but in the true spirit of global citizenship, we've now done that bit more to assist the kids and community of Phang-Nga, devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Special thanks to Scalzo foods (www.scalzofoods.com.au) for a very generous donation; Giselle Burns (www.giselles.co.uk) for her flare in the design and development of this webstie; sponsors of the silent auction Ro-Ma Linen Presentation (www.romalinen.com.au); Longrain Restaurant (www.longrain.com.au/intro_melbourne.htm); Clive Dickson, and Bob and Carolyn Graham for their amazing art work!

Very warm thanks to individual sponsors: Marisol Horne, Rose Lewanski , Hilda Cove, Greg Baleshta, The Liaoning teachers, Xie Mingyi (Maggie), Brendan Power, Jacinta Richards, Sue Harper, Steve Hammond, Virginia Petracca, Corinna Ridley, Barbara Weeber, Kristan Strong, Andrew Bennett, participants of the Brunswick Townhall Trivia Night, Yolanda & Ash Burns, Lynne Jensen, Jeanette Scott, and the 2010 HATWA Riders who sponsored me very generously to run 10km to a nearby temple in the wee hours of the morning Day 4, before cycling 120km!


The ride itself was magic. How can riding along palm-lined beaches in a land of beautiful smiles and delicious food be anything but great? I take my hat off to Daniel Murray aka Trailer Trash, who hauled 35-kg behind his bike the entire 800km distance, including the 4km mountainous incline on the last day. What was in the bag? Check out his blog at: http://handsbikeride.blogspot.com (scroll down to Day 3). You do stretch the definition of nuts, my friend ;-)

What can be squeezed into a 10-day experience? Trying topping this: 800 km of monkeys, elephants, and Giant Buddhas soaring to the skies; salt plains, coastline, tropical forest, beaches and seas to dive for; pool parties, beach parties, and a pub night to cap off a punishing 10km run + 120km ride (the group sponsored me generously to do a run one morning, so naturally the 4am start wasn't an obstacle!); a 40th (happy returns Bobby!), an Australia Day toast (celebrated the good ol' fashioned way with beer in boardies), a welcome lunch at Baan Tharn Namchai Orphanage, the final drink stop; a celebratory dinner on the beach at Le Meridien, Khao Lak (now there's a resort to stay at) which came with a wedding!! (nothing like saddle sores for your wedding night, Andrew!!) and, a Sports Day at Baan Tharn on the 27th to signal the end of another unbelivable journey. I'm thrilled to give the Sports Day report that the HATWA Bike Boys nailed it in the first BTNO annual Aust v. Burma soccer match, but not quite so pleased to mention the volley ball mis-match, where the BTN Beauties smashed the Aussie shellas. The kids must be thanked for beating drums, singing up a storm and sponging down sweaty sportsmen of all ages and nationalities!

So there you have it. Another ride comes to a close but with it, more stunning memories that you could reasonably expect from a 12-month period...and all in just 10 days!

..now to rest, and to thank the heavens every morning I rise, that am now off the saddle.

From a road less travelled...

Riding a bicycle through the countryside of Thailand provides plenty of opportunity for reflection and not for the first time I thought back to the circumstances that had brought me here. I was on Day 5 of a 9-day bike ride, covering 780km of road from Bangkok to Khao Lak, a seaside village in Phang Nga. The purpose of the ride was to raise awareness and funds for Hands Across The Water Australia (Hands), an organization established to support children in Thailand, orphaned from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Hands was co-founded by Peter Baines, who worked in Thailand, as a forensic scientist for the NSW police immediately after the Tsunami hit. Along with victim recovery work, Peter was in charge of leading International relief teams with members representing 36 countries.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated the Phang Nga province, as it did coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. In Thailand alone, 1,500 children had been left orphaned. These children had nowhere to go as in many cases, not only did they lose their parents but also members of their extended families.

Touched by his experience working on relief efforts, and with a deep affection for the Thai people and their culture, Peter returned to raise funds for the orphaned children. Since then, Hands has built 2 orphanages housing 65 children and has started construction of a community centre to cater for the education and health needs of these children and those of the local community. To achieve sustainability, local businesses have been created to generate income to meet running costs. Peter now travels the world speaking on leadership lessons learned from managing crises on the world stage, whilst raising money for Hands.

I first heard about Hands when attending one of Peter’s key notes at the Australian International Education Conference last year. Inspired by the ability to translate a passion into practical outcomes, I wanted to assist with the work being done. So here i was in Thailand, having raised $10,500, from sponsors based in Canada, China, Korea, Thailand and of course Australia: many individuals across Victoria University contributed to the funds raised.

Eighteen cyclists from four countries participated in the ride and collectively raised $187,000, none of which was spent covering the riders’ costs. One of the key principles of Hands is that all donated money is spent on services for the children and local community; not a single cent is spent on Hands administration. The bike ride provided an opportunity to learn more about Hands principles of operation. Hands does not call for all NGOs to work to a zero-administration model - it’s a rare operation which is able to achieve such a target - however, it does call for full transparency. It believes people have the right to know how NGO funds are distributed.

Having experienced first-hand, the good work that Hands was achieving and the breadth of its activity, I realized that the English language Institute (ELI) at Victoria University was well-positioned to make a contribution to the children, young adults and volunteers at the orphanages and that here would be reciprocal returns for both the Phang Nga community and the University. The benefits in making a contribution to Hands’ work in Thailand would include professional development for our staff, experience delivering in a new market, an extension to the range of our educational services, and a high level of staff satisfaction engaging in highly value-driven work. The certainty I felt that interest would be shown to engage in this work was proven right. Now, less than a year later, University members from Further Studies, TAFE, and Higher Education are involved in program planning.

The Australia Thai institute has granted ELI $11,000 towards a project that will link VU VETiS Hospitality students in Australia, to VET Hospitality students at the Taqua Pa Community College, a local Thai VET provider in Phang-Nga, in an on-line learning community. The offshore VET course will also offer students LiWC assessment at Le Meriden in Khao Lak. The online learning space will include teachers and students from both locations as well as higher education hospitality student mentors. The hospitality project will be a vehicle for the teaching of English through hospitality training to the Thai students and will culminate in a showcase of students’ skills at fundraising hospitality events to be held simultaneously at Le Meridien Khao Lak and at VU.

The English Language institute is also managing an Assisted-Volunteer Program: English language teachers from Australia will work with counterpart Thai teachers in the local schools attended by the younger children from the orphanages, to support training to the local curricula. In addition, our staff exchange program will commence at the end of this month, with a visit from one of the orphanage managers for English language training and exposure to organisational culture. In a short time, we have developed a full program and it’s only just the beginning.

As the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child; in today’s world that village is global. The results achieved by Hands, from across the water, are a tribute to the work of a committed team of people prepared to question common practice and innovate. TNE providers have an opportunity to assist with this and other activity of its kind. As global business grows through the practice of Corporate Social Responsible (CSR), so to education providers can choose to work alongside NGOs, industry and community groups to provide education for social good, and to experience the many returns engagement of this kind brings.