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PHILANTHROPY
121
February15
In November 2014, nine brave women swapped the first-
world comforts of Singapore for a gruelling eight-day trek
across the Sacred Tsum Valley of Nepal. Two of them
– Women on a Mission co-founder CHRISTINE AMOUR-
LEVAR and first-timer SELINAMcCOLE – told
VerneMaree
all about it.
T
his was the third such adventure organised by Women on a
Mission, a Singapore-based group that raises funds for women
survivors of war, victims of human trafficking and rape. In 2013,
we told the inspirational story of Valerie Boffy’s summiting Mount
Everest, then co-founding Women on a Mission and leading a group to
the Everest Base Camp. Last year, we published Christine’s account of
their second expedition, to the Wadi Rum in Jordan.
Selina McCole
, from Northern Ireland, is
employed by Goldman Sachs. Holder of a
black belt in judo, she has also run seven full
marathons and numerous half-marathons.
Every other Sunday, you’ll find her teaching
classes in entrepreneurship skills at Aidha,
the NGO that empowers domestic workers.
Christine Amour-Levar
, of French, Swiss
and Filipino descent, is a marketing
entrepreneur and writer. She is a consultant
with Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm
of Temasek Holdings; she also works in
leadership development with Temasek
Management Services.
The other seven members of the team
were: Valerie Boffy, Marjolein van Paridon
(Maia), Vittoria Zipoli Caiani, Corinna
Lim, Patricia Rodrigues-Jones, Catherine
Zaccaria and Alexandra Pijuan-Tinker.
PROFILES
What made you sign up for this expedition, Selina?
After reading your interview with Valerie in
Expat Living
a couple of years
ago, I invited her in my role as co-chair of Goldman Sachs’ Southeast
Asian Women’s Network to address one of our conferences. And when
I heard the plans for an expedition to the Sacred Valley of the Tsum, I
knew I had to take part in it.
What did the physical preparation involve?
Selina:
I stepped up my running to six times a week, doing a weekly
average of 60km. But the real question was: how do you prepare in
relatively flat Singapore for climbing mountains? Stair-climbing was the
answer: repeatedly pounding up the stairwell of my 22-storey office
building – in my hiking boots!
Christine:
Valerie and I were fairly well prepared for climbing, having spent
nine days rock-climbing in Jordan on our previous expedition. To get ready
for that, we’d done twomonths of training at the amazing SAFRAAdventure
Sports Centre climbing wall, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Sunset from Mu Gompa Monastery
Christine and
Selina at the start
of the trek in the
lowlands