Participants in the launch of the “Million steps of kindness” campaign pose for a group photo on February 25. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Two expat teachers, Jake Norris, 37, from Australia, and Sean Down, 45, from Ireland on February 24 finished their 2,000km walk from Hà Nội to HCM City after three months to raise funds for underprivileged children.

During the walk "Việt Nam Charity Walk: A Walk For Change", they raised US$35,000 through the site gogetfunding.com/vietnam-charity-walk/ to support charity foundations dedicated to children in Việt Nam.

They set a target to raise the fund to $200,000 and will send all the funds to local charity organisations to develop activities for disadvantaged children, and anti-human trafficking.

Jake planned to publicise a photobook with about 60 photos taken during their journey to raise more fund.

Jake came to Việt Nam seven years ago, and Sean Down came to Việt Nam five years ago. Initially, both of them planned to stay in the country for a short time and then continue travelling to other ones. However, their love for Việt Nam kept them stay in Hà Nội and work as English teachers in the city. They became close friends before taking the journey together.

The idea for such a journey came when Jake and his teammates at the Việt Nam Swans AFL Club usually visited an orphanage in Hà Nội every year to give gifts to children there. Through those visits, Jake found that children in Việt Nam face many difficulties. He wanted to do something to change the situation. His ambitious idea for a charity walk began taking shape three years ago, during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Jake started the walk with a friend who withdrew from the plan later.

Sean accepted to become Jake’s new companion, together "reviving" the charity walk.

Jake and Sean halted their teaching jobs in May 2023 to focus on training and fundraising. The journey has attracted the attention and support of individuals, companies, and communities from around the world, including the Australian Embassy in Việt Nam.

In December 2023, the duo departed from Hanoi Opera House, walking a 2,000km route along the Hồ Chí Minh Trail.

Sharing the reason for choosing the difficult route, Jake and Sean said they wanted to challenge themselves because this route is longer, not crowded, and has many hilly sections. In addition, they also want to take this opportunity to learn and interact with local communities in the places they visit and raise awareness about disadvantaged children in Việt Nam.

Every day, they started walking at 5am and stopped at about 3pm. Unlike Jake who is used to exercising, Sean said it was quite difficult for him to keep up with his friend. In addition, both are vegetarians, so it’s not easy for them to find suitable food, plus the weather changes constantly, which makes Jake and Sean sick many times.

“It’s really been a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Jake. “We’ve just had three months of intense highs and lows. We struggled to find food at times, and we had an entire week of torrential, freezing rain. Over the last month, the temperature has soared and we’ve been doing 35km per day in 40°C heat. So now we’re often up and out the door by 4am to avoid the heat!”

“The other side is the incredible interactions we’ve had and the friends we’ve made. People have been wonderfully generous with their time, money, and accommodation. Not a day has gone by that someone hasn’t stopped their bike to offer food or water.”

“We’re going to miss those daily affirmations of peoples’ kindness.” — VNS