Sumon Azad has few memories of playing with toys, flying kites or chasing friends for fun while growing up in rural Barisal in Bangladesh. Instead, what he remembers are the toiling hours spent in the hot sun, lugging heavy, sharp-edged farming tools in his tiny hands when he was five. "I used to work as a helper in a paddy field from dawn to dusk carrying water, meals and farming implements for the farmers,'' he recalls.
His workload doubled every harvest and sowing season but it was the princely sum of 20 taka (Dh0.86) that he took home to his ailing father each evening that made the drudgery seem worthwhile.
His mother worked as a low-paid textile labourer and when Sumon was six, the family moved to the capital city, Dhaka, in search of better prospects. Here, she found employment in a large garment factory and could now afford to send him and his younger siblings to school.
But it wasn't until six years later, when Sumon was about 12, that the "first ray of hope" as he calls it filled his life.
Hearing about the Maria School - part of the The Dhaka Project set up in 2005 by Maria Conceicao that offered free education, clothes and medicine - Sumon's father approached it, asking that his son be enrolled as he was bright.
After spending seven years at the Maria School, where he completed his high school education, 19-year-old Sumon moved to Dubai where he attended a five-week cabin crew course at the Dubai Aviation College. In February this year, he qualified and is now working as a member of the cabin crew on Emirates Airline.
"For the first time in my life, I am able to dream; to have a vision of a future held with promise," he says, choking with emotion. "I feel as if the hardships of the past are just a memory; the opportunities that now lie before me are immense."
Maria Conceicao went on to establish the Maria Cristina Foundation (MCF) in 2010, which believes in trying to break the cycle of poverty by giving poor people in Bangladesh marketable skills.
Equally grateful to the Foundation for opening new doors and providing a window to a better tomorrow are three of Sumon's friends - Tipu Sultan, Rubel Rahman and Habibur Rahman Saddam Hussain - who joined him in Dubai for the same cabin crew course last year.
They too have completed it and are now working for the airline. Rubel and Habibur, both 18, used to carry heavy flasks full of several litres of hot water and milk, making and selling tea after school hours, in their village in Bangladesh.
Raising funds - and offering hope
It was stories like these - of despair and desperation turned into hope and joy - that first caught the attention of Rosa Areosa, a South African born Portuguese homemaker and mother of three living in Al Safa in Dubai.
Rosa, 46, was at the graduation ceremony of her 19-year-old daughter at the Dubai American Academy in June 2011 where Maria Conceicao was invited to deliver a lecture.
"Maria spoke about how her first encounter with extreme poverty in the slums of Dhaka ignited in her the determination to help this impoverished community break the vicious cycle of poverty, and how by pushing her own physical limits in pursuit of her cause including running several marathons and scaling mountains, she continues to help fund her humanitarian project,'' recalls Rosa.
"As I listened to her speak, tears rolling down my cheeks, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the good fortune I've enjoyed throughout my life," she says. "Her talk was very inspiring, and I felt motivated to ensure that these children enjoy the benefits of good education and lead a rewarding life. I knew I had to help but didn't know how."
After the lecture, Rosa met Maria and spoke of her desire to assist in her cause.
"The 777 Challenge was born that night," says Rosa. "I didn't have fortunes nor was I a celebrity. But I loved walking and as part of my exercise regimen regularly walk an average of ten to 15 kilometres each day touching 25km once a week.
"I decided to walk seven marathons (42km each day), through the seven Emirates over seven consecutive days (therefore called the 777 challenge) leading up to the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the UAE."
Having enjoyed a blessed and privileged life, Rosa felt it was time to give back. "It seemed to me that across the world, there are always more underprivileged people than privileged. Often, the dilemma for many of us is: what can one person do? But when I saw how Maria, a former Emirates Airline cabin crew member, singlehandedly managed to elevate the lives of more than 750 children, I realised the potential each individual held."
No sooner had she committed to the walk, than Rosa began to doubt her own ability to accomplish such a feat.
"People said I was crazy and I began to believe it," she recollects. "I almost called it off but Maria had also decided to walk the 777 Challenge and I couldn't let her down."
On November 26, 2011, Rosa started her epic 777 Challenge in Sharjah completing her 42km walk in just over six hours. The following day, in Fujairah, she broke her toe, after being forced off the road by a large truck. "I stepped on a rock, slipped and landed on the front part of my foot, severly injuring my toe," she says.
"The pain was excruciating, and I wanted to give up but I kept asking myself: is this pain anything compared to what mothers in the slums of Dhaka suffer - the agony of not being able to even provide food for their kids. The physical pain I endured then seemed so insignificant."
Mind over matter
What she had not banked on, however, was her own mental strength. "We often underestimate what we are capable of, what we are able to do with our body, mind and determination.
"As the days progressed and the kilometres rolled by, I realised I kept getting stronger and clocked my best time on the fourth day in Al Ain achieving a time of 5:46:20."
While on the road, people would sometimes clap and cheer, "and that gave me wings to carry on," says Rosa. "In Umm Al Quwain, an Emirati gentleman stopped by and offered water. I finished that day so well and happy."
The greatest obstacle with a 42km walk, she says, is that "your mind starts hitting a wall from around 32km to the end. Your body has used up all the energy and no matter how much you put in, it doesn't replenish quickly. You then start getting into a bad, weepy mood. My poor husband was at the receiving end all the time - if he brought water, I wanted cola; if it was juice, I wanted a wet towel! After 32km, I just wasn't myself!"
Rosa walked a distance of 294km in a total of 42 hours, 7 minutes and 46 seconds when she touched the finishing line on December 2 in Abu Dhabi.
"It was a very emotional moment for me," she recollects. "Personally, it was spiritually gratifying as I was trying to make peace with a lot of things in my life. When I took on this challenge, I wanted to change lives but by doing so I have changed mine and I am grateful to Maria for this."
Sumon and his friends were given the opportunity to travel to Dubai for a professional course thanks to the 777 Challenge.
Thanks to the four teenagers, the lives of approximately 21 family members is sure to improve. Through the funds raised, in-patient medical insurance has also been arranged for these children.
Rosa's walk raised around Dh150,000 for MCF, which will go towards sponsoring the studies and stay of several more deserving children from Bangladesh.
Five Bangladeshi schoolchildren, currently studying in Dubai courtesy of MCF, secured an Etihad sponsorship to fly them home twice a year to Bangladesh until the end of their respective school careers.
Etihad Airlines will also help with concessional tickets to bring the next batch of five children. A further 35 slum dwellers have been given the opportunity to take English lessons in Dhaka at the British Council.
Thanks to Rosa's initiative, two new host families have come forward to take care of the new batch of girls who will arrive in Dubai soon from Bangladesh. Eton Institute has also offered two scholarships for an English-teacher-training course valued at Dh16,600.
‘A little bit of craziness is good for you'
The gruelling challenge has reinforced her belief that it is never too late to help those in need. "It doesn't matter who or how you help," she says, "as long as you get involved. I also learnt that a little bit of craziness is very good for you - that's what made me take on this feat. And it is now the best addictive habit I have acquired!"
Rosa, who has since spent time with the children who have benefited from the 777 Challenge, is amazed at their cheerful, positive outlook. "As people who are fortunate, we are always complaining but the sheer happiness these children radiate is very inspiring.''
As for Sumon, the boy who is now working as a cabin crew, he is still finding it difficult to believe how his life has changed for the better since he got in touch with MCF. "If it wasn't for MCF I am not sure where I would be now," he says, beaming with happiness.
- Who: Rosa Areosa
- What: The 777 challenge, which involved walking across all seven emirates
- Why: To raise funds for the Maria Cristina Foundation, which helps poor children in Bangladesh
