British Expat Teacher Running 2,200 Kms For Vietnamese Kids’ Charities

One favourite sightseeing route for expats and backpackers in Vietnam is the 2,200 km journey between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, taking in all the many beauties of nature Vietnam has to offer.

Motorbikes are the favoured means of transport but, for those who don’t want to risk it, there are trains, cars and planes standing ready to transport enthusiastic sightseers. This year, one British expat is doing the trip the hard way in order to attract donations for a number of Vietnamese childrens’ charities – she’s running the entire distance and expecting her journey will take some five months or so to complete.

English teacher Naomi Skinner told the media she isn’t much of a runner, thus making her journey somewhat of a challenge, but adding she feels the need to give back to the children's’ charities she’s worked with via her job at the British International School in Saigon over the past four years. She’s’ even resigned from her post so that she’ll have enough time to complete the run.

She’s hoping to raise donations for five charities – Friends for Street Children, the Thien Phuok Orphanage, Green Bamboo Shelter, Blue Dragon Children's’ Foundation and Blossom House Hanoi. To date, she’s completed the first section of the run and raised almost half of her £15,000 Go Fund Me goal. She’s expecting to be on the road until March next year and says she’s received kindness all along the way. She’s extending an invitation to anyone who wants to run with her for a short distance to make contact via her website at www.namrunsnam.com, where donations can also be made.