Pair walk 7,000 km to raise funds for Vietnamese children

After walking through 19 countries, they took trains and buses to Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos before arriving in Vietnam. They started their 13 month journey in January last year.

After retiring from their careers, Simon and Christoph spent two years preparing for the journey. They carefully studied routes, weather conditions and asked for help from potential sponsors in Austria and Switzerland.

Christoph Obmascher and Simon Niggli have walked 7,000 kilometers to raise funds for poor children in Vietnam.

All the money they raised during the journey will be used to improve education for poor children in Tram Tau and Lang Tranh districts in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai.

“We have seen so many beautiful places, met so many friendly people and experienced hospitality and warmth. Many people who live in difficult situations have touched our heart. Our key impression is the poorer the people, the more generous they are,” Christoph said.

"Through our journey, we want to call on more people to open their hearts to help poor children, especially those in Vietnam, the country we love," Chtistoph said.

Simon decided to sponsor a Vietnamese child in 1999, when he first traveled to the country and fell in love with the it.

In 2012, he sponsored a second child after, while Chritoph also decided to sponsor a child in 2014.

At present, about 30,000 foreigners from 14 countries have sponsored nearly 70,000 Vietnamese children through World Vision's sponsorship program, which supports poor children in terms of education, nutrition, children’s rights and livelihood.