Crossing the finish line

Six years since I’ve crossed a finish line in a sprint.

Sometime ago in primary and secondary school, track and field was what I loved. I still love it, but somewhere in between university and work, it just hasn’t been in the cards.

Until now!

I love organizing events that bring people together, especially for a good cause. I heard about the Vientiane International Half Marathon in early January and suggested to my communication team that we gather staff from our office and participate as a team! They said YES!

15 sign-up sheets later and we’ve got a team running to stay healthy and to raise awareness for child protection, through the End Trafficking in Persons program. It has been so much fun these past few weeks seeing where everyone is in their training and going for runs with each other. Sports really do bring people together. (And it seems like that’s what everyone is talking about in Vientiane. This small town I tell you, so easy for the word to get around!)

Back to ETIP; this program focuses on on prevention, victim protection and policy advocacy to eliminate trafficking into exploitative and abusive situations. Asia Pacific is the region with the most trafficking victims. The ETIP program works in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Here is the website if you want to read more about it!

I will be running the 10.5km race on March 6th and am so looking forward to it!

Our team has set up a fundraising page, check it out! If you want to donate to help make a difference, don’t hesitate to do so!

I hope all my Canadian friends and family are staying safe in this crazy snow storm that is taking over headlines across every media channel!!

-Marielle