This Woman Has Incredible Perseverance

Sandra Grenet, a six-time Gulf 4 Good challenge participant, shares the story of how she got hooked on adventure travel and her lessons learned.

“I had always wanted to do something for charity but never knew what to do exactly, until I saw the Gulf 4 Good poster with the Musandam challenge back in 2005. The challenge was for an association for the blind in Oman. My brother was born visually impaired, so the challenge did strike a cord and I thought, why not discover Musandam from a different angle, doing something I had never done: kayaking.

Then obviously I got to know more about G4G and I loved the fact that the next challenges were focused on supporting charities for children. I believe that education and giving a roof and support to kids are key to the fight against poverty. That’s why I have never looked back and completed my 6th challenge this year.

Personally, these challenges helped me to put things into perspective. Although I have had difficult times in my life, they seem so irrelevant compared to what these young kids go through, with such little food, little home comfort, sometimes no parents at all. Yet on every single school visit, we have been welcomed with huge smiles, playful spirits and special songs. And every time, I felt a pinch in my stomach and tears in my eyes. It is so emotional, its hard to describe it, you have to live it to understand it.

We often get so caught up with work, stress, deadlines, etc, that we miss the whole purpose of life, which is giving and loving. Its seems that the more we have, the less happy we are.These challenges are a great way to remember our core values and put us back on track.

Now, will I do another one?  The answer is, “of course–which one?” 

For more info – www.gulf4good.org