FUJAIRAH // Five friends are seeking another three adventurers to join them on a 900-kilometre bike journey across the mountains of Tibet and Nepal this summer in the hope of raising money to rebuild an orphanage.
The trek may raise as much as 20 per cent of the US$155,000 (Dh570,000) cost in support of the Nepalese charity Mission Himalayan, the Kathmandu-based organisation said. The existing orphanage has been moved into two buildings because of overcrowding.
"They're sort of getting bumped around into one building after another and it was all becoming a bit ridiculous," said Carol Hyland, a Fujairah-based graphics designer who has lived in the Emirates for decades. "There are 43 children and they've lost their home. It's taking some of them an hour-and-a-half to walk to school."
The cyclists, who have dubbed themselves Trekking for Nepal, have had their own personal challenges. Ms Hyland broke her leg two months ago, but she refuses to let a little thing like that stop her from taking part in the trip.
It is that sort of determination that will push the group to make the journey from Lhasa, the administrative capital of Tibet, to the base of Mount Everest and thence to Kathmandu. The trip, scheduled to begin on July 29, will include a vertical rise of more than 5,000 metres.
The New Youth Children Development Society orphanage has moved twice in three years and suffers from chronic water shortages and electricity cuts. Mission Himalaya wants to rebuild it from the ground up. Its new orphanage will have solar panels, a well, a water treatment plant and a farm, if all goes according to plan.
"We make sure we know exactly where the money is going and that it's going where we want it to be used," said Mita Ray, a public relations consultant from India who has lived in Dubai since 1989. "We're not raising huge amounts of money, but we want to make sure it works."
Ms Hyland and Ms Ray hiked to the top of Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro for Mita's 50th birthday in 2007. Colin Holloway, another member of the group, joined them in April 2009 on a trek with 10 others to the Mount Everest base camp, which raised about Dh75,000 for the orphanage.
"He said 'if I never see another mountain again it will be too soon', and guess what? He was one of the first to sign up," Ms Ray said of Mr Holloway.
The group's other members at present are Jane and Andrian Teirney, two Fujairah residents who joined the two-wheeled trek after a quick conversation and a bit of trepidation.
"Andrian said 'Yeah, I'll come for a bicycle ride'," said Ms Hyland. "I think he was a bit taken aback that we might be going over the Himalayas and not looking at them."
The cyclists are no spring chicks - the youngest is 48 years old - and they do not profess to be professional athletes. However, Ms Hyland is optimistic about their quest. She has been looking for a new challenge since her return from the Everest base camp. An overland bike journey offered by a tour company caught her eye on a trip to Nepal last year.
"Somehow this cycling trip came up and they just sort of glossed over it," said Ms Hyland. "They said 'yes, well, you need to be a cyclist to do it'. I said, 'well, I might be'. So we're going to do it because they didn't think we could. Our insurance covers all eventualities including getting a helicopter if we need it."
The cyclists will cross the Friendship Highway, lodge with yak herders under a vista of glaciers, camp on barren stone plateaus and plunge to the Kathmandu valley on a day-and-a-half downhill bike ride. They will be led by Responsible Travellers, a non-profit company run by an English woman and her Nepalese husband who invest all profit into charitable projects in Nepal and ensure the trip is carbon neutral.
"Basically we're all going because Carol and I fell in love with a whole bunch of kids in Nepal," said Ms Ray.
azacharias@thenational.ae
ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 1,400m
6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
7pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Ladies World Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh125,000; 1,600m
8pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown (PA) Group 1; Dh5,000,000; 1,600m
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
