Today is a special day. I wrote a letter to a complete stranger but it was written with a lot of heart that I want to keep it.

Dear Mrs Kao,

Hope you are well.

I stumbled onto the website of your foundation while doing some research on the internet. I was never a sportswoman but this year after I came back as a volunteer from an international sports event called Gobi March organized by Racing the Planet, I decided that I want to join as competitor for 2013. This is a 250 km 7 days 6 nights self-supported ultra marathon across the Gobi Desert and there are about 200 athletes from all over the world. A good number of athletes run for charity and I am training hard and hopefully can be one of them. I was researching on the internet because I was thinking about my cause for running. Of all the good causes I can think of, Alzheimer’s is one which I feel most connected to.

My mother had Alzheimer’s in 1998 when she was 50. She was just an ordinary civil servant and was about to retire. Right after she started her post-retirement life, our family started noticing the deterioration of her cognitive abilities. Within a few months, we took her to the doctor but only to see her brain the size of a pork bun through the scan. A year after, she was pretty much functioning like a 5 year old child, except that she was on heavy dosages of medicine.

Back then I never really enjoyed hiking but my mother had always loved it. So I started hiking with her at the early onset of the disease. I was hoping that even though she could not manage anything intellectually, she could at least walk enough to stay healthy. Also, there was just me and her and mother nature. Nobody would judge her by her uncoordinated and unexplainable gestures and language. But even that luxury was gone soon. After my mom lost her mobility, so did my dad since he had to take care of her 24/7.

It has been 14 years since, but I have lot to thank God for. My father has learnt to be a patient, sensitive, caring (and even romantic) husband which he has never been. The disease has also strengthened my bond with my parents. In all honesty, we should feel very lucky since my mother is still physically well enough for day care and both my parents are government pensioners and so medically everything is taken care of.

But I understand that there are many carers who are burdened with tremendous physical, emotional and financial burden as a result of someone close suffering from this disease, or the patients themselves who are neglected because the families themselves are without adequate support. I understand that in some parts of the world, carers are given much more support whether medically, psychologically or even financially from the government. As Hong Kong’s population is ageing fast, a lot more work has to be done. I am so glad that you are the face and the voice for this cause, and the Hong Kong society desperately needs someone like you.

As for myself, I started working as a lawyer 14 years ago and then moved on to a WTO project doing trade capacity building with developing countries in the Asia Pacific region. After that contract, I joined a small charity foundation and spent time working in Burma on education, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction projects. I am currently with one of the largest textile and apparel manufacturers in the world. I spend about 80% of my time on business and the rest on managing the group’s charity arm. I often travel to Xinjiang, Vietnam and Sri Lanka overseeing education projects. While working on Xinjiang projects, I have got in touch with Racing the Planet and knew about their competitions.

To me, joining this sports event is an inspiration reminding me to give the best of myself for others, and especially to devote this to my parents, to thank them for giving birth to me and for raising me to become a courageous and compassionate person. They both loved travelling before my mother had Alzheimer’s, and so I would like to think that I am carrying their hopes, dreams and aspirations with me as I walk the desert. Hopefully I will be fit enough by June next year and do some modest fundraising for your foundation. I will keep you informed of my progress.

In the meantime, if there is anything I can help on a volunteer basis, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please keep up with the good work and take care.