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Cross Continent 4 Cari

A campaign by Martin Wong

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This June 19, Canadian Martin Frank Wong, will begin a journey of nearly 6,000 km from Mexico City to Toronto, Canada, with the aim of honoring the memory of his girlfriend, the Mexican doctor Carina Valdespino, who worked with Médicos Sin Fronteras México/Doctors Without Borders Mexico and who sadly passed away last May 4th.

Martin is 35 years old, he is originally from Toronto, he is an IT recruiter and currently resides in Mexico City. He met Carina in early 2015 and through her he was able to know more about the work that Doctors Without Borders is doing in Mexico and around the world.

"The reason I do this is because I somehow want to continue the great work that Carina did in her life," says Martin. "It's not something I've previously dwelled about: the idea of inheriting a legacy, but it's something I've reflected on in recent weeks - I guess I'm looking for some of the work that Carina did in life to continue".

Martin will travel on his own bike with approximately 8 kilos of luggage and a tight budget of $ 10 USD per day. He plans to stop at different points on the route to talk to people, speak to the local press about his trip and raise money for the organization. He also wishes to shed light on the situation of the thousands of migrants and refugees who also head north, in search of security.

"Carina really enjoyed her work with MSF and had a very good relationship with her teammates. She was very satisfied with the work she was doing and one of the projects she was most proud of was the work that the organization does to provide care to the population of migrants and refugees that cross Mexico".

Martin's trip will take him on routes similar to those that migrants and refugees cross through North America. From Mexico City to the border with Texas, and from there to New Orleans and the east coast of the United States, to Toronto. Martin estimates that the trip will take him approximately 3 months and he hopes to reach his destination before autumn arrives, thus preventing the weather conditions from complicating his journey.

"I want Carina to be proud of me and I want to continue her legacy, and I suppose this is the best way to do it that I can think of, because I think the work that (MSF) carries out is very valuable. I invite people to help me honor her legacy. All the funds raised will be used to support the MSF projects like the ones Carina worked on".

Martin plans to post videos and photos on his personal social networks during his trip, using the hashtags #CrossContinent4Cari y #CC4C, and the MSF office in Mexico will follow up on Martin's trip and post updates about his trip, on a website dedicated exclusively to Martin's initiative.

You can follow Martin's journey on his YouTube channel, his Instagram account and his Facebook page

Dr. Carina Valdespino was a general practitioner, graduated from Instituto Politecnico Nacional. She later moved to Barcelona to receive her master’s in international health from the University of Barcelona and between 2015 and 2017 she worked as Deputy Medical Coordinator of the MSF mission in Mexico. During her time working with MSF she helped in the development of the projects the organization runs in Mexico and Honduras, which focus on providing care to victims of violence, migration, reproductive healthcare and victims of sexual violence. Carina also worked for other international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors of the World, but as Martin mentions, she had a special fondness for her work with MSF.

On the occasion of her passing, the president and the executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland sent a message to all her colleagues last May.

"All of us at MSF received with great sadness the news of the death of our colleague, Dr. Carina, who came last year to Geneva as the representative of the Mexican mission to the General Assembly of MSF Switzerland. We shared great moments with her. She has always been very attentive to others and supporting her colleagues. In MSF we will remember her forever".

-- Reveka Papadopoulou, President and Liesbeth Aelbrecht, Executive Director of MSF Switzerland


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