User talk:Mdcdcmcf

Maria Conceicao

mariaTURNING CATERPILLARS INTO BUTTERFLIES Dreams and ambitions are showing that regardless of how less fortunate people are, with a little support everyone has the potential to reach their goals and aspirations. This is the story of how one good deed can impact hundreds of incredible lives for the better.

Maria was born in Portugal. When she was two years old Cristina Matos a refugee women from Angola a widow with six children of her own and volunteered to look after Maria as her birth mother was struggling without a job .Cristina Matos motto was who feeds six feeds seven .What Cristina didn’t know at the time was Maria’s mother has Alzheimer’s and would never come back. So Cristina became Maria’s mum.

Prior to moving to the UAE, Maria lived in Switzerland and England. Her first volunteer experience was during a working holiday in the slums of Brazil – an experience which had a huge impact on Maria and was the foundation to her humanitarian efforts. In 2003, Maria became a flight attendant in the UAE. In April 2005, on a flight to Bangladesh, Maria witnessed the extreme poverty of the slums – a contrast to the life of luxury in Dubai. Maria was not able to forget what she witnessed and one month later she returned to Bangladesh determined to help the impoverished community. In July 2005 with the support of her family, colleagues and friends, Maria started a charity project to help the many families in Bangladesh starting with a one-room school. Maria has since 2005 been developing and running humanitarian projects in Bangladesh focusing on providing free education to the children; thus breaking the cycle of poverty. She established a nursery for babies, a preschool for toddlers , a primary and secondary school equipped with a library , IT center , a canteen , a first aid center and a dental center a training center for adults in sewing , beauty skills , carpentry , welding , she created a garbage disposable system infrastructure , built roads in the slums , public lavatories ,water wells , over 700 birth certificates were issued and vaccinations were provided to the community ,four local schools were fully renovated and furnished. After few years of experimentation since the initial intervention alternatives for the future of slum dwellers were clear. She realised she was only addressing to the signs and symptoms of poverty and that one shouldn’t lose sight of the true potential of the slum dwellers and all those living in the extreme poverty.

In 2009, Maria began several other individual projects to eradicate poverty undertaking a more challenging task in creating links that could control events that lead towards poverty. That task couldn’t be achieved by the traditional approach organizations take around the world; it required a more active initiative and vision to build a project that addresses the problems at roots. One obvious problem with this is that it may not meet the public’s present parameters of what is considered to be normal and correct way of help… But those old fashion parameters are now being challenged because poverty is increasing day by day. Maria Cristina Foundation, which aims to unlock and maximize human potential in developing countriesand opens another road, a road less travelled, harder, more demanding, difficult, but at the end the road to growth and prosperity and independence of struggling in poverty MCF is a call for action to solve root problems.

When it comes to her humanitarian efforts, Maria is best known for being a pioneer. In 2010, she brought a group of slum-dwelling children to study in UAE. She devotes herself completely to the ongoing challenge of paying for their education and developing the foundation to benefit the slum dwellers of Dhaka. When not occupied in training for events or fundraising, Maria can be found typically playing the role of surrogate mother and counselor to these children who have been given such an important opportunity to gain a quality education and an excellent start in life.

In addition finding employment opportunities in Dubai for the slum dwellers adults, including many of her slum-dwelling children, who 7 years later, are now no longer children but young adults ready to enter the workforce.

Maria also pushes her own physical limits in pursuit of her cause. Despite a knee injury, she has also run several marathons around the world, including in New York 2001, London 2002 and 2003, Dublin 2002, Beirut 2005, Dubai 2004,2011, 2012 and Mount Kilimanjaro climb 2010 and North Pole 2011. Maria completed the 777 Challenge – 7 marathons in 7 days across the 7 Emirates in 2011, and climbed Elbrus 2011, Everest Base Camp and Kala Patar2011, Three Passes and Denali and Island Peak 2012 Aconcagua 2013 and became tird portuguese citizen to summit everest and first portuguese women 21st May 2013 She generally also spends many hours in meetings to secure sponsorships from local donors, and can also be found at one of many flea markets, selling clothes to raise much-needed funds. Maria has organized and led many fundraising initiatives over the years to raise funds and awareness for her humanitarian projects and to date her efforts has helped hundreds of destitute families and children. Her work and dedication has gained the attention of the President of Portugal Cavaco Silva, a number of News channels in Portugal and UAE in 2012 Maria was awarded the Special Mention for Child Welfare by Petrochem and Most Inspiring Women of GCC by Kraft in 2010 was voted Ahlan Hot 100 Entrepreneur in UAE in 2009 Maria was awarded the ‘Emirates Woman of the Year 2009’, ‘Emirates Humanitarian Woman of the Year 2009’. Maria was also honoured with the ‘Most Exceptional and Innovative European Women of the Year’ in the 2007 European Union Women Inventors & Innovators Awards in Berlin.

Her project has given underprivileged communities the opportunity to transform their lives and go on to live truly rewarding lives. Maria believes in pushing boundaries.