UK couple to spend honeymoon cycling around Lebanon for charity

For most brides, the idea of cycling nearly 300 kilometers, in a relatively unstable country, would probably not constitute the ideal honeymoon scenario. However, for Matt Packer’s wife Hazel, the journey, aimed at raising money for SOS Children’s Villages, represented an exciting challenge. “I think initially she envisaged our honeymoon being on a beach,” says Packer, but after he explained his idea, she was more than happy to take part. The couple, from Norfolk in England, is setting off Monday, and will cycle around Lebanon to three of four of the SOS Children’s Villages in the country, the first day to Sferai in south Lebanon, and then Tuesday to Kfarhay in the north, and Wednesday to Bhersaf in the Metn. They are, however, skipping the village in Ksarnaba in the Bekaa, which Packer is “gutted about.” The decision followed advice from Lebanese he has kept in touch with since first visiting the country in 2005, and from reading up on the case of the seven Estonians, kidnapped in 2011 for nearly four months while cycling through the Bekaa. While the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is currently advising against all but essential travel to Lebanon, Packer says he is not overly concerned. “We’re avoiding places we’ve been told to avoid.” After visiting Lebanon to run the Beirut marathon seven years ago – “a lot of people do charity events back home. I felt I had to do something a bit different” – Packer began a Masters in International Relations, with a special focus on the Middle East. Having completed a triathlon in England earlier this year in aid of a local children’s hospice, Packer wanted to raise money for a country which he had traveled to in the past. “I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve been to a lot of places but I’ve not really done much apart from being a tourist. So I knew I wanted to give something back and specifically help with children,” he says. Having come across SOS Children’s Villages during the 2005 marathon, Packer decided to donate all money raised through his trip to them. The global charity, which began in Austria in 1949, provides family-based care to children, whether orphans or those with an unstable home situation. In Lebanon around 280 children live across the four villages, where they live in houses, complete with Lebanese “mothers” and other children, their “brothers and sisters.” They also receive education within the village itself, and at the age of around 14 they move into “youth houses” where they learn to become self-sufficient. “Unless they had the SOS helping them out, they’d be completely alone,” Packer says. Packer began preparations for the trip by approaching Middle East Airlines, who offered to sponsor the couples’ flights to and from Lebanon, so that as much money as possible could go to the charity. Next up, he contacted hotels, three of which – the Mayflower, Brazilia Suites and the Monroe – agreed to put them up for a few nights each. Initially they thought they would have to transport their own bicycles to Lebanon, but then Bike Generation, which, Packer says, has been “phenomenal,” offered to loan them bikes, and a support vehicle for the first two days. The whole experience thus far has “been fantastic, the generosity that we’ve had from complete strangers. And I’m not sure the same would necessarily happen if a Lebanese person was to do this in the U.K.” The couple has been training each weekend, and Packer is confident the trip will be manageable. But coming from the flattest county in England, the Metn village, high above some windy roads at an altitude of 900 meters, might pose the greatest challenge. “I’ve promised my wife that after we complete the trip, we will relax for a couple of days.” Sponsor the Packers’ cycle ride at www.virginmoneygiving.com/soslebanon (daily star)