Ep #033 | How Maria Conceição Broke 10 Records To Help Children to Transform Their Lives

Foreign.

Thank you, Vishen and Man Valley, for giving me this stage to share our story. Today I'm standing here because of a promise made between two strangers. 46 years ago, I was born. I'm at the daughter of a single mother, and When I was 2 years old, my mother was jobless and she was struggling very badly. And this is when she met a stranger, Christina, a poor refugee woman from Angola living in Portugal. She was a widow. She was totally illiterate. She had six kids of her own, and she worked as a cleaner to support them. Once she met my mother and saw her struggling, she didn't blink her eye and she offered help. She told my mom to go to the city, six hours away from the little village, to find herself a job, and she would take care of me until she came. So my mother left to Lisbon and she never came back. So I became the seventh child of Christina. Christina was the only black family in that area. And those days, it was totally inconceivable, the idea of a black woman to adopt a white child. She struggled severely to convince the social services that they wanted to take me away from her and put me in an orphanage. She used to say, who feeds six, feeds seven. Seven years later, when I was nine, Christina suddenly passed away of a heart attack. I didn't understand that she had died, so I just thought she had gone to Lisbon to find my mother. And I waited and I waited and waited for Cristina to come. When I was 12, I had to stop going to school. I was doing grade five. And from that point onwards, I was told that the only thing I could expect to achieve in life was to be a cleaner like Cristina. So When I was 18, I left Portugal and I told myself in if the only thing I'm going to achieve in life is to be a cleaner, I am not just going to be a cleaner. I'm going to be the Ronaldo of the cleaning world. So I left Portugal and I went to Switzerland, where the best cleaning in the world jobs they were. I learned how to speak French and I was cleaning. And when you are a cleaner, those days in Switzerland, when you are a cleaner living in minimum wages, they don't give you a visa. Three years later, going home from work, I was hit and run by a car and I woke up in the hospital with the police investigating the accident. They found out I was living illegally and they asked me very politely. They gave me 30 days to recover from my injuries and to exit the country. I was devastated, but I thought, I'm Ronaldo of The cleaning world. I can start my life in a new country. And I left to England. I learned how to speak English from scratch. I was washing dishes in restaurants, I was cleaning toilets sometimes. I had three jobs. One during the day, one part time at night and one part time on a weekend just to pay my bills. Three years later, always looking for better opportunities, I went to the job center and they told me Emirates Airlines was recruiting cabin crew. I went on Google and researched how to pass the job interview and I didn't fit the criteria. First, it doesn't look like, but I'm very small, high heels and I didn't have the education, you have to have secondary education to work as a cabin crew. I went for the job interview and I just thought if I go to this job interview, I'm not going to go as I'm looking for a job. I'm going to go as I am already a flight attendant. I went to Benetton, I bought a suit the same color as a flight attendant. I, I did the makeup and I went for the job interview. That day there was 100 candidates. 100 and only two of. And they asked me why there is 100 candidates here. Why should we give you the job? What makes you so special than any other cabin crew, other candidates? I told them, if you recruit me, you are recruiting the best to Ronaldo of the cleaning world. So they gave me. And I couldn't believe only two of us, they got the job. So 2003 I moved to Dubai and I really felt like I had won the lottery. I couldn't believe I was flying to Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives and I was staying in five star hotels. It was incredible. Shortly after I was recruited to work as a VIP flight attendant to the Royal Family in uae. So I thought I hit jackpot twice again in a lifetime. So I was flying undercover, the royal family all around the world, staying in the most amazing places. And three years later I was asked to do a 24 hour layover in Bangladesh, one of the third world countries. You know, when I got to Bangladesh, I always thought I came from a very, very, very humble background. Christina lived on food stamps. She had a tub at the grocery shop. She didn't know how to feed the. But when I went to Dhaka, I understood what was the meaning of poverty. And I thanked God for everything I had and didn't have. So what I ended up doing, I ended up doing exactly what Kristina had done to my mothers. I ended up promising these struggling families in the slums of Dhaka that I was going to Take care of their children until they finished their education. I started to swap all my flights, my Seychelles, Mauritians, Maldives, New York, Milan. And I started to go to Dhaka. I started by helping 39 children. Soon it became 98 kids, then 200 and then 600. I'm going to be honest with you. I had no idea how to help these kids. But I opened a daycare center, a preschool, primary school, secondary school, first aid center, computer training center, a dental center. I didn't know how to do any of those. But I found people, experts. I would go, puri, you're a teacher. I have at school, teach me how to run the school. A to Z. Puri, teach me how to recruit a teacher to teach my kids. Someone will do the draft, put an advert on a newspaper and we recruit. So I learned everything. A to Z. It was not me. People, they taught me how to do it. So I had all. And then I was still flying as a cabin crew. And I had this beautiful. My goal and my vision from day one in 2005 was one day, my children, they're going to grow up, they're going to leave this slum community, they're going to go abroad, they're going to go to universities, they're going to go work in amazing companies. People, they thought I was crazy, totally crazy. Because these kids, when I met them, they didn't even have a birth certificate. Their mothers, they never had gone to school, they didn't know how to read and write. People, they thought I was being cruel to give hope, to tell these kids from the slums of Bangladesh to teach, that one day they would come out of the slums. It was not done, but I believed in my vision. For the first three years, I never had to ask for money. People, they knew who I was. Cabin crew, they were helping me. The pilots, they were helping me. Passengers of the airline, they were helping me. People, they were giving me clothes, shoes, toys, books, diapers, milk formulas. I was asking the cabin crew to carry these items over. If you were flying first class, I would meet you two hours before the airport without knowing who you were and asking you, are you going to Dhaka? Do you have extra allowance? Can you take my things? Are you flying business class? You have extra allowance? Can you take 20 kilos for me? Can you take 10 kilos for me? And this is how I was doing things. Three years later, 600 kids. Recession came, the global recession in 2008. And overnight I started to lose, one by one, all my sponsors, they were vanishing. So we started to cut down costs and expenses. And I was really desperate at the time to find investors, because in the slums of Bangladesh, when you don't put the food on a table of a child or the roof over the head of that child, that child is going to be forced to get married at the age of 10, 11, 12 with someone two to three times her age. So I went, this is where I met my best friend, Google. So I typed, Google, what is the quickest and most efficient way to find investors to make money to pay the cost of these kids? And Google said, if you know someone famous like Angelina Jolie, Ronaldo, and they become the ambassadors of your organization, you will get the money. I wrote letters to many famous people. I kept researching, and Google said, if you go on a popular TV show, you will reach a wider audience and they will know what you're doing. So I wrote letters and then I came across an interesting article that said there was a team from England of athletes going to the North Pole. They had raised £1,000,000, and they were hoping by reaching the North Pole, they were going to raise £2 million. Wouldn't you go to North Pole to raise £2 million? So I thought, oh, my God, I have no idea where is the North Pole, what I have to do to get there. And remember, I didn't finish school, but to get these £2 million to keep the kids in school, I'm going to get there. The next expedition available was in four months. So I Googled on the Internet and I never had done sports in my life up to that point, unless you consider going from the galley to the cabin, asking you, would you like chicken? Would you like beef, tea, coffee? But I thought, an athlete is not an athlete when he's born. What do I have to do to transform myself into an athlete? I found myself a personal trainer coach online. And I asked him, ismael, did you watch Kung Fu Panda? Me, Panda, we have four months to get to the North Pole. Train me. Four months later, I became the first Portuguese woman to get to the North Pole. There was no million pounds. There was no million pounds. However, I was asked to do a speaking event in a graduation party in a school. And I was offered a scholarship for five students from Bangladesh to come to Dubai, all expenses paid, until they finished their education. So that completely changed the life of that five kids. But remember, I still have 595 in Dhaka. Angelina Jolie still did an answer. Ronaldo moved to a new club. Oprah Allen didn't respond. I went back to Google, Google what can I do to get the money? And Google said, did you know the first Jordanian men that climbed the Everest erased four point million eight dollars. So I thought if the only thing I have to do to get to the North Pole, I mean to get to the Everest to get the money to keep the kids in school. And remember at that stage we were sinking. We were like Titanic with holes and we were sinking. So I decided to climb Everest. And I couldn't believe in 2012 no Portuguese woman had climbed Everest. So I thought, this is going to be huge. I'm going to make so much money. So I signed up for an expedition to Everest. I found myself, I just thought, what does a climber have to do to become a climber? He has a trainer. I found Sathya Bratadam, 35 years of experience in climbing. And Satya had a dream. I told him about the Kung Fu story. But he watched a million dollar babe. His dream was to find the most incapable men or female and coach that person and transform her or him into a world class climber and put it at the top of Everest and back down. So when I got my email, it was dream come true. Satya told me, in two years I can transform you into a world class climber, mountaineer. I told him, Satya, the children of Dhaka, they cannot wait two years. It's too late. This has to be done in one year. We are sinking and fast. We started potentially one of the hardest years of my life. I was training six hours a day. I was going on on a beach, pulling tires with 30 kilos backpack. I was climbing the tallest towers in Dubai. 4 hours with 30 kilos, up and down, up and down. Meanwhile, I had so many financial problems in Dhaka and I made an announcement that I was going to climb Everest. What do you think? It was the reaction of Portugal. Up to that point, only two Portuguese citizens they had climbed Everest. If I made it, I would be the first Portuguese woman. What do you think was the reaction of Portugal? Portugal said, what are you doing? You're going to bring so much shame into our country. You are not a climber. If anyone dies in Everest this year, it's because you kept a traffic line. Anyway, I stopped and I was deaf and I kept raining. One year later, on 21 May 201013 I became the first Portuguese woman to climb Everest. All I could think was when I was at the summit was all the things I was going to do with my million dollars. When I was at the top of Everest, people they asked me how did he felt, was it like, yeah, I'm here at the top of Everest, I made it? No, my Satya Bradam got really sick with altitude sickness. And my Sherpa, they were sick. I was 45 minutes at the top of Everest with my oxygen bottle running low. I had no idea where Satya and my guide, they were. I didn't know if they had come down or if I was up. And I was there, standing in Everest, seeing all the other climbers that had made it, calling their family members and loved ones to tell that they had made it to the top of Everest and my phone had frozen. I couldn't call anybody to say I had made it. Anyway, 45 minutes later, Satya made it. We took the beautiful shot and I came back down. And all I could think was all the things I was going to do when I came back down, there was no million dollars. After all. There was nothing. Not even publicity. After all, in a world saturated of news, becoming the first Portuguese woman was nothing. What happened? We had to send 600 kids back to the streets. The parents of the kids that were working in our organizations, they became unemployed very shortly after. I lost my job. And when you live in Dubai like me, I lost my residence visa. And I thought, I'm going to pretend I'm going to become homeless. I contacted the ex boyfriend I had not spoken to in five years, and I asked him to help me paying the rent and put food on a table. And I started to wonder, where did I go wrong? All these people, they are raising the money and I didn't. So I just thought, maybe I'm destined to do better things. So I went back to Google and I Googled how can I get the money? And Google said marathons was very. Someone actually told me, why don't you do something that appeals to the whole world? If you want to raise that amount of money, you have to do something. Something that gets the attention of the whole world. So I started running marathons. Okay. Someone suggested, why don't you run seven marathons in the seven continents in the shortest time possible? So I contacted Naic and I told them, I want to start running marathons and I want to do seven marathons in seven continents in the shortest time possible. Nike started training me, and three weeks later, they dropped me. See, Panda, Everyone says when you climb Everest, you come back 10 kilos lighter. I came back 10 kilos heavier. So when I started training, I was registering in races in Dubai. I was going to do 5k, 10k. And I was always the last one to reach the finish line. Sometimes there was not even finish line. But then I started to say, okay, today I'm going to run 1km, then I'm going to run 2km, I'm going to walk, jog. Then my goal was, I'm going to get on, I'm going to beat the second last. And then I started to think, okay, I'm so slow. Just think there is a lion or a crocodile behind you. But to cut short, one year later, I not only finished seven marathons in the seven continents, I broke two Guinness World Records. 2015, I decided to be more ambitious. I did seven marathons, seven continents in six weeks. So we thought, let's do it in seven days. People, they thought I was crazy, that I would need a private plane or a private aircraft to do the seven marathons in seven days, in seven continents. I did it all flying commercial, all flying in economy class. We've done six marathons in six continents in six days. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish in seven days because when I was supposed to land in Antarctica, there was a big storm and we had to divert back to Chile and wait for the weather to clear. But I still broke two more Guinness World Records. What do you think? It was the reaction of the press. I contacted the press to tell them I had broken another two Guinness World Records. They told me, marathons, even a 75 year old can run a marathon. What is so special? So they didn't write about the story. Can you do something new? Can you try something new? So I went back to Google and I typed and Google said, if you swim from England to France, that is the equivalent of the climbing Everest in a swimming world. So I thought, this is different. The press is going to love this. And I sign up to swim across the English Channel. When you try to swim across English Channel, there is three things you have to do. Number one, you have to sign up with the Channel Swimming association to get the license to swim across the English Channel. Two, you have to hire a pilot to show you the way. And then you have to have a medical certificate showing that you're fit to swim across English Channel. So the doctor thought, oh, you did the Everest, you did all these marathons. You're more than fit to swim across the English Channel. And then I had to start training. And I couldn't start training because off there was a tiny little problem. I didn't know how to swim. So I just thought, a swimmer is not a swimmer when he was born. What does a swimmer have to do to learn how to swim. He gets a swimming coach. I found Kevin Millerick and I told him, kevin, I have to swim across English Channel in one year. My boat is sinking. Teach me how to swim. And Kevin told me, maria, I am a pool swimming instructor. I do not know anything about swimming the English Channel. I I told him, kevin, the only thing you have to do is to teach me how not to drown when I'm swimming across English Channel. So Kevin teached me how to float first, how to do my first 25 meters. The 25 meters became 50 meters, 75 meters, 1 km, 2 km and swint English analysis 34 km. Then I was ready to start swimming in the open ocean. So I started to register for small races, you know, 400 meters on the ocean, 800. And my lovely children would come to support me on a weekend, you know, to be my cheerleaders. The first race I did, my kids, they were there with my boyfriend and we were a lot of swimmers doing the first race. And my boyfriend said, look, there goes Maria. And she said, there are so many swimmers. How do you know is Maria? Because this is the only swimmer that is going the wrong location, wrong direction. You have to swim that way. And I was going to go to the wrong location. Anyway, I made it. I learned how to swim open water. My first kilometer, 2 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers, 15 kilometers. And one year later, I announced that I was going to attempt to swim across the English channel. So on the 31st of August 2016, I attempted to become the first Portuguese woman to swim across the English Channel. Just before I left for my swim, I got the message. You know, when you wake up, the first thing you do, you check your emails. I got an email from the schools in Bangladesh saying I was $200,000, $200,000 in debt. And if I didn't pay the $200,000, they would sue me and I would have had a court case. So it was very important that I would swim across the English Channel. So I went and I swam for seven hours. I swam 15km the right direction this time. Seven hours later, suddenly the weather changed and there was too many currents and the pilot decided to abort to swim. Two days earlier, someone 1km away from getting to France had passed away. And they didn't want to take the risk, so they aborted to swim. And I just thought, how can I go home now and tell these children I'm sorry, I couldn't find the money, you have to go back to the streets. A second time I cried like I had lost Everything. Then I just thought, you know, I have to roll up the sleeves and I have a court case coming against me. I have to find a new solution. So I went to the Internet and I couldn't believe that morning on my social media, I had only 500 followers. 500. And those seven hours that I was swimming for 15 kilometers, I had 12,000 followers. 12,000 in seven hours. And these followers, these people, they were sending messages to my boyfriend at the boat and saying, please tell her to stop how to swim. I'm going to give her the money she needs, but tell her to stop swimming. Okay? So these 12,000 people, they paid my debts actually, finally, for the first time. How long do you think it took me to recover from the crisis in 2000? And what else did I have to do to put the food and the roof over the head of these children?

Sam.

Everyone from aasa, the South Pole. I just got here, skied from the last degree to the South Pole. Here we are, summit of Vincent 17 of January.

2018.

10 years later 10, 10 years later, 8 Guinness World Records later, I finally managed to overcome the recession. I transformed myself into an athlete. I broke two Guinness World Records in 2017 by doing Ironmans around the six continents in the shortest time possible. Then in 2018, I still didn't have made the money. So the journalists, they told me I had to do something different. So I was attempting to become the first Portuguese woman to climb the seven summits, the seven highest mountains around the seven continents. And on the process, I was doing my number six. And unfortunately, on the way down, I fell off. On the way down, coming down, I fell off the mountain and I got injured. And the doctors told me this was it. My career as an athlete was over. And now the only thing I had was this body. How if I couldn't be an athlete, I couldn't put food on a table, I couldn't put the roof over the head of the kids. So I told the doctor, don't tell me what I cannot do, tell me what I can do with this injury. So after a long time, we did a lot of physio, we went to do surgery. I did a knee surgery in 220. The doctor told me I would never be able to run again. I could swim, I could cycle, but I could not run ever again. However, I did the knee surgery. I stayed six weeks in a bed, unable to walk. My children, they were taking me out of bed every morning. They were giving me shower, I mean, helping me get ready. I learned how to walk Again. And then I signed up to do an Ironman again. And I wanted to break a Guinness World Record. And the doctor said, but you cannot run. I said, doctor, don't worry, I will walk so fast like I have a lion, a liopard, a crocodile, a shark running after me. So last year I managed to break another Guinness World record. My number nine, February 2022, 23, I managed to break another Guinness World Record. I'm currently training for my number 11 Guinness World Record. And I'm hoping I'm training as well to climb. To become the first Portuguese woman to climb across? No, to climb. K2. People often ask me what has been the hardest thing I ever done in my life? Or what was the hardest thing until now? Was it losing my job? Was it nearly. Was it the North Pole? Was it the South Pole? Was it the marathons? Was it the freaking cold English Channel? Was it the freaking cold South Pole? The Antarctica? The hardest thing I ever done in my life has been honoring a promise I made to 100 mothers and families in Bangladesh that I was going to take them out of poverty. I never expected that helping someone would be so difficult in life. And it's only now, 18 years later, that I started to see results of my work. The children, they are no longer children, they're young adults. The children that people, they used to say they were going to be baby making factories or they were going to work in garments or they're going to be housewives. They are now in Europe going to universities. Some of them, they are doing the finishing their universities. We have, remember the kids, they were at the North Pole to North Pole. They finished their master's degree. I have taken out of the slums of Dhaka 122 kids. I brought them to Dubai where I work, where I live. 34 of them became the first generation students. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome on stage and this is our butterflies. I think they would like to say a word.

Hello everyone. I'm Al amin and I'm 24 years old. And I met with this alien. It was in 2005 when I was just six years old. Kids and I used to live in a slum which was one of the biggest slums in Bangladesh. Suddenly when I was just playing in the garbage, I saw a mysterious lady. And I never saw something like that kind of lady in our area with brown hair, fairy skin and speaking with alien language that I never heard before. And then I ran to her because she was giving food and I was so hungry. And then after seeing her, I Was so curious. I was touching her hair, skin and trying to listen what she said. After that she met with my parents, my mom. And she made a promise to my mom that I want to give a better future to you kids. And I want to take you from here to a better place where he can get a quality education, a better future. So my mom and my dad was the first family who believed on this alien. And then we moved from to a slum to a better place. And then she admitted me in her school giving food and everything that we need that time. So I completed my grade 12 from Bangladesh. And then currently I am living in Dubai and working in a fashion company. And everything come to possible because of mom Maria. And thank you so much my alien for transforming me from a poor slam kids to a smart, ambitious and handsome man today.

Okay.

You may be wondering why he's labeling us telling I'm an alien. Back in 2005 when I met these lovely family children in the families, they thought they lived in a slum of Bangladesh. They thought there was no other countries in the world, no other languages, no other humans, no other nothing. They thought that small village where they live, it was the only place on earth. So when they first saw me, they thought, you know, first I was the first white person they ever saw in their life. So they thought I was an alien and they were really scared of me. And the only reason they joined my organization was not because of education, because education was non existent at the time. It was only because they were hungry and I was giving them food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Anyone?

Hello everyone, I'm Aklima. Currently I'm doing my bachelor in chemical engineering in Portugal. In 2006, my father got separated from us and I saw my single mom suffering with four kids. And then in 2007 we met her blessing for us and she gave us all the basic needs we need and education, the most important thing. And with her help I managed to complete my 12 grade. And also my siblings, my two sisters and one brother. And in 2020 I went to Dubai with her help. And then I got internship in Chanel, Luxurious fashion brand and working in Chanel, I managed to get my visa for Portugal and I went to Europe. I went to Portugal and I'm studying. Currently I'm working, I'm studying and helping my families. All I'm doing only because of her. I'm very grateful for having her in my life. And today I'm a young independent woman only because of her. Thank you, mom. Hello everyone. Today I am Chadni and my mother got married at the age of 11 and now I'm 17. I will be 17 on October. I'm not married, have no kids. And I'm studying her to have my dream come true. I want to be a dentist and. And I have elder sister. She was the first one to join her project and I was the second one. She's my younger sister. And my elder sister is doing her university in Europe, in Portugal, in her home country. And my mother, who didn't know how to read and write, she is working in Dubai in a good company. And me and my sister is studying in Dubai. Thank you so much, mom. We are so grateful for your help. Hello, I'm shoji moni. I'm 12 years old. When I was a kid, I was fully mute. I didn't talk to anyone. Now I am the most talkative girl in the class. Thank you, mom. Because of mom, love.

Sorry. So in 2005, I went to the slums of Dhaka and I made these children and their impoverished families. I was going to change their life. But it has been them that they completely changed my life. These last 18 years. I would have never been here. I was a bit like Serge, Monique. I'm an incredibly introvert today. I promised them to change their life, but them who completely changed my life. I would not be here, standing in this stage, without the help of my volunteers who taught me how to do things. I would like to call on stage Victoria and Catherine. So I met Catherine. I'll let her tell your story. Oh, hello. I'm actually Estonian, so I lived in Dubai, met Maria. I was looking for a job actually, and coming from this, the world of NGOs and fundraising, I thought that she really needed some help. And I went to Dhaka a few times. I met these kids when they were very small. So I haven't seen them for seven years. So it's actually very surreal for me to see them here in Estonia. But yeah, just if you think that human, humans or yourself, that you have limits, then just think of Maria.

Well, if you don't have goosebumps, if I've teared up during the presentation, you're not human. Sorry. I cry every time and I've heard quite a few times, but these kids are amazing. Well, Maria is 24 7. She hasn't had a break for 18 years. We all have holidays, we all take me time. She works 24 hours a day. She can be sending you a message at 2 o' clock in the morning. You know that she can be panicking on A Sunday because a visa got rejected. It's non stop. It's having 600 kids. We all have 1, 2, 3. She has 10 here, 12 now, but she has 17. Dubai 122 going around the world, 600 to take care of. Can you imagine that? It's crazy. So she has not had a break. She relies on people like you, like us, to have a break, to get funds. She can get funds today, but this is 1 million business dollars with no income, it's only expenses. So it really depends on you, people like you to get this going. And she's done all this crazy stuff. Everything she's done is just for them. There's no ego, there's nothing related to her. It's just for them. This is purpose with capital letters. So she depends on us to do everything. So I'm just asking you from PfP, because she would never, never ask. She's so humble. She would never say a word, saying, please help me. She will do these crazy things, but she would not ask. So I'm going to ask because I do have that ability that she wouldn't do it. Please help her in any way or manner with your skills, with your contact with whatever you have. Some of us, we're not rich, but we have our time, we have our skills, we have our ability to do whatever we can do, whether it's fixing a webpage, whether it's contacting her with somebody, any help is a big step for us. So please, you have. This is the webpage of Maria Conceicao where you have some part of it and if you pass that one that is just given, there is a crowdfunding platform. So if you want to add even €1, if each of you gave €1 only, we could just buy a ticket for someone to come to Dubai just with one euro. So if you multiply that, imagine what we can do. So anything you can think of, you can come to us and also offer your help. Whatever ideas, we're always welcome to any idea. So thank you so much for being here, for listening to this beautiful story and for having these kids here. And please talk to them, talk to us. We're always happy to hear from you.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for listening to our crazy story.

It.