A message to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva

Our Hands On Argentina initiative took us Monday morning to the premises of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, where a written appeal containing two messages was handed to WTO’s Deputy Director General Valentine Sendanyoye-Rugwabiza.

The messages were first, that we, potential future business leaders, can create direct positive social impact, in this case by raising funds for an anti-poverty project in Argentina. The funds raised will support LEER, an Argentinean NGO, in building two early childhood learning centers benefiting more than 800 children and 250 families.

Second, that global leaders must revive global trade talks in favor of development, or face growing poverty, increasing instability, and diminishing business opportunities across the world.

The IMD MBA class grouping in front of the WTO building in Geneva on Monday morning.

Ivar Slengesol (Norwegian) delivers our message to WTO's Deputy Director General Valentine Sendanyoye-Rugwabiza...

.. and she more than happily acknowledges the relevance of the initiative:
"We can't fail the poor! Your initiative could not have come in better time! It shows the type of commitment we need to see in future global business leaders"


We then posed for a group picture in front of the WTO building...

... and went for a quick tour inside: No, thanks... we will not take the "Observers" seat!!! We want to do more than that ;-)

Rafael

More Kayaking pictures

Thanks to Cris for providing those pics and comments!

The ultimate filming director. Nico Bruno was on the boat with the swimmers and kayakers. He got soaking wet, but that's all right as long as his camera stayed dry.

Straight from the fjords of Norway, rowing captain Kristine said she will consider the IMD team for the next olympic games.

The end .. the full kayaking team plus support drivers and logistics under the pouring rain in Geneva. Quoting one of our classmates ... the rain and cold made it a real challange ... indeed separating the boys from the men and the girls from the women!

You've heard it a thousand times this year, but this is certainly a well deserved "punch it in" from Mike and Craig.

Bernard showing the latest in fashion...maybe still to bold for the rest.

Kayaking pictures.

Perhaps the most technical part of the challenge, Kayaking was made even more difficult by pouring rain.

Luckily, a relatively safe mode of water transport was on hand to support the Kayakers.

Stefan Edelman had the first flip of the day, but it was not to be the last one.

No, no! Geneva is in the other direction!

Maja's update from the field - KAYAKERS ARRIVED!

Last update of the day: Kayakers arrived in GENEVA!

Kayakers arrived to Geneva half an hour ago. They are safely out of the water, and probably a bit cold. It rained on them non-stop! They are tired but happy, packing their gear and kayaks to drive back to Lausanne.

The sports part of the relay is over. Successfully, with no glitches! Great job everyone!

Thank you for all the supporters for their help and encouragement throughout the weekend.

The MBA class will be delivering a message to WTO tomorrow morning.

-maja

Swimming pictures.

Everyone was wet today, no matter what sport they were doing. The swimmers, however, were the wettest of the lot.

The swimmers were all appropriately dressed...

...except for Fabiano, as usual. He claimed that the water was "not cold enough" and that the whole challenge was simply "too easy." His classmates just bareley managed to stop him from swimming with the Kayaks to Geneva.

Whilst swimming, Andrés was attacked by a hungry and vicious...eeeeh...wetsuit.

More sunday pictures.

MBA athletes and supporters gathered in the MBA building lobby at 8:30 Sunday morning.

The rollerblading team arrived at IMD on schedule at 8:40 Sunday morning.
Runners at Alaman, 20 k from IMD. 20 k runners Bernhard, Craig, Mike and Ivar ended their leg here, while 30 k runner Sven, Stein and Steve still had some distance to cover.
It rained so hard that some of the rollerbladers resulted to using umbrellas en route.

Maja's update from the field

The runners transfer to the swimmers; the swimmers hand-off to kayakers

10k, 20k and 30k runners all finished their runs and all are feeling well! Thirteen runners finished up a great 10k run in Morges, where we were welcomed by professor Jan Kubes, partners, kids and classmates. After a quick drink of water and a few cheers, 20k runners were joined by the 30k runners and continued on to Allaman. Three 30k runners continued on for another 20km to reach Nyon Port. It rained for most of the 4 hour run, but everyone finished safely and many people pushed the distance past what they originally signed up for. Congratulations to all!

Runners waved swimmers good-bye as the first ones jumped in the chilly water. They were brave and fast!

An hour and a half later, the swimmers completed the swim and the first kayaks are already in the water. Now they will kayak all the way to Geneva. The rain has died down a bit – let’s hope it stays that way! Go kayakers!

5k runners are safely back

As the rain poured down in Lausanne, our 5k runners were glad to get back in the car. However, some of them will be back for other sports later in the day, so they are bound to get wet again (especially the swimmers).

20 KM runners are done

Our marathonians are doing a fantastic job! the group now further split and Sven, Stein and Stephen will further increase the speed to reach Nyon by 13h45.

The swimming team is about to leave IMD for a 4km distance from Nyon to Celigny.

The Kayakers are also preparing to enter in action and take the relay for 22km glide on the water to Geneva.

We are getting close and we are motivated to complete our HOA challenge no matter what!

Weather : it stopped raining...we cross our fingers so that it remains dry the rest of the day.

That's it for my part as I join the kayakers. It's been a pleasure and remember that YOUR help is needed to achieve our CHF 50K fund raising for HOA!

SK , handing over the line.

Rollerblading in pouring rain

The rollerblading team braved the pouring rain and the slippery paths this early morning. We watched tensely from the van hoping that there would be no broken legs or broken any other parts of the body. Here are the pictures:



Arturo watching in concern as he drops the rollerbladers off at the starting point in pouring rain.















The rollerbladers finding their balance before starting off. (Ramine, Craig, Mike and Bernard)



Craig sliding along...

Craig, Bernard and Ramine



Bernard, Ramine and Mike...



Bernard, Craig, Ramine and Mike waiting to cross over to IMD.

And even more cycling pictures...

Yet more cycling pics...

5km already done!

Andres, Tony, Christos, Erika, Paul, Mohamed and Nicolas Ba ran the 5kms at a great pace. Some of them will swim later on so imagine their energy level.

They are on the way back to IMD. The rest of the group is still heading to Nyon and it s pouring down!

Good to see everybody..

The Roller team (Bernard / Craig / Mike / Ramine) made it to IMD from Pully under heavy rain. It is good to see that the class is mobilized and with high spirit for HOA.
Family and IMD community showed up to express support (tx Janet).

The runners left at 9h15 for a 40km (almost a marathon) track until Nyon.

We have plenty of pictures and we will share with you as many as the blog can support.

Weather : showery

More pics from the cycling!

Pictures from the cycling

What our two cycling teams have done over the last 24 hours is no less than heroic. And now you can have a look at our exclusive pics !

THEY DID IT!!!

"The whole cycling trip ended up JUST FINE!! we had a lot of rain and streets became dangerously slipery, but being able to exchange the cyclists every hour brought new power and concentration on the road everytime a 'fresh' cycling crew took over!
I am really excited that we made it: no accident, in time, and true cycling pleasure!!
We arrived at about 4am in Lausanne, after having taken over from the first team only at 6.30pm and were traveling along some of the most beautiful roads in Switzerland: along lake Thune, up the Gruyere valley and finally on the route des vins towards lausanne"

Jodok described in those terms the night trip of our fellow cyclist. I am very proud of their achievement and impressed that they were able to make ahead of the scheduled time!

Now we will all meet at IMD at 8h30 to cheer the "day & night riders", have a great breakfast and give the start to the running team at 9h00 : 15 classmates will cover 40km from Lausanne to Nyon! another impressive challenge to make HOA a reality!

Weather : heavy rain in Lausanne

SK live from Lausanne for HOA