Poupeh was born in Tehran the Capital City of Iran. She has spent her time as a volunteer social worker at the non-profit Mercy For All, which supports orphans family since she was 17 years old. She has a Master’s in Psychology. Most importantly Poupeh is the First Iranian to travel on her bike across the globe to spread peace and unity to others. She built a school in the poorest area, Sistan and Balouchestan Province in Iran and offers psychology workshops that focuses on the role of parents in parenting. “I believe that if we have children with high self-confidence and human dignity and cultivate human values in them, it will be a great help for the next generation and healthier societies.”- Poupeh Mahdavinder
FWM: A few years ago, you set out on a round-the-world bicycle ride to share a message of peace and unity. Tell us about your journey.
I had 2 dreams since I was 9 years old. The first was to be a world traveler, and the second I like to have an apartment where one of the sides is for me and the other for orphans with an orphanage. When I was 17, I met the charity, “Mercy For All” and started working with them, and I almost achieved one of my dreams. In those years, I started mountaineering very seriously, sometimes even staying alone on a mountain for two or three days. Whenever I was in the mountains or nature, I wanted to see the world again, but I always gave up because I thought it was more important to be with orphans. Until one day I told my spiritual master, who is also the founder of our charity, that I am impatient to travel and see the world. He (Dr. Shahriar Rouhani) said that you should decide by yourself, but think that maybe this trip is one of the things you will regret later and say why I didn’t do it until I was young and had the opportunity. That day I decided to travel around the world as soon as possible.
I chose the motto, ”In the name of love, friendship and global peace.”
My goals were:
1-To gather money for orphans.
2-Practical conversation with young people and getting acquainted with the culture of different ethnic groups and nations of the world.
3- To see the manifestation of God in the world.
The important thing was to have a sponsor and I tried for 8-months but no one believed me except a few. Everyone said you go to America and become a refugee, can anyone go there and not be a refugee? Or who are you that you want to talk about peace? I decided to start my journey on the first day of the Iranian New Year (the first day of Spring) and I had only $ 350 that I had borrowed. I believed that this trip was one of my duties in my and I had to take a step so that God would open the doors for me. At the time, everyone was talking about starting a war between the United States of America and Iraq, and without my choice, the peace trip coincided with the first bomb dropped by the United States on Iraq, and the war officially began. I started my journey, The first 6 months were very difficult and I didn’t have enough money, I took pictures of myself and my bicycle and sold them, and sometimes people sent me money, my spiritual teacher (Dr.Shahriar Rouhani), my cousin from America (Dr. Tinoosh Hosseinzadeh), and Mr. Parviz Shokat.
I had gone to universities and churches on Sundays to talk about my journey and the goals. At night, I camped at the campsite and sometimes went to a youth hostel. But after 6-months when I arrived in the United States changed everything, the Iranians said. “You raised the name of Iran and made us proud,” and they celebrated me city by city and state by state, and at the end of the party, I received two envelopes as gifts, one for my travel expenses and one for the orphans.
I had many interviews across the United States on television, radio, and in newspapers.
When I went to the youth hostel in Europe, UNESCO found out about my trip and said that it is very interesting that a young girl travels around the world by bicycle, but more importantly, she is Iranian from a Muslim Country. I was invited to the first Youth Peace Festival the next year in South Korea (2004). I was the guest of honor at the festival that was organized by UNESCO & IYHF (International Youth Hostel Federation) of 75 countries. On the last day, they chose me as the “face of peace” of the festival and I had a speech for the youth.
I was 16-months and 4 days on the road. I went to Italy, France, England, The United States of America, Hawaii, Saudi Arabia, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, and South Korea. During that trip, a journey around the world with a bike and backpack. 8000 km biking and 4 countries backpacker. When I arrived at Katmandu-Nepal, I climbed Mount Kalapatar (5545 m) in the Himalayas, above the Everest base camp.
My journey has a long story, l met Monsignor Renato Martino, Chairman of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace. She asked me to start my journey from the Vatican, and I accepted because I was a Muslim and an Iranian, and the motto of my trip was peace, and it was best way to show that I believe my motto in my heart. In the documentary’s movie of My Journey, he says that the hardest work in the world starts with the first step, and “Our Poupeh has taken that step.”
“I chose to ride a bike because it is very easy talking to people and in my opinion, people to people diplomacy is the way to peace.”
FWM: Share a few stories of people who impacted you.
I arrived in Baltimore and I was hungry, I found a McDonald’s and had lunch. When I went to ride my bike, I met 3 ladies and a gentleman, they were very excited and hugged me. I asked “What happened? “
They said, “Yesterday we read in our local newspaper about an Iranian girl who travels around the world by bike for peace will arrive in Baltimore tomorrow.” They knew the girl was me.
One night I stayed at a hotel in Voghera, a small city in Italy that is close to France border. The next day, after breakfast, I put my bike on the sidewalk and started packing my things on the bike. I saw an old couple who looked like angels standing next to me and looking at me.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know how to speak English, and I didn’t know Italian, but when I was in Milan, a friend of mine translated my travel motto and goals into Italian and printed them on paper. I showed them the paper, and after they read it, their eyes filled with tears and they hugged me, and then the lady gave me 20 euros and put her hand on the help to orphans. I will never forget them.
FWM: What is the significance of riding a bike?
I chose to ride a bike because it is very easy talking to people and in my opinion, people to people diplomacy is the way to peace. When I stayed at their home, ate or talked with them, I understand very deep in my heart that people everywhere in the world are the same. Everyone understands love, pain, suffering, happiness, and weeping, and that all people love peace and reconciliation.
FWM: You are preparing for your next trip around the world, (after the quarantine). What do you want to achieve during this ride?
I want to create a path of peace in the world, passing through the cities that symbolize the peace of each country, but I will start the journey on foot and give my steps to build handicraft workshops and schools for women and kids at poor and needy areas of Iran and the world.
Wherever people are, they can donate money for these purposes for every step I walk. Every time I choose to ride a bike on my next journey, I will donate every meter to the people.
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