Lombard Odier has selected three students to go and see the world as the winners of its Amazing Voyages Award. This prize, targeting young people coming to the end of their high school studies in Geneva, is designed to encourage their spirit of adventure, while promoting respect for others and willingness to share. Lombard Odier seeks to promote enterprise among the young by supporting the initiative.

The award ceremony was held on Wednesday, 20 May, and attended by Thierry Lombard, Managing Partner of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, Charles Beer, State Councillor in charge of the Department of Public Education of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, and Claude Marthaler. A well-known adventurer from Geneva, Claude Marthaler has traveled over 122,000 km by bicycle across four continents and he gave a talk on what traveling means to him.

The three winners were then invited to present their respective "amazing voyages", which are summarized below.

1st prize: "South of the Yangtze – Following the Ancient Chinese Tea Route"

Pauline Bari, a student at Collège de Staël, is passionate about China, having recently spent some time there. She wants to return to China and travel the Ancient Tea Route. Pauline will spend three months crossing ten provinces in the east of the country, learning the secrets of tea production and discovering its many different flavors. She also wishes to learn more about the spiritual side of tea drinking, which is seen as a social ritual in China. Pauline will round off her trip by working with a humanitarian organization in Szechuan province, which was ravaged by a massive earthquake on May 12, 2008.

2nd prize: "The language of percussion in Burkina Faso"

Mathilde Bon, also from Collège de Staël, has a highly original idea: to learn percussion in Burkina Faso. She will start at Barafolly school in Bobo-Dioulasso, which was founded by the leader of Les frères Koulibaly, before going to Ouhigouya to spend time with a family of professional musicians, known as griots. Mathilde is a lover of music, a universal language that holds the key to understanding other cultures and customs. It also allows people to discover more about themselves or, in Mathilde’s case, to boost their self confidence.

3rd prize: Ecotourism in Australia and New Zealand

Ramona Gharbi, a student at Collège Rousseau, will spend six months doing voluntary work on the east coast of Australia and in New Zealand. In eco-villages and organic farms she will participate in projects designed to conserve the natural heritage of these regions. But her concerns are not exclusively environmental, as she is just as interested in aboriginal culture. She wants to spend time with them in order to understand their daily life and learn about their history.

This competition, organized in cooperation with the Department of Public Education of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, awards three travel projects of young students. The prize was created to mark the bicentenary of Lombard Odier and inspired by the works of Jules Verne – or more specifically his novel From the Earth to the Moon, which mentions the Firm. "It is a great experience and it will stand them in good stead for the future," commented Thierry Lombard on the amazing voyages awaiting the young prize-winners.