Ride for charity

I've donated money to charity before, and I guess that is easily done with the click of a mouse button. But I've never actually embarked on a charity bike ride where I give more than just money, but my physical strength and body for a great cause.

A few days ago I saw flyers around the faculty building calling for volunteers to bike to raise money. I love cycling, and during the weeks of Summer I made a vow to myself to go somewhere far and long at least once a week. If I can do that, why not do it while raising money for charity? So I signed up, an immediately received an enthusiastic response from the organisers, as I appear to be the only graduate student interested and involved (I got another friend to join, so now there are two!)

The ride will honour Dugald Christie, who during his lifetime strove to raise awareness about the importance of having access to justice. Justice, in the broad sense of the term, is a right to be heard, a right to redress, a right to have a wrong righted, a right to have a human right confirmed and cemented. The issue of access to justice people often to associate with developing countries with weak legal systems, in situations where the disenfranchised and disempowered have their rights trampled on by the wealthy and powerful. But even in Canada, a relatively affluent country, there are many who live just above the poverty line and who do not qualify for legal aid. There are many more still who have not the knowledge or understanding or skills to be adequately represented in court.

Tomorrow we will set off from Montreal, and ride some 80km toward Shawbridge in the Laurentian Mountains, where there is a cabin we can stay at for the night. Each participant has to raise some C$50, which is actually not a lot... but combined the money adds up. This year, the second time the event is being organised to raise awareness about legal aid, the money will go to a organisation working with refugees and new immigrants.

The cause has something dear to my heart, for I too am an immigrant (to be) in this country. But I have the means and wherewithal to come to this country on 'pleasant' terms and establish myself in relative comfort. That may not be the case for many immigrants or refugees who have had to struggle to leave their homelands to come to a foreign land in search of a better, happier and more secure life. These, and many others, are people who forgotten, who most need the financial and legal help in fighting a system that may at times be so caught up in the hardness of legal provisions and cold lawyering that the softer, more human(e) needs and considerations are sidelined or dismissed altogether.

It'll be a long ride, but I don't think it'll be all that foreign. Mind over body, mind over body I keep telling myself. And after soliciting donations from friends and colleagues, I have managed to raise around one dollar and enthusiastic support and encouragement for each kilometre I cycle (one way).

Now to actually complete the ride!