On Aug. 19, the Cycling 4 Water (C4W) team arrived in Strathmore and Calgary, as part of their Sea 2 Sea 2 Sea 65 day journey this summer.
The 10,000-kilometer ride across Canada is an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for 65 wells in Africa, in partnership with Global Aid Network (GAiN).
“I was riding uphill, the wind was in my face, and it started to rain. The thought was, ‘Wow, this is difficult.’ But I had a second thought, and that thought was, ‘It would be a lot more difficult to watch my children die because they do not have clean water,” said 2014 cyclist,Mike Woodard.
The team left for Dawson City on July 19, touched the Pacific Ocean at Prince Rupert, then will finish the journey at the Atlantic in the Halifax area 65 days later.
Their goal is to raise awareness and funds for 65 wells to help in the work of, the humanitarian relief and development organization, GAiN.
The GAiN Water for Life Initiative has provided 2,399 water wells, giving 2,399,000 villagers access to safe water.
It’s estimated that 785 million people do not have access to clean water, and as a result close to 1,000 children die every day from water-related diseases.
By providing accessibility to disease-free water points, there is an increase in attendance in schools, decreases in malnutrition and sickness, improvement in maternal and newborn health, more time for parents to look after their families and communities, and improvement in the local economy.
“This is hard, cycling across the country is hard,”Woodard said.
Adding, “And then the second thought comes rushing in, ‘This is hard, but it would be a lot harder to watch your children die because they do not have clean water. I revisit that thought many times. This ride is a way of helping others who cannot help themselves.”
The Cycling 4 Water team is looking for help from individuals.
Support can be expressed in the form of donations, riding alongside the team, hosting the riders as they come through communities across Canada, and sharing their cause.
