Follow Ramesh's Journey

Today the team woke up with a great feeling. Not only does Vegreville have the world’s largest Ukrainian Easter Egg, or pysanka, but it also has amazing community spirit. Thanks again for all of your support, Vegreville.

Speaking of community spirit and support for Cycle to Walk, the team experienced more of the same when we rolled into Vermilion today. The Rotary Club of Vermilion presented Cycle to Walk with a donation along with a tour of the brand-new Vermilion Regional Centre. Coincidentally, we showed up in town on the club president’s birthday.  Happy birthday, Ken!

Dr. Allon Reddoch, who has been on the road with us for the past week, flew back up to Whitehorse today. With the amount of time Allon puts into this campaign, I often think his main job is with Cycle to Walk. I do suppose he should be getting back to Whitehorse, though: as Chief Medical Consultant for the Worker’s Compensation Board, he’d certainly be missed if he didn’t. Thanks, Allon, for your continued support. Have a safe trip, and we’ll see you again in Saskatchewan.

Lakeland College has donated two of its beautiful student housing units for us to use, and two friendly security guards, Tammy and Claudio, are close at hand to ensure we have everything we need. We definitely feel welcome here, and want to send out a big thank-you to the all people in town who are supporting Cycle to Walk and helping spread our message.

At dinner tonight, our server asked us what we were up to. We explained to her that I was a polio survivor from India, and that Cycle to Walk is about polio eradication, education, and rehabilitation. She immediately looked at me and said, “Polio? You don’t look 110.” We then explained to her that polio is still affecting people around the world. Many Canadians share her sentiments and think polio is a worry of the past.

I shared that story with you because it exemplifies exactly why I’m hand-cycling across Canada. We need to raise awareness and funds to end a disease that many think has already been beaten. 3.4 million Canadians have not been vaccinated against polio, and they need to know the facts. Australia, a country similar to our own, identified its first case of polio in years just last July. Polio is incredibly contagious, and immunizations must be maintained.  With the right amount of commitment right now, we can finally eradicate polio forever. It’s a realistic goal, but we need your help to reach it. Please donate to the cause.