Follow Ramesh's Journey

It’s official: the road team can go strong all day on five hours of sleep. Today began at the crack of dawn. This morning, CBC Radio interviewed me for their morning show as I hand cycled towards the Halifax Citadel – a National Historic Site. I can’t think of a better way to start a day than to view the beautiful city of Halifax from such a great vantage point while spreading the message about how we can beat polio once and for all.

The Rotary Club of Halifax invited the team to their weekly breakfast meeting. To our surprise, they announced a donation to Rotary International’s PolioPlus program in our name. As well, they brought official greetings to Nova Scotia from Premier Rodney MacDonald. Premier MacDonald drafted a fabulous letter of support that was read aloud at the meeting. It really made us feel like we are making a difference.

Later this morning, we crossed Halifax Harbour to meet up with federal MP Geoff Regan. Mr. Regan and I went for a short cycle and discussed the state of polio in our world – and why it’s completely unnecessary for polio to still exist. Mr. Regan also provided a letter of support and offered to help out by sharing the message of polio eradication, education, and rehabilitation with as many people as he could. After a lovely visit with the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, The Honourable Mayann E. Francis, the team was surprised to meet with Premier MacDonald as we exited the building. Premier MacDonald took the time to say hello, speak for several minutes, and pose for a blog photo. I was able to thank him for the touching letter he wrote in support of Cycle to Walk that we’d received earlier in the day. Premier MacDonald once again affirmed his support and wished the team well!

After the quick encounter with the premier, we took the message of Cycle to Walk to the streets and I hand cycled through downtown Halifax. We ended the evening with a wonderful meal at Bob and Marjorie’s house and watched news coverage of some of the day’s events. Thank you Halifax – and to all people in Nova Scotia – for hearing the message and showing so much support for a polio free world!