Follow Ramesh's Journey

“How many people know what polio is?” When I asked that question today, not one student put up their hand.

The team had its first opportunity to speak with students in Newfoundland and Labrador this morning at Laval High School. Out wonderful hosts Dave and Pam waited up late last night to escort us from the Argentia ferry terminal to their nearby home. After a short sleep, we headed to Laval High School, where Pam is the principal and Dave teaches Phys-Ed. After the presentation, the team back-tracked to where we arrived on The Rock and I hand cycled from the ferry terminal to Whitbourne.

What a gorgeous day of autumn sunshine, crisp sea air, and beautiful views. I cycled over some little knolls (AKA big hills) feeling charged up and excited that we educated so many students and teachers earlier in the day.

At the end of the day, to our surprise, Chris and Regina Wright were there to welcome us. Chris is the former Principal at Golden Horn Elementary School up in Whitehorse Yukon – where students and staff continue to be huge supporters of Cycle to Walk and a polio-free world. Chris retired recently and moved to St. John’s. He and Regina knew about where we were going to be, and they sought us out about 80 km out of town.

Today the team celebrated the 7000 km mark of the Cycle to Walk campaign at Whitbourne Elementary School. We have decided to present our 7000 km stake – which would normally go on the highway – to the students at our presentation tomorrow morning.

Look back to the top of this blog entry. After our presentation at Laval High School this morning, I posed that question a second time. Everybody in the room raised their hand.

That is what this campaign is all about.