Riding miles that matter

phyllistsang — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:37:54 +0000

Hamilton riders touching lives of refugees

The Ride for Refugees is about Francis.

The Teso rebels killed Francis’ parents in the 1990s. When Francis was 14, the Lord’s Resistance Army, a sectarian guerrilla army based in northern Uganda, abducted him. He was then trained to kill and became a commander. Soon enough, Francis became one of his abductors—he captured other children and beat them, pillaged villages, and killed at least 35 people. In 2005, he was shot in the back, leg, and neck. His injuries provided a window of opportunity to escape. And he did. However, dreams and a desire to go back to kill continued to haunt him until he attended a Freedom Camp, which provides spiritual counseling for those in Children Associated with Armed Forces (CAAF) program, supported by the funds raised in the Ride For Refugees (R4R).

The inaugural Ride for Refugees happened six years ago in Waterloo with only one rider—Neil Ostrander—the Director of Development of International Teams, an organization dedicated to meeting physical and spiritual needs of the poor and oppressed. In 2008, the event attracted 1,638 riders and raised $604,080.

215 riders joined Ride for Refugees Hamilton on Oct. 3, along with 16 other cities in Canada and United States which hosted the ride on the same day. As of today, R4R has gathered 3200+ riders and 1000+ volunteers, and has raised $670,000 so far, with two more locations to go.

First time organizer, David Witt kept himself busy overseeing the event while riders were on the road.

“Some youths who rode were facing a lot of challenges themselves. They rode here [the meeting location], did the ride, and rode back home. It was quite inspiring,” Witt shared.

One of those to whom Witt was referring was a high school student who raised $275 for refugees, but had to spend his nights under a bridge.

Ride for refugees

Riding miles that matter