Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1: The Motivation
Withanyundertaking,peoplearealwaysboundtoask,“Whatmotivatedyou?” “Be-
cause it was there” was Sir Edmund Hillary's reply on why he climbed Mount Everest. As
for me, there were numerous events in my life that culminated into the decision to cycle
Africa for Save the Children Fund.
First, a monumental event in my childhood was the birth of my sister Marthese.
WhenIwasthirteen,mysistercameintothisworld.Tobeatmyimpressionableageandsee
her grow up and make sense of the world, to watch her walk for the first time, read, ride a
bicycleandsoon,notonlyfascinatedmebutcreatedaparadigmonhowIviewedchildhood
as it ought to be.
Second,anongoingeventduringmychildhoodandteenageyearswaswhenIhelped
my father in his volunteer work. For thirty years, my father produced a live, televised
telethontoraisefundsforchildrenwithspecialneedsinMalta.Ivisitedthebeneficiary,The
House of Providence, several times and saw the fruition of people's donations, such as the
modern facilities and equipment used to help the children during therapy.
These culminating events continued into adulthood.
Third, after graduating from the music program at Humber College in Toronto, I de-
cided to “find myself” by spending the summer of 1989 cycling through Europe. It was out-
side of Lyon, France that I witnessed something quite disturbing that jolted the lens through
which I saw the world. That is, I had a paradigm shift.
In short, I came across a mother and her seven-year-old daughter, shoeless and
dressedintatteredclothesrummagingthroughaheapofgarbageforfood.Icouldn'tgetthat
image out ofmy mind. Ipondered about this forweeks as Icontinued to travel. There Iwas,
in a 'Western' nation with such dire poverty in its backyard. I reflected on the opportunities
my four siblings and I had been given- our parents' love, the warm clothes, the roof over
our heads, and food in our stomachs. It wasn't a feeling of guilt but more of a philosophical
question of why was there this disparity.
ItwasthereinEuropethatIpromisedmyselfthatwhenIreturnedtoCanada,Iwould
look beyond myself and toward Toronto's larger social issues.
Fourth, when I returned at the end of the summer, I began to volunteer after work in
a 'restaurant' on Queen Street in Toronto's Parkdale area. St. Francis Table offered cooked
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