Jun 21 '06 - 623 W, 1 I - Vote Good + 9 :: Bad - 17 WLU students bike across Canada to raise funds for bicycle ambulances
Published June 21, 2006 by The Waterloo Chronicle
By Adrian Ma :: Waterloo
For people in Canada, bicycles are used mostly for recreation.
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For people in the developing world, however, having a bicycle can often mean the difference between life and death.
In places like Malawi, Africa, where paved roads for cars are scarce and hospitals can be several hours away, bicycle ambulances (a bicycle attached with a rolling stretcher) become an indispensable method of transportation for people in need of medical attention.
They are simple but effective devices that save lives, and that is the main reason Wilfrid Laurier University students Jason Shim and Kylie Hicklenton are determined to bike across Canada this summer to raise money and purchase more.
"Biking across Canada is something I've always wanted to do and this seems like the opportune time to not only do it, but to do it for a good cause," said Hicklenton, a fourth-year student planning to return in the fall.
Their trip is no less than 6,500 km, which is the equivalent of cycling from Waterloo to downtown Toronto about 60 times.
The pair will begin in Vancouver on June 27 and spend the next three months on the road, mostly following the Trans Canada highway, and will conclude the journey in early September in St. John's, Nfld.
It is their hope to complete the trek on Sept. 9, which also happens to be Shim's birthday.
It will be a physically taxing and mentally demanding time for the two students, especially since neither Shim nor Hicklenton are particularly athletic or even bicycle enthusiasts.
"At first my family was in a little disbelief," laughed Shim, a religion and culture major at Laurier. "In the end they were supportive - they said 'just be careful and don't get mauled by a bear.'"
Their goal is to raise $50,000 for the Canada Africa Partnership (CAP AIDS), an organization that helps to spread both medical supplies, like bicycle ambulances, and health education to AIDS-ravaged countries in Africa.
Hicklenton has volunteered in several developing countries, including Nicaragua and Guyana.
She has seen firsthand the necessity of providing assistance to these places.
"Just seeing how difficult it is to get medical equip
ment and people to hospitals is hard to accept," she said.
Each bicycle ambulance costs between $350 and $500 to assemble.
So far, Shim and Hicklenton have raised approximately $2,000 for their cause.
They hope that once they get on the road, people will hear their story and contribute.
Shim has launched a website (www.bikeacrosscanada.ca) so people can donate money online.
According to Shim, reaching their lofty goal of $50,000 will be one of the greatest challenges of his life.
"The actual biking itself should be OK, but reaching the target donation will be the hardest part," he said. "But if we can do this, then I think anything is possible."
Hicklenton confesses that she is feeling the pressure of embarking on such a Herculean task.
While she has been practising diligently on her bicycle for the past two months, Hicklenton has no idea how her body and her spirits will hold up during the lengthy voyage.
But she reveals there is no shortage of motivation for her to bike every last kilometre.
"It's not that we're just doing this for fun, we're doing this for an organization and a cause that expects us to finish," she said. "You can't give up."
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