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Written by Ravi Jaipaul
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
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ONE WEEK AFTER
For 8 days, 25 college students walked over 300 kilometers to raise awareness of the atrocities in Darfur. The daily blogs were a way to read and experience the emotions of the team during the journey. It has been exactly a week since the last of those 400,000 steps has been walked. Although the official walk has ended, the fire burning inside those who participated is still kindled. There has been a collective positive change in the group, full of maturity and a sense of renewed dedication for the people of Darfur since we have walked that highway. The following are quotes from members of the team since the walk ended.
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Written by Ravi Jaipaul
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
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DAY EIGHT: THE FINAL STEPS
With only 15 kilometers left today to complete the 298 kilometer journey from Calgary to Edmonton, the Walk for Darfur crew met in a parking lot on the south side of the city awaiting the beginning of the Welcoming Walk. Throughout the year, we have been promoting this as a day for the community to come out and walk with us the last of the 400,000 steps.
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Written by Rishi Jaipaul
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
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DAY SEVEN: TWENTY-FIVE STRANGERS
With our feet, legs, and bodies sore, we keep walking with
strong, unbreakable hearts. We bore the pain of walking approximately 40
kilometers every day for six days, which as a student at a high school told me
was “impossible”. And soon this impossible chapter of all our lives will come
to an end.
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Written by Amy Trefry
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Saturday, 03 May 2008 |
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It feels like we are so far away from home, as if we are on a journey in another country, not a journey in our own back yard. By this time, Day 6, we are only a short drive to the comfort of our own beds, our families and our homes. The reality for this team of people is that we are many hours and blisters, tears and feelings of painful exhaustion away from home. And for the people that we walk for, the people of Darfur, there are no homes at the end and there is no respite from the devastation and heart ache around them and in their lives.
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Written by Curtis Smith
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
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DAY FIVE: MOMENTUM
Walk for Darfur, reduced to its very core, is about raising awareness regarding a truly abhorrent human rights situation in Sudan. The walk itself is a gripping physical struggle, but the movement's true power rests in an idea that a message of peace, hope and equality can reverberate amongst fellow human beings and that they can be inspired to make a difference. On Day Five, our travels throughout central Alberta have witnessed a swelling wave of momentum that gives hope to the potential of this movement.
Our day began with the understanding that we were now in the final half of our 8-day journey and that we had now traveled more kilometers than we had left to complete. What a realization! Coming over this mid-trip hump also left us with a renewed sense of purpose that we were here on this exhaustive walk to engage the communities, and most specifically the youth who are so passionate about understanding the world around them.
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Written by Ravi Jaipaul
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
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DAY FOUR: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
The jack-knifed semi-truck and trailer lay sprawled across the two lanes of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. It's cargo, sod, had been thrown all across the road, leaving a trail of debris and chaos. An hour's walk up the highway was the Walk for Darfur crew, making it's way on Day Four from Innisfail to Red Deer.
As the overturned semi-trailer lay there in a violent, twisted heap, surrounded by a horde of both police and ambulance vehicles, the walkers continued on.
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Written by Laura McCrea
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 |
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DAY THREE: SHEER EXHAUSTION
Didsbury to Innisfail. 41 km. What can I say? The day
after day 2. Both from a walker and a medic’s perspective, it was a day of trial
first for our bodies and lastly our minds. I found myself drifting in a
world of music blasting from my mp3 in order to help myself take each step. Songs filled with lyrics
that further reminded me why I was putting my body to such a test and why I found
it necessary to walk until exhaustion forced me to rest.
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Written by Mike Glazier
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
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DAY TWO: THE REALIZATION SETS IN
One cannot predict the enormity of walking 8 back-to-back marathons. When we set out, we knew the distance we were walking, but really we could not fathom what was to follow day one.
We all awoke to the smell of waffles and fruit and other amazing goodies that 4 very nice ladies had prepared for us. A big “thank you” to Pastor Faith and her friends for helping us along this journey! Everyone, well mostly everyone, was in high spirits and ready to hit the pavement.
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Written by Ravi Jaipaul
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Monday, 28 April 2008 |
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DAY ONE: THE FIRST STEPS OF 400,000
The Walk for Darfur team, sleeping soundly in their accomodations for the night, were all jostled out of their bed violently when the alarm of the building went of at 12:01am. All 25 of the bleary eyed team members eyed the clock, silenced the alarm, and went to bed knowing that today was the day they had been waiting for. The alarm just served to reinforce that fact. Eight months of planning have finally led to eight days of action.
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Written by Walk for Darfur
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Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
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JOIN THE WELCOMING WALK & RALLY
On Sunday, May 4th, 2008 we want YOU to join the movement of Walk for Darfur by participating in the one-day 15 km Welcoming Walk from the outskirts of Edmonton at IKEA to Grant MacEwan College, City Centre Campus (106 Street, 104 Avenue)! Meet WFD on the final leg of the 8-day journey at 1pm, starting at the IKEA parking lot off Highway II. Invite your friends, family, neighbours, and classmates to walk for the people of Darfur. The Rally will follow at 4:30 pm with live music and guest speakers.
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