Kwizera Ride 2009

I would like everyone to consider something seriously for a moment. Try to imagine having more than 50 children under your care, looking to you for food, clothing, love and support. Sounds pretty overwhelming, doesn’t it? Now imagine that same situation but with no consistent or dependable source of funding. This is a daily reality for Annonciata Bamuranga. She and her late husband, Ngondo, established an orphanage in Rwanda in 1995 after the 1994 genocide. Originally they received support through Ngondo’s connections with local churches, but after his death in 2005, the funding dried up. The effort and resources needed to maintain the orphanage has been so substantial for Annonciata that she has actually mortgaged her own home to continue the care these children need.

Many of you are aware that my closest and long-time friend, as well as his family are very involved in Rwanda, specifically, in the medical and educational communities. This friend of mine is currently living in Kigali, Rwanda (the capital city) for a year. He is working for the Ministry of Family and Gender for the Government of Rwanda. His father (a Professor at the University of Western Ontario) has been involved in the medical and educational communities in Rwanda for several years. He is the director of “Rebuilding Health in Rwanda” and travels to Rwanda often. In an effort to go on a bit of an adventure, as well as improve the world a little, my friend and his father have decided to go on a 4,000 kilometer motorcycle trek through Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in August. They are taking pledges for their ride and every penny that is donated will be given to Annonciata to maintain the orphanage in Rwanda.

I know that it is easy to look past the hardship of those so far away, but it is people like Annonciata, Luke (my friend) and David (his father) that make the world a better place by choosing to take action. If everyone we know gave a small fraction of what these people give, the world would look very different than it does. As a man I very much respect once said, "We have an obligation as a global community to ensure everyone has access to excellent health care. It’s not something we should say you have or don’t have by accident of birth."

If you would like to donate (any amount is welcome), please see below for some information on how to do so. Please note as well that there is no deadline for donations. Any funds that are sent following the instructions below, regardless of the timing of Kwizera Ride 2009, will be given to the orphanage.

Also, if you don’t know much about Rwanda, I encourage you to read about the country, the people, the history and their vision for the future. It is an incredible place whose people have demonstrated an incredible resiliency through the deepest depths of grief and adversity.

Finally, if you're interested in the area that Luke and David will be covering during their adventure, have a look at this link. It may not be the exact route they will take, but it's pretty incredible!!

Thanks very much for reading, and feel free to leave comments to encourage Luke and David as they prepare for their adventure!

Ryan

Donations can be directed to:

Gateway Church *

890 Sarnia Road

London, Ontario, Canada

N6H 5K1

* Please make cheques payable to “Gateway Church” and indicate “Africa Orphanage” in the designation. Tax receipts are available.

Back to Reality

If you're wondering how the vacation was, I will say this... if I could, I would leave right now and do it all over again exactly the same. There were many occasions during the trip that I asked myself "who's life is this?". I saw and experienced things that I normally only see on the National Geographic Channel. I will attempt to share a small glimpse of the trip in this post, but I know I won't do it justice. For those of you who are curious (I know there are a few) I ended up with a grand total of about 5,000 photos (good call Gordo!).

Weather

We literally could not have asked for better. Remember now that we spent 4 days in Vancouver and 7 days in Alaska. We did not experience temperatures below 10°C (which was in the middle of the night in Alaska) and the majority of the time during the days it was between 24°C and 28°C. We also did not see a single drop of rain for the entire time. Yes, we were as surprised as you probably are!! The closest we came to "bad weather" was some extremely high winds on the way into the Tracy Arm Fjord. Doesn't really qualify as bad weather in my books though. More just a result of where we were.

The Cruise Experience

I think it's safe to say that we will be cruising again. It is such a fantastic way to spend a vacation! You can do as much or as little as you like (there is ALWAYS something to do). An endless supply of great food is both a blessing and a curse so you need to control yourself. The convenience of travelling while you're having fun or sleeping is pretty great too. We boarded the ship after our day in Skagway, had dinner, went to a show, went to bed and when we woke up the next morning we were suddenly in Juneau! The crew on the ship treated us like royalty in every aspect. Everyone, from the cruise director to the maintenance and cleaning staff, were happy to do anything they could to make it a great trip. The ship was immaculate!! Everything was also very well organized. I was a little worried at first because I was wondering how they manage to deal with 2,300 people getting on and off the ship in port, or just keeping them fed and entertained. My concerns ended up being unwarranted because everything was very smooth and well managed. The only line we waited in was Canada Customs when we were leaving the ship at the end of the trip!

So, what's the big deal with Alaska?

I have a similar problem with Alaska that I had with the Grand Canyon last year. Pictures just don't do it justice! As many of you know, I'm not much of a city-boy. Alaska is right up my alley! Everywhere I looked there were breathtaking vistas, storybook landscapes, raw wilderness and unspoiled nature. For the first time in my life, I really got the feeling that I was "experiencing nature" and seeing things that were unchanged and unaffected by humans. I realize that this isn't exactly accurate, but it was the impression that I got. During the course of only a few days, I saw bears, eagles, humpback whales, seals, orcas, jellyfish, starfish and a 320 pound 6' 4" tall Alaskan Native Tlingit man who asked us to call him "Cookie".

I'll finish with a few tid-bits and stories to highlight the experience, and then on to the pictures.

• • •

I never got used to the sunsets/sunrises (which technically never really happened). The extent of the sunset finished at about 10:30 or 11:00 PM but it never got completely dark up there. There was always a dim glow of light over the horizon and then at about 3:30 or 4:00 AM the sun would come up again. Now, I'm an early riser already so this wreaked havoc on my sleeping patterns. I generally get up early enough to see the sunrise every day so my mind seemed to think that this practice should continue despite it being at 3:45 AM.

• • •

The fifth evening on the ship was seafood night in the dining room. After much turmoil, I decided to pass on the lobster and get the seafood pasta. When the waiter came back to make sure my meal was OK, I joked with him about saving some lobster so I could have it for dessert after my pasta. He laughed and told me to trust that he would take care of me. A few minutes later he returned to the table and placed a lobster dinner in front of me. I now had a massive plate of seafood pasta and a lobster and shrimp dinner, but NO... I did not eat it all. I left the veggies alone.

• • •

One of the highlights of the trip (there were a LOT of them!) was when we sailed into the Tracy Arm Fjord to see the Sawyer Glacier. We went head-on into some of the strongest winds I've ever experienced and it would flip between warm and cold as we progressed through the passage. We spent over 6 hours standing at the furthest point forward we could get to on the ship. Everyone was in awe of the landscapes and surroundings. Ice caps blanketed the mountain tops, the water had an eerie turquoise glow, vibrant green patches were scattered throughout the rock faces and mountains, seals and icebergs dotted the water all around us. Every once in a while the Captain saw fit to challenge an iceberg head-on. The hollow thunder of what sounded like a massive gong would ring through the ship, up your body and out your finger tips. The trip though the fjord would have been impressive enough, but after 3 hours of threading the 90,000 pound vessel through a narrow channel littered with ice, the glacier appeared in front of us.

Well, I suppose I have droned on long enough... especially since most of you probably just came here to browse through a few photos. Here are a couple of albums to look through. I managed to narrow my choices down to about 500 for Alaska and a little over 300 for Vancouver. I just wish I could show you what I saw, the way I saw it.

I hope you enjoy!!

Album 1 - Vancouver

Album 2 - Alaska

Bonus Photos!! These are the photos we bought on the ship that were taken by the photographers running around on every deck.

Album 3 - Scans of the photos we bought