Last summer I participated in Oxfam Trailwalker. It’s a fundraiser—ne, a global movement—to raise money in the fight against poverty in the developing world as well as provide much needed funds for the outstanding emergency relief work that Oxfam does.
It was a no brainer. Oxfam’s mandate is simple: the end of poverty starts with women’s rights. Damn straight it does. Anyone who truly knows me knows that I never got over my time in Cambodia, volunteering with at-risk children, so I was immediately on board. Sign me up, I thought, happy to raise the $2,500 needed for myself and my fellow team members (4 in total) to participate.
The event: What started 30 years ago in Hong Kong as a military training exercise for the Queen’s Ghurka Regiment has evolved into a global movement that takes place annually in 15 countries and has thus far raised $30 million dollars.
So what is it? Walk 100 km in 48 hours in a team of 4. Simple enough I thought. But then I drove to my cottage that weekend at 100 km an hour… and it was 100 km away… and even that took an hour and a half…. Oh boy.
Now. I’m a yogi. Not a once-a-week yogi, but a once (sometimes twice) daily, hot power flow, live-in-stretchy-pants, mala bead wearing, yogathon attending, asana addict. My twitter hashtags are #idratherbeinverted and #youturnmeom. Yoga is my life. Suffice it to say I’m bendy and fit, but let’s face it, I’m no Katie Holmes. (She’s the only person I know who ever ran a marathon and that’s the closest thing I could compare Trailwalker to).
100 km just seemed so vast. I mean, the entire surface area on which my exercise regime lives and breathes is a hot pink mat about two feet by four feet in size—I have no concept of how to maneuver a larger area. Add to that I used to live in LA, so the concept of walking quite frankly confounds me. What’s more, these 100 km must be walked out of doors; we’re talking wilderness with bears and bugs and blisters, oh my. I sighed as I look at the magnet on my fridge that says, I Love Not Camping.
Fast forward six months. The big day. Standing at the foot of Snow Valley Ski Hill on the Garanaska Trail in Barrie, Ontario at the end of July. Anticipation, excitement, and jitterbugs percolate in the morning air as me and 400 fellow Trailwalkers gear up to make our trek to Orillia’s Tudhope Park. Some teams have made promises to complete the walk in under 30 hours, 25 hours, 20 hours even!
The energy and enthusiasm is palpable and I was pleased to see that Trailwalkers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and groups—corporate team builders, families, old, young, best friends, and new friends. It’s not just an event for the uber-fit. Is it grueling? Yes. But with the right training and dedication, anyone can complete the trek.
My team and I are rallying, already giving each other words of encouragement and talking about “how great this is going to be.” And then a collective hush falls over the crowd as Robert Fox, Oxfam Canada’s Executive Director, brings a mega-phone to his lips. He thanks us for our contributions thus far, for our enthusiasm, and for our commitment, and then he reminds us why we’re walking.
Oxfam Canada supports long-term development, advocacy and emergency programs in 28 countries around the world with core programs located in the Americas, the Horn of Africa, Southern Africa, and South Asia. Oxfam also provides relief and humanitarian aid during natural disasters and civil crises.
Safety is a huge factor in Oxfam’s mission to end poverty by bringing rights to women and girls in the developing world. In some countries, women and girls walk for days to reach clean water for their families. That’s the easy part. Water wells are a scarce resource and often guarded by threat of rape or violence. Imagine being too afraid to turn on your faucet in the morning. In essence, these women and girls are terrified of just that. Economic instability breeds desperation, violence and a self-perpetuating culture of fear where survival is the only agenda.
The value of life shouldn’t be dictated by geography. I’ve visited over 30 countries and I’ve often been asked what “Canada is like”. There’s a simple answer: Canada is like freedom. We enjoy freedoms that others do not dare to dream of. But with those freedoms and privileges comes responsibility and accountability.
I was writing a paper on gender and security for my MA in Geopolitics when I came across an Eve Ensler quote that stuck with me; “when you rape, beat, maim, burn, bury, and terrorize women, you destroy the essential life energy on the planet.” By ignoring poverty, injustice, and torture of women and girls, we are propagating it.
It is not Ok to ignore the profound injustices that take place on a minute-to-minute basis around the globe. And as the caretakers of families and food in the developing world, women are in the best possible position to incite change and cultivate a safe and sustainable future—we really can change the world. And yet it is these very people—women and girls—who are denied accessibility, safety, and the resources to make these changes.
Is Oxfam Trailwalker worth doing? Yes. Is it exhausting? Of course. The blisters heal but the real change comes in the life of someone who will never know your name, never know why you did it, and never be able to thank you. She is a stranger, and she is your sister.
- Genevieve Pardoe
