Far and Wide Trek for Developmental Disabilities: The World is Flat.

Friday, July 25, 2008

The World is Flat.

Well the world is flat in the Prairies at least. It's interesting how flat they actually can be. You can see a grain elevator or water tower in the distance and be staring at it for a good hour before you reach it. It's funny to play mental games to see how many Km's it will take to get there. But those game soon get boring and I forget how far I got.

The long days are easier and not as tiring as they were in the mountains. But definitely very tiring mentally staring at the same landscape for hours. But I don't take this landscape for granted because it is the very important for agriculture and also brings beauty. It is serene in the mornings when the mists are rising from the crops early.

I can't write this very much longer but two things worth noting are; I am in Saskatoon and it took me four days to get here from Calgary. The city seems interesting, especially because I'm staying at a shelter. It's been awhile since I have stayed at one and the first thing that happened was a man approached me and asked if I snuck any booze in. I wasn't sure if he was joking but said I wouldn't make it very far if my water bottles had booze in them. He then lifted up his shirt and started slapping his over sized belly and said, "I'm a ladies man". We talked for awhile after and we shared our stories.

The second thing was I saw a little girl in a crowd with Down Syndrome. She was about 3 years and everyone was struck by her cuteness. I remember when my sister was this age and one boy who was in her grade came up to me and my mom and said "I wish I had Down Syndrome so I could be as popular as Erinn." I was really young when this happened and I still remember it to this day. I'm not sure what my point is here exactly. But the comparison came to me when watching the crowd and how they interacted with the child.

Godspeed.
Matthew

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A little about Matthew

All my life, a life spent with a younger sister who has Down syndrome, I believed that inclusion was the way of the future, that she would graduate and become a part of the community, that she was someone who could contribute just like anyone else. I have learned that the idea, and the words around it, is still in vogue. It’s the practice that’s wanting. Since her graduation, she takes part in a day program where the only *normal* people are her supervisors. She has become invisible again, part of a protected ghetto for people with disabilities, safe from others and them safe from her.
Much of my early life was trying to educate my peers about my sister’s disability and, being a kid, sometimes landing in the occasional fight. (Certainly true with my sister, who has always been outspoken!)
It saddens me to see that we continue to isolate people with mental disabilities because we don’t understand or are uncomfortable with what we see as unbridgeable differences. I believe that we can make a positive difference in how people view each other if we make an effort to encourage understanding through education.
Having worked with organizations and institutions dedicated to helping individuals with special needs, I have firsthand knowledge of how little society as a whole understands the challenges people with mental disabilities face on a daily basis. From my work with adults and children in Hamilton, I have learned a great deal about special needs. I also learned how a few people work incredibly hard to make a few underfunded programs work as well as they do. This past fifteen months I have spent teaching in South Korea. During this time, I did considerable research into the types of support that individuals with special needs receive and how it can be improved with relatively simple steps.
From my previous experience and from my research, the idea of the Far and Wide Bike Trek was born. It seems a logical next step, a way to raise awareness and funds for people with mental challenges. My hope is that I can connect with associations and individuals along the way in an effort to get some recognition for people in communities across the land. It helps that athletics, especially cycling, is something I love and it’s an honour to do something for others that they may not be able to do for themselves. This also would enable me to meet with community leaders and charity organizations across the continent to discuss the problems people with special needs face, and to share ideas. With only negligible help on the part of the community, many of these individuals’ lives can be made infinitely more manageable.
In addition, by using a bicycle, I’m also achieving other goals. Not only is the bicycle an excellent and neglected form of transportation, it’s environmentally friendly and a great form of exercise. I think the messages that we need to care for our environment and we need to take care of our bodies through exercise are important ones as well.
Finally, outside of monetary concerns and environmental awareness, I am genuinely interested in bringing to the attention of people everywhere how capable, frequently astonishing, and incredibly special people with mental challenges are. Although there are a handful of programs (such as the Special Olympics) with this goal, I feel as if the Far and Wide Bike Trek can truly drive the point home. Please be a part of my dream. Thank you for your time.

Far and Wide Trek for Developmental Disabilities

Friday, July 25, 2008

The World is Flat.

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