Far and Wide Trek for Developmental Disabilities: PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!!

Glamis dunes..... Very sandy. South Arizona....

I think I can ... I think I can...(Canada)

Storm rolling in on Rogers Pass. (Canada)

My Bicycle posing against the rocks. (Canada)

A beautiful tributary near my campsite! (Canada)

1 comment:

Justin said...: Matt

You’re doing a great job. Keep it up. We hope to see lots of pictures.

We await your safe return home. That first sleep will be the absolute best.

Your family must be proud of you because we certainly are. Road Warrior.

We will enjoy the BBQ and be thinking of you.

Did you pass Lake Louisa yet. We heard it’s beautiful.

Our offer to make you lunch when your settled back home sit stands and we hope you take us up on it so we can hear all about your adventures.

We’ll have a good laugh at your farmers tan as the summer sun has certainly been hot.

We hope that you have had comfortable sleeps in your tent and otherwise as your body certainly needs it.

Godspeed
The Thursday Group
STG; July 22, 2008 at 6:36 AM

Post a Comment

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

Monday, July 21, 2008

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!!

1 comment:

DONATE NOW!!!!

The Cause.

A little about Matthew

Blog Archive

The Truth