Greetings to all of you!
On May 6th, the Multi-Faith Walk Against Violence completed 630 kilometres of its cross-Canada walk. The last notable stop for the walk was Edmundston, New Brunswick, where Syed Soharwardy was interviewed for a New Brunswick wide broadcast. This part of the journey was not always “smooth sailing”. The flooding in New Brunswick was witnessed first hand by the walkers, who also met with some of the flood victims. One day will certainly be remembered by the group as the day they walked 35 km in the rain. As the core group were mainly “prairie chickens” from Alberta, nobody had remembered to bring a pair of Wellington boots! The walkers had, however remembered to bring their bear bells, and that was fortunate. At one point along the route, they were stopped by members of the RCMP who asked them if they had seen a dead bear. They had not, but they walked on – not really put at ease by the information that bears were common in the area. The next day they did happen upon the carcass of an immense bear stretched across the road. Syed reported that it took up around 8 to 10 feet of space and would certainly have been taller than a man had it been able to stand upright. The walkers were sorry the bear was dead but thanked Almighty God they had not met up with it while it was still in the land of the living! Misadventures notwithstanding, the walkathon members have declared themselves “healthy and in good spirits” - and now walking an average of 40 km per day.
The walkathon members were impressed by the fact that the dampness of the weather had no apparent effect on the warmth of the response from the public. People waved and honked their horns in encouragement, and some took the time to accompany the faith leaders for short distances along the way. The walkers related how they were impressed by the woman who came out of her house to greet and thank them for doing their walk, and how a senior citizen arrived to take their photographs. Sometimes they were officially welcomed by municipal officials. In Sackville and Amherst, the deputy mayors presented the team with souvenirs.
Now they are in Quebec. Culture differences have already shown up in New Brunswick, with the French language increasingly used as the walkers approached Quebec. Despite this fact, at least one Francophone radio station has taken the trouble to interview them.
As the walkers traverse Quebec, they do so with the awareness that “la Belle Province” is now celebrating 400 years of existence. The colourful past of Quebec shows up in many of the place names along the route Multifaith Walk. The walkers will be passing towns with names like Notre-Dame-Du-Lac (Our Lady of the Lake) and St. Louis Du Ha!Ha! on their way to Riviere Du Loup, or the river of the wolf – so named, according to one story, because of the seals that could once be seen in large numbers along the waterways.
In keeping with the message of the Multifaith Walk Against Violence, we would like to remind our readers that May 5 to May 11 is Elizabeth Fry week. We salute the Elizabeth Fry Society, a nationwide organization working to help women and girls in the justice system.
On a lighter note – CBC radio informs us that May 9 is also Lost Sock Memorial Day – no doubt our cross Canada walkers have been through enough socks to make this day relevant, too!
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Linda Zachri
Media and Public Relations Coordinator
