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The Province,
Townships Project loans another way of
drafting
MacKay, Mary
Everybody needs a break now and again.
And I knew I was at my need-a-break point
halfway through the last 60-plus-kilometre leg on the fourth day of the Tip to Tip for Africa fundraiser, which was
in aid of the Townships Project to provide small loans for people in need in
South Africa.
"Get into
the draft, Mary," said the lead of a trio of bikers who were tucked in a
neat
My first
thought was: "Gee thanks, but I'm a wine person "
because until recently, when I heard the term 'drafting' I considered it a
bartending verb for drawing a bubbly, hopped-up beverage from a pub keg.
Instead, I've
deduced it's a means of dodging the wind by following in close proximity to
another moving object, in this case a cyclist. While I appreciated the thought
of their offer, drafting those three would have be like the tortoise (me)
drafting a hyper harem of hares (them).
A half-hour
later I wasn't surprised when the crunching of gravel signalled
the passing of even more cyclists. After all, following in my wake was like
drafting a tree.
"You can
draft us," Aravinda and Jasmin
Maheshwari said in tandem as they jointly pedalled their single bike at a pace I could almost match.
I breathed a sigh of windbreak relief as I learned the couple met in Aravinda's home country of
They learned
about the Tip to Tip for Africa through a story in The Guardian. Fortunately
the fundraiser dates coincided with Jasmin's stay in
"There
was no question of not doing it, although we had no training and no bike,"
Jasmin said.
"When we
were in
"It was a
mode of transportation we used where we lived, not as a hobby or pastime."
While the kind
of weather the Tip to Tip for Africa cyclists had endured
is unusual for P.E.I. in late May, Jasmin said it is
not unusual for this time of the year in
"There's
practically no heating the houses (in the townships) and you can imagine all
the roofs start leaking," she said. "People have very inadequate
housing and very often townships get flooded."
Another
constant danger is shack fires that erupt when paraffin heaters overturn or
malfunction. Because the shacks are back-to-back, hundreds of homes, and
sometimes lives, are lost as the result of each fire.
"People
lose everything and that happens every winter," Jasmin
said. "So (our experience on the trail) seems to be a little bit of a
taste of what people go through there on a daily basis."
Throughout the
Tip to Tip for Africa adventure, people, organizations and
businesses have helped along the way, Aravinda said.
"The way
that we were helped so often and the way we were taken care of on this trip
perhaps is what happens through this Townships Project for those people.
Somebody is going to be helping them out. "So we experienced a little bit,
not only the rough times they have, but also the help that they receive."
In a way, the
Townships Project loans are another form of drafting. They provide a break from
the strong cycle of poverty so the people can catch their breath, then move
forward with a new strength toward a goal of self-sustaining independence.
As the last of
the cyclists crossed the Confederation Trail finish in
"We'll
all do it as a group," directed Tip to Tip for Africa organizer Martha
Deacon.
In response,
the speedy and the slow merged to move as one unit toward the East Point
Lighthouse and the end of the ride.
Even though
barely a handful completed the lighthouse-to-lighthouse distance in its
entirety, Deacon said that with help from P.E.I.'s
community organizations and businesses, the cyclists had accomplished something
more than just going distance.
"We
raised more than $17,500 for the Townships Project in
Illustration(s):
MacKay, Mary
As the only tandem bike team in the Tip to Tip for Africa fundraising ride
across P.E.I., Aravinda and Jasmin
Maheshwari, who call Charlottetown, South Africa and
India home, were one of a kind.
Category: News
Uniform subject(s): Sports and leisure
Length: Medium, 606 words
© 2005 The Guardian (