Dear fellow RiotACTers
On Wednesday 30 September, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the pacific, offshore, between the islands of Samoa and American Samoa.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami of up to 1.7 metres in height, which caused severe damage in island areas that are only a few feet above sea level.
Bearing the brunt of the tsunami was a narrow coastal strip of 40km, with 40 villages on the south eastern end of Upolu.
The most easterly 15km part of this strip has been totally destroyed.
What has this to do with RiotACT, Canberra and you, I hear you ask, well thats where I fit in.
I have friends who are Samoan, who live in both Samoa and here in Australia, and having returned from Samoa 12 weeks ago, this tragedy hit me hard.
From personal experience, the Samoan nation and its people are one of the kindest, most gentle and friendly countries I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.
When I heard of this tragedy, I felt helpless, I wanted to travel there and help my friends uncle (who owns a construction company) first hand to rebuild the smaller communities that were devastated.
Unfortunately, budgetary constraints and a pregnant wife dictated that this was not going to be the case.
So instead, I have decided to do something on my own merit.
Through the website Everyday Hero I have organised a bike ride with all sponsorship proceeds to go to Red Cross.
The Red Cross have a Pacific Tsunami Appeal and are actively helping the nation of Samoa to get back up off its knees and walk tall again.
I intend to make this ride on the morning of the 31st October 2009.
My plan is to start near the Molonglo river entry to Lake Burley Griffin and circumnavigate it twice.
By my rough calculations this is approximately 52km, and I think, an achievable distance for most levels of cyclist.
For further details on the ride, and if you wish to donate or even participate, please go to my profile on Everyday Hero
If you do wish to participate, I aim to complete the ride in a reasonable amount of time, but am not aiming for a training run.
the premium will be getting out in the sun and enjoying beauty not often found in rushing about.
More information regarding donating and participating can be found here
If you have gotten this far, thank you for reading, and i implore you to help where (and if) you can.
No donation will be considered too small and receipts are issued for all transactions.
Warm regards
Danman
Naturally, I would like to keep this thread about the bike ride, fund raising efforts and attendees, there are plenty of existing cyclist v/ motorist threads already , and if anyone is concerned, 99% of this ride will be on “off road” shared cycleways. Also thank you to the RiotACT editorial team for allowing this story to pass.
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