Friday, September 29, 2006
Launching...
wow! People are giving! People I know and love...and just wonderful people from all over the place. I am inspired to keep doing this, and now just hoping I can work out all the logistics beforehand. I guess camping wouldn't be so bad...
I had my first speaking engagement last night, and it was truly incredible. People were so enthusiastic, and they didn't even know me very well!
As for the ride itself, I am eager to buy my trailer so that I can start doing long rides with the wight attached.I alternately think that 50 miles a day is going to be way oo easy, and fairly impossible.
Overall, feeling excited and inspired,though.
I had my first speaking engagement last night, and it was truly incredible. People were so enthusiastic, and they didn't even know me very well!
As for the ride itself, I am eager to buy my trailer so that I can start doing long rides with the wight attached.I alternately think that 50 miles a day is going to be way oo easy, and fairly impossible.
Overall, feeling excited and inspired,though.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
The facts:
Today in Colombia...
Human rights defenders are being disappeared.
More than 40,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in
Colombia as a result of the armed conflict since 1990 alone*
Campesinos are being displaced from their land.
There are 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia.
Second in the world only to the Sudan*
The military/paramilitaries are killing and disappearing people with impunity.
Colombia has received more than $3.5 billion in largely military aid from the US since 1999, and their forces have been trained at the School of the Americas.
What are you doing to stop America’s other war?
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is working to demilitarize US policy and support peace initiatives in Colombia. Please help support their work by sponsoring me**:
In early November of 2006, I will ride 500 miles in10 days on my bicycle from Boston to Washington, DC to raise awareness about and money for FOR’s work in Colombia.
My goal is to raise $10,000 for FOR. I hope to get 500 people to sponsor me for each of the miles I will ride, at $20 per mile.
*statistics from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
**”Me” is Janice Gallagher, janicekgallagher@yahoo.com. I was a member of the August 2006 delegation to Colombia with FOR, and am a former teacher, and long-time social justice acitivst.
Human rights defenders are being disappeared.
More than 40,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in
Colombia as a result of the armed conflict since 1990 alone*
Campesinos are being displaced from their land.
There are 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia.
Second in the world only to the Sudan*
The military/paramilitaries are killing and disappearing people with impunity.
Colombia has received more than $3.5 billion in largely military aid from the US since 1999, and their forces have been trained at the School of the Americas.
What are you doing to stop America’s other war?
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is working to demilitarize US policy and support peace initiatives in Colombia. Please help support their work by sponsoring me**:
In early November of 2006, I will ride 500 miles in10 days on my bicycle from Boston to Washington, DC to raise awareness about and money for FOR’s work in Colombia.
My goal is to raise $10,000 for FOR. I hope to get 500 people to sponsor me for each of the miles I will ride, at $20 per mile.
*statistics from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
**”Me” is Janice Gallagher, janicekgallagher@yahoo.com. I was a member of the August 2006 delegation to Colombia with FOR, and am a former teacher, and long-time social justice acitivst.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Yeah! I am really oing to do this! After being seriously tempted to work crazy hours in order to try to take back Congress from the Republicans this year, I've realized that what I'm really passionate about is raising awareness and support for peace in Colombia, and that I can (and will) volunteer to get out votes, do phone banks, etc. in order to support the dem's in the election.
In the meantime...Alyssa Kelly came up with a great website name last night: PedalFORPeace. FOR because I am raising funds for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. I think it's good, and am trying to buy the domain name now from the personwho owns it. Yeee. So excited - I also got my first sponsors, so I would like to here and now officially thank:
1. Stan from Charlie's
2. David from Charlie's
3. Tia
4. Amy Adams
5. Jen Spingla
6. Scott Call
7. Alyssa Kelly
7 down, 493 to go! Oh - my idea is that since the ride is roughly 500 miles, if people sponsor me for $20 a mile, I will raise $10,000 if I get 500 people to sponsor me for 1 mile a piece. Now to figure out all the technology onvolved in this.
In the meantime...Alyssa Kelly came up with a great website name last night: PedalFORPeace. FOR because I am raising funds for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. I think it's good, and am trying to buy the domain name now from the personwho owns it. Yeee. So excited - I also got my first sponsors, so I would like to here and now officially thank:
1. Stan from Charlie's
2. David from Charlie's
3. Tia
4. Amy Adams
5. Jen Spingla
6. Scott Call
7. Alyssa Kelly
7 down, 493 to go! Oh - my idea is that since the ride is roughly 500 miles, if people sponsor me for $20 a mile, I will raise $10,000 if I get 500 people to sponsor me for 1 mile a piece. Now to figure out all the technology onvolved in this.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Thinking...
After traveling to Colombia this August with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, I was tired, sick, and lacked sleep. But, besides from physically ailing, I was moved by the stories of the people I met, and wanted to do what I had said to them over and over that I would do: to bring their stories back to the US and tell people how US policy was affecting them. So after finally getting better, spending a week in the woods meditating on this, and conveniently having some time off from work - I think I know what I'm going to do...
...bike to Washington, DC from home, Littleton, MA.
The pros: I could raise money for a cause I feel passionately about; namely, working to mitigate the incredibly negative effects of US foreign policy and working to demilitarize US foreign policy.
The cons: I did a long bike ride this weekend...and it was only about 25 miles. I have no idea what it would take in terms of gear, training, planning, mapping a route, to ride to DC; I don't know if I could raise a lot of money doing it; and I don't know how long it would take me to plan and do.
Next step is to figure out the answers to some of these questions!
...bike to Washington, DC from home, Littleton, MA.
The pros: I could raise money for a cause I feel passionately about; namely, working to mitigate the incredibly negative effects of US foreign policy and working to demilitarize US foreign policy.
The cons: I did a long bike ride this weekend...and it was only about 25 miles. I have no idea what it would take in terms of gear, training, planning, mapping a route, to ride to DC; I don't know if I could raise a lot of money doing it; and I don't know how long it would take me to plan and do.
Next step is to figure out the answers to some of these questions!
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