Swimmer to tackle English Channel for charity
July 14, 2010
The Chronicle Herald, by Meagan Leonard
HALIFAX, CANADA (TheChronicleHerald.ca) - In the world of the marathon swimmer, the English Channel is considered Mount Everest.
Thirty-four kilometres wide at its narrowest point, its rough and chilly waters are no chlorinated paradise, but for Kristin Roe failure is not an option.
The 29-year-old Halifax resident will take the plunge July 19 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s A Dare to Remember campaign, which raises money for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
In 2008, Roe swam from Prince Edward Island across the Northumberland Strait to New Brunswick and back again. She completed the 30-kilometre journey in 15 hours and raised $80,000. This time she hopes to raise $100,000 to split between the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Nova Scotia Gambia Association.
"I’d always been interested in doing some kind of marathon swim but I was really fuelled by the call to action from Stephen Lewis," says Roe. "I thought, you know, I’m not very powerful, I don’t have any money but I can swim — maybe I can do something around that."
The Stephen Lewis Foundation supports community based organizations in Africa and money raised for it is sent directly to support various projects, such as assistance to grandmothers taking care of grandchildren who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS.
Since it began in 2003, the foundation has funded over 300 projects in 15 countries. Last year they launched the A Dare to Remember campaign and received an overwhelming response from Canadians.
The appeal of the program comes from its ability to make a huge difference by doing something small, says the foundation’s senior program advisor Alexis MacDonald.
"Basically, we had hundreds of people across Canada who did something that was courageous to them, whether it was giving up their car for a week and making sure they walked to work or doing something incredible like Kristin is doing," she says.
Since it can be difficult to relate to the struggles facing people in other countries, A Dare to Remember encourages people to perform courageous acts, alongside the actions Africans complete each day.
"We thought, let’s ask Canadians to do something courageous, because we don’t have that reality every day of doing what they do, but we each have our own things we battle in our own lives that we want to take on," she says. "So that way it allows for the creativity to make it a personal challenge."
Roe has spent time in sub-Saharan Africa and says it’s an experience that never leaves you.
"I’m just so inspired by the generosity and resilience of Africans," she says.
"It’s hard to see the levels of poverty and the ways the pandemic has affected their lives. It’s ravaged their communities and it’s something we’ll never see here in Canada. There’s no way to describe it. It entrenches in your mind and you don’t forget about it."
Dare week will take place this October and those wishing to sign up or dare a friend can find all the information at www.adaretoremember.com.
"I think it plays on what can you do," says Roe. "Are you a great cook? Do you bake? Do you walk your dog? Would you walk your neighbour’s dogs for a dare every day for a month to raise money? I think it really strikes with humanity and the ordinary aspects of our lives."
In 2008, an estimated 22.4 million adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa were living with AIDS. During that year, 1.4 million died from the disease. "As cheesy as it sounds, I think I have found my life’s purpose," says Roe. "I wake up in the morning and I have a purpose and that’s to help the African communities that have been so distraught by the pandemic. I’m not going to stop until the pandemic stops."
Follow Roe on her journey or make a donation at channelinghope.com.