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Highland Baptist Church (HBC) cares about refugees and has helped over 200 in its history. At present, the church is supporting and connecting with a group of about 30 west African refugees.
Participating in the RIDE was a good match for HBC because a just-for-fun biking group already existed and the group was looking for a project that they could do together.
The team of 8 biked 25 km and raised $2,446 in 2007. Because the church participated in the RIDE Partner Grant program, half of that amount was returned to the church to be used in a refugee ministry. HBC used this money to help some of their government sponsored refugees pay back the airfare that they are responsible to reimburse.
Victoria Massaquoi (31) and her two children are Liberian refugees living in Canada since 2004. War broke out in Liberia when Victoria was 14 years old. She was sent to Monrovia where she stayed for 2 years with an aunt. Then, for her own safety, she paid $250 for transportation across the border into Sierra Leone. She lived for 2 or 3 months in a refugee camp but then left to find work in the city of Bo. The UN gave her salt, sugar and bulgur wheat that she could resell for profit before she found work as a live-in maid. At about that time she met a former neighbour from Liberia who unofficially adopted her. Victoria worked and waited and scratched out a life in Sierra Leone for 7 years before she was accepted into Canada. Victoria dreams of being reunited with her husband who is not eligible for refugee status. He will only be able to come to Canada if he or Victoria pays for the ticket themselves.
This is the kind of story that inspired team leader April Brien to get involved in the RIDE for Refugees.
"It was a rough ride because of the weather," she said, "but I was very impressed because the RIDE was well-organized and the route well-marked. If a rider was having trouble, a van patrolling the route would pick him up. There was a lot of camaraderie among the group. Afterwards everyone enjoyed a good meal."
"It felt like we were engaged in something bigger than ourselves," said biker Pastor Das Sydney.
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