Six years ago the Rotary Club of Bowen Island took over the Run for the Ferry and we are still at it! This is a multi-generational event as apart from the 10km and 5km runs starting at 9:00 am, we also encourage walkers to do the beautiful 5km trail through Crippen Park, and their children and/or grandchildren to take part in the 1.5km kids’ run at 8:30 am. The 10km run is a great training event for the Handloggers Half Marathon that takes place the following weekend. There will be prizes for teenagers this year, plus a special award for first boy and girl in the 1.5km run. Delicious snacks, water and some prizes are donated by generous local merchants, while other prizes come directly from cooperatives in Rwanda. Almost 100% of registration fees and donations go straight to Rwanda to help the girls we support.
Why Rwanda?
Margaret Butler, who grew up on Bowen Island and whose parents have lived here for over 35 years, worked in Rwanda in 2008 and set up an initiative to support rural girls who had no chance of completing secondary education. Margaret now lives in Boston but travels regularly to Rwanda to oversee her non-profit that has grown exponentially and now supports over 70 girls each year, not just in secondary school but at college and university and also in launching their businesses. The Komera family (the word means “courage” in Kinyarwanda) gathers every year in June to run on the dusty roads of the tiny community of Rwinkwavu in Rwanda to celebrate their enthusiasm for their achievements. The Komera Global Run is an annual fundraiser in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Portland, and in August on Bowen Island the Rotary Run for Rwanda is a warm-up for the Bowfest celebration.
Why a run?
Margaret was a talented local runner who represented Canada in many long distance events when she was a student; when running in the hills of Rwanda a few years later, she noticed that girls were not joining her on her daily runs whereas the boys were all around her. This led her to investigate the status of girls at secondary school there and she discovered that they were not given the opportunities that their brothers had. So she established a fund to support as many girls as possible to achieve their goal of graduation. Nowadays Komera is largely run by a local team with Margaret’s guidance.
So a local run/walk organized by the Rotary Club of Bowen Island makes sense as a fundraiser for Komera Canada as well as a healthy start to Bowfest on August 27th! Registration can be done on-line at rotaryrunforrwanda.com or at the First Credit Union or Phoenix on Bowen. Many of our runners have been supporting us for the past six years and before then in the Run for the Ferry! We rely on them and everyone else who loves the outdoors to return every year to support us and to encourage friends and families to join them in a great fund-raising event. The Butlers now have three generations who have done the run over the years! Come out on August 27th and meet Margaret and her family!
