Welcome to Bike for Haiti By Erik and Abdiel

The idea of this trip began ten years ago on a family road trip. As the sights of the United States passed by me I dreamed of riding my bike across the country. I brought the matter up during our road trip. I remember saying something like “Next time lets do this by bike...” Of course at the time everyone thought I was crazy. Then five years ago on another road trip I discussed my dream with Abdiel, a friend of mine. He thought that a bike trip would be crazy, but also a great experience. Overtime the idea slowly started to develop and take hold.

While this bike trip will be a great learning experience for Abdiel and I we eventually decided to ride for a cause. We not only wanted this adventure to mean something to us, but to serve a purpose for others. This is why we have decided to ride for Partners in Health (PIH), and Haiti. As many of you know it has been about a year since the earthquake devastated Haiti displacing people out of their homes. Even more then a year later people are still living in tented communities. PIH is not only dedicated to continue to help those harmed by the quake, but has existed in Haiti for many years. As a co-founder of PIH, Dr. Paul Farmer has been revolutionizing how medicine is brought to those in need throughout Haiti. The mission statement for PIH states “When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well... Whatever it takes. Just as we would do a member of our own family - or we ourselves were – ill.” This means that PIH is very adamant about helping those who fall ill upon their doorstep. (To learn more about what PIH is doing for Haiti visit PIH Stand for Haiti website)

Any donations are greatly appreciated. We hope the links to our blog will help better inform you about PIH and Haiti. A great book to read is “Mountains beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder. You can make a one time donation to our cause and give our ride purpose by going to our PIH Fundraiser Page or if you would like to donate an X amount of money per mile we ride that can be done by going to Pledge per Mile. Remember even the smallest contributions help.

* Your donation can: give a years worth of tuberculosis medication for one person that costs about $10-$20 dollars in poor countries such as Haiti. Antiretrovirals for HIV range from $70-$80 per year, per person. *All donations will go to PIH*

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Family Heritage (Day 11)

So today we spent the first part of the day relaxing and recovering from the previous weeks riding. I calculated that since we have started riding continuously a week ago we have put in 515 miles. This was encouraging because I thought we were behind and not doing all that well. Looking back 515 miles is a lot for everything we had to go through. With the strong headwinds, sleet, cold rain, and snow we really did a good job at surviving.

For the first part of this day family friends picked us up and drove us to Steamburg. A place where the Keith family lived for almost 200 years (My mom's side of the family). The town now almost a ghost town use to be a fairly busy farming community. There use to be a dairy factory in it. However now that is all broken and run down. I saw the farming field my great great grandpa use to plow. Which was thirty acres and the flattest piece of property around. The barn and house are still standing on that property too. I was able to see the land where my grandfather grew up and where my great grandfather ran a three story barn full of chickens. However, that area now consists of a highway, and some mobile homes. I got to see where my grandfather went to school, and the old service station where my great grandpa would drive his tractor down to get some pop. We past the cemetery where they were buried. Seeing the area was interesting. It was weird to think that I came from a hard working farming family. To be honest I feel very removed from that lifestyle, and I am amazed it existed in my family for over a hundred years.

After seeing the area where my family came from we drove through Amish country back to Brocton. By then it was around five in the evening. Since the day was so nice we decided to ride to Erie, PA where we had another place to stay. The riding was gorgeous. We went along Erie through vineyards and woods as the sun started to set off in the west.
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8 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 12, 2011 at 10:37 AM

    Hi Erik and Abdiel, What great posts! I'm going to follow on Google. I've just donated and posted to my Facebook account. We are so proud of you guys. Stay healthy and safe and keep writing.
    Best, Leslie and Peter

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 13, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    Hi Erik and Adiel, Just spoke with your mom and she said you were in Ohio, wonderful!!!! You two are doing such a great job and will have many happy memories. Keep going and I am thinking of you. Lisa Shepard, DCS school nurse

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsApril 14, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    Dey Msd Ddvt I Ms You .I Hp Zt You Cm Bc To Skool.

    From
    Meadow

    Dear Mr. Davitt, I miss you. I hope that you come back to school.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsApril 14, 2011 at 7:20 PM

    from dalton I M SORE dat uor bik brok

    I'm sorry that your bike broke.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsApril 14, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    mesdrdavit
    im sre ur tirpot and ur chan bocc.

    frum chris

    Mr. Davitt,
    I am sorry your tire popped and your chain broke.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mrs. Knee and the KinderKidsApril 14, 2011 at 7:26 PM

    hi msr dafft
    i hop you haf a good tame. i mas you and all of the kederkeds mas you.

    from
    ava

    Hi Mr. Davitt
    I hope you have a good time. I miss you and all of the kinderkids miss you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Erik DavittApril 16, 2011 at 6:03 AM

    Thanks for the comments kinderkids! Don't worry about the bike bike problems. We were able to fix them :). I hope you guys are learning a lot! Soon you guys will be in first grade! Miss you all.

    Mr. Davitt.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Erik DavittApril 16, 2011 at 6:04 AM

    Thank you Leslie and Lisa! we have just entered Kentucky!

    ReplyDelete

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