Run for Rights Supports Rights of Refugees
The Run for Rights, a 5 and 10k run in Winnipeg, began because of the dream of Louise Simbandumwe, a refugee from Burundi, a small country in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Burundi is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of gross domestic product per capita where one 2002 study found that 68% of the population lived below the poverty line.
"The Run for Rights was born because of one person's passion for the cause of all refugees in Canada and to put money in organizations' pockets to help them," said David Eisbrenner, a politics and communications major at the University of Winnipeg who volunteered in this year's event.
In its sixth year, the Run for Rights is still running strong. Last year 100 runners participated and this June that number increased to more than 250 walkers, runners and cyclists.
"We had so many more people than we expected and it is exciting to see how many here in Winnipeg actually care," Eisbrenner said.
Participants of this year's Run for Rights raised CDN$23,000 (approximately €15,439; £11,100; USD$22,680) for the 14 humans rights and justice groups involved, including WREN/RESPECT, Amnesty International, Canada-Haiti Action Network, Canada-Palestine Support Network, Engineers Without Borders, Fazhan International Program, Institute for Community Peace Building, LITE (Local Investment Towards Employment), MGEU (Ts'epong HIV/AIDS Clinic), Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad, North End Community Renewal Corporation and No Sweat Manitoba. Participants also raised CDN$500.00 (approximately €336; £241; USD$493) for RESPECT.
According to the Canadian government estimates, over four million people emigrated to Canada between 1979 and 2001. Of those, 409,526 (15.4%) arrived as refugees. The Run for Rights is just one of the many programs RESPECT is involved in to bring awareness to the plight of refugees in Canada.
"Even though I haven't traveled the world, I haven't had to go anywhere to come into contact with refugees," EisBrenner said. "In grade school, we were taught that this country is a mosaic and we all come together to create this picture of Canada where we celebrate the fact that we have such a variety of diverse cultures. Through this event and others, we want to educate people in our city about what refugees go through," he added.