Big ride for microcredit

from Surrey Now

Ted Colley
Surrey Now

Surrey's Kamila Romanowski has made a major commitment to microcredit.

On May 31, the third-year SFU student will join 26 others on a 3,000-kilometre bike ride from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico to raise money for micro-loans to poverty-stricken people in other lands.

Thirty seconds into a phone interview, it became very evident Romanowski is at the very least, a bubbly personality. Or as she put it, "an eternal optimist."

"When you look at a map, Canada is on the top and Mexico is on the bottom, so technically, it's all downhill," she said with a laugh.

Romanowski said she was planning a bike trip to Mexico anyway when she came across the website of Global Agents For Change, a Vancouver-based non-profit dedicated to using microcredit to change the world.

Organizations like GAFC provide small loans to entrepreneurs in developing nations who don't qualify for financing through normal channels. Once repaid, the money goes back into the pot to be lent to someone else.

Each rider must raise $3,000 to cover the cost of the trip with the balance going into a loan fund.

"I didn't know anything about microcredit before, but it's a fantastic idea. I don't think people should have to depend on handouts. This gives people more dignity," Romanowski said.

Sonia Paul, another young Surrey resident, will also ride to Mexico.

Romanowski has been racking up two-wheel kilometres getting herself in shape for the journey. She said the drill will be 90 clicks a day with a rest day once a week. Is she ready?

"One way or another I'm going to Mexico."

The riders are scheduled to arrive in Tijuana on July 18. Romanowski plans to spend some time in Mexico before reluctantly returning home.

To learn more about the bike ride, microcredit and GAFC, take a look at http://globalafc.org.