Tana Silverland, 'Silver' to her friends, is an incredibly unique individual who I had the opportunity of meeting the evening of July 23. It was rather ironic how, when I passed this cyclist July 22 along Hwy 40 east of Krydor at approximately 6:45 p.m., the first thought that crossed my mind was 'I wonder what organization this person is riding for?' It is not often that we Saskatchewanians come across lone random cyclists along our long winding highways. A telephone call July 23 confirmed my suspicions were accurate; a young woman from the UK was making her way across Canada on a recumbent trike she called "Ranger."
Tana began her journey June 16, 2010 when she arrived at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory airport with her trike. She arrived as a permanent resident of Canada and began her journey called A Place to Call Home.
"This is not the average cross-Canada ride," commented Tana in a recent interview, explaining that her ride is primarily about raising awareness for the organization SOS Children's Villages. She added that her journey is not focused on the money raised.
Tana explained how she came about selecting Canada for her trek. While residing in the UK, where she was born and raised, she had submitted her application for permanent residency in Canada after falling in love with the country 15 years ago. This application was made before her involvement with SOS Children's Villages. The organization's office was just down the street from where Tana worked as an administrator for a university. She would frequently visit the office to do volunteer work and, the more she learned about the organization, the more passionate she became for the cause. By the time her visa was approved, she was determined to spread the word about the organization.
Now, taking into consideration that Tana is neither a long distance cyclist nor an endurance athlete, she realized that she had to train for the event of cycling across Canada which would take her two and one-half years. Tana would frequent the gym before work to focus on strength training and developing her overall state of health.
The next task was to select a durable aerodynamic trike, to be equipped with mirrors, speedometer, odometer and a mechanism to determine the steepness of slopes. The trike weighs approximately 40 pounds and Tana travels with limited resources but permits 40 pounds of personal gear. She encourages all donations be given through her blog's secure link.
She is genuinely dependent on the people who have graciously offered to be her billet. She is grateful for the kindness of strangers to get her through her journey and realizes how kind Canadians are.
"I want to demonstrate to the people I meet how special SOS Children's Villages is as a charity," commented Tana, "to inspire them to extend their kindness shown to me to the charity as well. There are children who need their support."
Staying hydrated during the journey is a challenge, especially on the hot humid days. A three-litre reservoir equipped with a tubing system permits her to replenish her fluids while cycling. Snacks such as sandwiches and granola bars are eaten throughout the day.
Diet is an important factor for any athlete and more so for this full-fledged vegetarian. Usually, upon arriving at a host home, she requests a meal of cottage cheese and grapes. "The combination is ideal for the absorption of protein and to replenish my body after a day's ride," says Tana.
While visiting her Blaine Lake host, Gertrude Postnikoff, Tana was able to experience Russian cuisine of both beet and cabbage borscht as well as perishky (a fruit-filled tart).
"I try to eat what the hosts eat and express as few requests as possible," says Tana. "It makes for a fascinating food discovery."
She communicates with her family daily via email and blog entries after reaching her nightly destinations.
Since leaving on her journey, Tana has found it interesting to observe how her body reacts to the new demands she is placing on it. A fine example is her increased demand for salt intake.
It is not only vital for Tana to look after her body and its requests but general maintenance of her trike is also important to the success of her journey. Due to time constraints, Tana is only able to perform general maintenance duties such as oiling of cables and chain, and tire pressure. The tires are standard bike tires lined with Kevlar to prevent punctures on the various driving surfaces that she experiences.
Her journey has educated her in the Canadian way of life, including the differences in sizes of communities and varying cultural influences. "It has been a huge and fascinating experience and personally, certainly one of the most impressive," comments Tana, smiling proudly.
She also explained how, during her journey in British Columbia, she was fortunate to visit and see firsthand the results of a SOS Children's Village in Surrey. "It was nice to see the difference that the organization is making in these children's' lives. It was a thought provoking experience for me to see the love permeating from every pore of the caregiver's body to do the best that they can," explained Tana emotionally.
To date, Tana and Ranger have completed 7,000 kilometres in 13 months and they continue to head eastward. Her final destination point is Cape Spear, Newfoundland. Tana has recorded her maximum speed at 74 kph. Although her route is not defined in a straight line across the country, one will witness, when viewing her blog, that she has attempted to visit as many communities as she can to spread the word. Tana's days vary in length and distance but she is always off the roadway well before dusk. Distance traveled in a day can fluctuate from 20 km to her furthest being 143 km.
"Because I have no support team, I ensure that I am off the road before dark and that I have someone awaiting my arrival in the destined community," explained Tana. Her only pre-planned destination is to be in southern Ontario by Christmas.
This is my way of getting to know my new home country and supporting a fantastic charity at the same time, states a comment on her blog. You can follow Tana and Ranger on their journey by signing into her blog www.tanasilverland.wordpress.com.
A bit about SOS Children's Villages.
SOS Children's Villages is the world's largest orphan focused charity. Its mission statement states: "SOS Children's Villages provides children in need with a caring, loving, and secure family environment where basic needs for food, health, shelter and education are met." SOS Children's Villages creates opportunities for children to become responsible, contributing members of society by providing Villages and community support where stable, nurturing homes exist to meet family, social, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of children.
A young Austrian medical student, Hermann Gmeiner, who witnessed the suffering of so many orphaned and abandoned children after WWII and felt that something had to be done to help them, founded SOS Children's Villages in 1949. SOS Children's Villages has since grown to become an organization whose childcare concepts and educational principles are recognized throughout the world.
The organization was a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 and in 2002 received the prestigious Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.
Presently there are more than 409 SOS Children's Villages located in over 130 countries and territories around the world. Canada's first site opened in Margaretville, Nova Scotia in 1983 and on Canada's west coast, a site opened its doors in 2001 to children at risk in Surry, British Columbia.
More information can be obtained by visiting www.soschildrensvillages.ca
