Great Aussie Rickshaw Ride 21st August

It was a cold day in the national capital, Canberra, as the nation went to the polls in the Federal election. As the main show was being played out, a little side show slipped into town, the Great Aussie Rickshaw Ride. The support team consisting mostly of Queenslanders (Graeme, Ross, Bev, Val and Morris), one former Canberra-ite (Nathan) and two Bangladeshi's (Khaleque and Hajrat) found the weather a bit of a shock to the system. The night was cold but in one cabin consisting of 5 fellows of the support group, the newcomer, Nathan, discovered a universal fact.  He found that, though during the day people of different nations may speak a different language, at night all nationalities make similar noises, and some quite loudly at that! Nathan at some time in the night, braving the cold, took refuge in his car. That Nathan remained  without rancour  towards his persecutors of the night is a tribute to his friendly spirit. 

The rickshaw was ridden very capably and quickly into Canberra by an enthusiastic group, Graeme, Harry, Jack and Tom and Tim and Michael. Harry, Jack and Tom are teenagers but experienced mountain bikers. Not sure about mountain rickshaws. The group covered the distance into Canberra very quickly. They did not have the headwind of the previous day. 

We had a special ceremony at Garema Place in Canberra to acknowledge the arrival of the rickshaw. The special guest for this occassion was his Excellency Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia. We were also honoured to have present the Chief Electoral Commissioner for the Bangladesh Electoral Commission, ATM Shamsul Huda. He had come as a guest observer for the Australian Federal election. 

Because the main show in Canberra was the Federal election, it meant that the side show of the GARR attracted no major media attention. Despite this we are confident that the interaction with ordinary people, the presentations at schools and at meetings in various venues has an effect, alerting people to what can be done to alleviate poverty.