“What do you love about Clearwater?”
Tana Silverland will ask residents this question on March 15, when her 21/2-year journey across Canada brings her to town.
As a recent immigrant to Canada from the UK, Silverland is travelling from town to town across the length and breadth of the country, asking people what they love about the place that they call home.
Silverland has been doing most of her traveling on her trike. However, because of the weather the trike is in storage and she is visiting communities by bus that she otherwise wouldn’t reach.
She is also hoping to give orphans around the world the chance to answer the same question, by spreading the word about SOS Children’s Villages, an international charity that provides new homes and families for children who have no one else to care for them.
Having been virtually bedridden with a serious illness for nearly 10 years, Tana knows only too well what a difference a loving family makes.
“Many organisations abandon the children in their care once they reach the age of majority, but just like my own parents, SOS Children’s Villages continue to look after its children until they are fully ready to live independently, even if illness or other factors mean that this point does not neatly coincide with their 19th birthday.
“SOS Children’s Villages also provides health care facilities for the whole community if none currently exist, so what better way to celebrate my return to health than to make a journey that could help others enjoy good health too?” she said.
Tana’s journey began in Whitehorse last June, and now, over 2,500 km later, she will arrive in Clearwater on Tuesday, March 15. She would love to know what you think is special about Clearwater, so go to http://tanasilverland.wordpress.com, click on ‘The Place you Call Home’, and let her know!
And if you would like to help provide an orphan somewhere in the world with a place that they can call home too, visit the SOS Children’s Villages website (http://www.soschildrensvillages.ca) and click on ‘You Can Help’.