Raising funds for Ukrainian refugees along the Camino de Santiago
By Chuck Oldanie, Rotary Club of Seminole Lake, Florida, USA
IIn April, I found myself shoulder to shoulder with dozens of pilgrims hiking along a centuries-old route in Northwest Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. This year more than 500,000 people from across the world hiked some section of the various routes that all end up at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. For most it’s a spiritual journey, that’s also physically challenging as it undulates over different terrain.
With the help of my fellow Rotarian and good friend David Buzza, I put together the journey to raise money for Ukrainian refugee mothers in our community of Seminole near Tampa Bay. We have been supporting them in several ways through a nonprofit, Crisis Connect, founded by another Seminole Rotarian, Terry Collier.
Peace is my passion. I have been involved with peace for many years. In 2012, I worked with Rotary leaders in India, the regional branch of Habitat for Humanity, and Seeds of Peace, a fantastic organization, to bring together 70 youth from India representing three different religions – Hindu, Muslim, and Christian – to build homes in the 105 degree heat. You haven’t experienced anything until you’ve built homes in that kind of heat!
Buzza had walked a much longer section of the Camino starting in France a year ago, raising money for another organization our club supports that runs a food pantry. In October, eager to find another peace effort I could get behind, I got the idea to recruit members of our club to walk a shorter section of the Camino and solicit donations for Ukrainian refugees. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, four other members enlisted to join Buzza and me, along with one spouse and two friends.
With the backing of our entire club, who followed our progress on social media, we completed the 73-mile section from Tui, a town on the border between Spain and Portugal, to Santiago in 7 days, averaging about 10 miles a day. In pledges, we raised over $7,000 for Crisis Connect.
Nothing I’ve ever done body, mind, or soul has been like the Camino. The views are magnificent, the people are all warm and friendly. There’s an entire industry along the trail that caters to pilgrims with shops, hotels, restaurants, and even hospitals. and the camaraderie among hikers is unbelievable. There’s a saying “The Camino will provide.” It’s entirely true. We had different things happen and whenever we needed help along the way, someone would be there to help.
I had taken walks along the beach in advance, but I hadn’t prepared well enough, especially given the issues with my knee. I was 82 at the time, so I created the 82 rule. If you are 82 and your knees go south when you need to go north, you get a taxi.
There was one time going down an incline that my knee went out and the pain was horrific. I needed to get down, and Ed Hallock inched me down sideways. If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done. Things like that will bond you big time.
But we did complete most of the trail on foot and received our certificate of completion. The experience was amazing, and the support of the club was phenomenal. My club has always been “all in” when it comes to service, both internationally and locally. We support 26 local organizations and have multiple international projects. We are a boots-on-the-ground club. If there’s not a way to actively take part, we don’t get involved.
I am hopeful of organizing an even bigger Camino walk in the future perhaps involving Seeds of Peace and other partner organizations. We’d love to do a peace conference along the way, but we’ll see. If you love peace as much as I do or would be interested in helping in such a venture you can contact me at [email protected].
https://blog.rotary.org/2024/07/17/a-pilgrimage-to-remember/