Team Because It's There

Jeffrey Rames
Of Because It's There
On the Rickshaw Run April 2019

Because It's There 14

We turned in our rickshaw (Bernie) today and officially ended our adventure. As we pulled into Fort Kochi the odometer read 4036 kilometers. When we received the rickshaw in Jaislamer the odometer read 36 kilometers. So we drove 4000 kilometers or about 2850 miles. Doing a little research, that is the equivalent of driving from Portland Oregon to Cleveland Ohio. All at about 60 kilometers per hour or about 35 miles per hour. And unlike so many other rickshaw run teams, we never broke down. We punished our rickshaw in so many ways for over two weeks, and it kept going, and going and going. Seeing so much of India from a seat of an open rickshaw was an amazing life experience. We saw so much change in India's landscape, so many people living so many different lives. We saw deserts, mountains, hundreds of farming villages, huge cities, beautiful coastlines, extremely diverse fauna and so many beautiful and kind people and families. Both Liz and I agreed that there was or is no better way to see this country than through an open rickshaw.

So folks, thank you all for following our adventure and a big Thank You to all that donated to Cool Earth and Days for Girls. We/You exceeded our Days for Girls fund raising goal. Thank You. If you can or still want to donate, please point your donation to Cool Earth. If you need help from us to point you in that direction, please let us know.

Liz has created a much more detailed journal of our trip. I am sure she would share it with you all if you would like to hear more details than could be provided here.

Thanks to all of you again.

Elizabeth Greco, Jeff Rames and Bernie

Jeffrey Rames
Of Because It's There
On the Rickshaw Run April 2019

Because It's There 13

Alappuzha, Kerala, India :
We made it back to the houseboat dock about 9:00am this morning. Not a very good nights sleep. The houseboat we rented was not as clean and bug free as we had first thought. We did make it through the night, but not without Liz getting bit by something that left 5 or 6 quarter sized welts all over her body. After a few errands we started our way back north to Kochi, the end point of the Rickshaw Run. The drive took about 3 hours and was primarily along the beach. We pulled in Fort Kochi at about 3:00pm and found a nice hotel. Easy day.

Elizabeth

Jeffrey

Most people think the famous climbing phrase "because it is there" was first uttered by Edmund Hillary when he and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest in 1953. Not so. Actually George Leigh Mallory, three decades earlier, said it as he prepared to scale the world's highest peak. So, this is close....

Cool Earth

The Rickshaw Run is organized by a UK-based group who proudly and successfully fundraises for a charity called Cool Earth. Their mission statement, in short, is, “Cool Earth is the non-profit organization that works alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change….By developing local livelihoods, our mission is to end the cycle of deforestation entrenching villages into further poverty. Creating strong, self-determining communities – not dependency. We are also the only charity that works solely where the threat to the forest is greatest, on the frontline of deforestation. And each of our partnerships forms a shield to make the neighboring forest inaccessible to loggers – saving millions of acres of further forest.” We have indeed chosen to support a second charity - Days for Girls - and to split the donations between the two charities.

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Days For Girls

When we mobilize girls and women, their communities and our world grow stronger. We are changing the status quo, through quality menstrual care solutions, health education, and income-generation opportunities."

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