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Father/daughter team bike for Women’s Literacy School

“I’m so happy he’s into it. I’m super proud of him.” Emily Falk

A fundraising father/daughter bike trip has raised close to $5,000 for a worthy charity with more donations coming in.

Emily Falk, and dad, Don, meat manager at the Rimbey Co-op, rode their bikes from Red Deer to Linden, near Three Hills and back, to raise the money for the RAJO Women’s Literacy School, a program of the Global Enrichment Foundation.

The pair left Aug. 26, spent the night in Linden and returned Aug. 27.

“It was a great experience,” said Falk, who rode to Canmore with her dad last year to raise money for the same worthy cause.

“We had a little bit of rain and a strong headwind slowed us down, but for the most part the sun was shining.”

She said having her dad join her on her fundraising missions is wonderful.

“I’m so happy he’s into it. I’m super proud of him.”

The RAJO school provides beginner, intermediate and advanced English language instruction to 75 Somali refugee women residing in Eastleigh, Nairobi and Kenya. The word rajo means hope in Somali, which is what the school provides to these women who have fled their homeland have lost their family and community support.”

Weekday classes at the school offer basic computer skills training, open discussions regarding health and nutrition, parenting, conflict resolution and how to deal with the challenges Somali women face as refuges.

The classes provide participants with a chance to become literate in the English language, thereby increasing their knowledge and understanding of one of Kenya’s official languages.

Anyone who is interested in supporting RAJO may donate through Emily Falk’s page at http://www.hopeforthenations.com.  Cheques payable to Hope for the Nations re-RAJO will also be accepted and can be mailed to Emily Falk at Box 1145, Rimbey, AB TOC 2JO.