Only three weeks to goa dozen members of the Silves Rotary Club, with a total age of about 850 years old, depart for a six-day hike of 120 kilometers, for the Portuguese Way from Valença to Santiago de Compostela, and preparations continue.
After the heat of summer, the group is now meeting again for a seven kilometer walk (from the Odelouca junction along the Arade River), once again organized by Philippe Pfister, to prepare the members of the Rotary Club of Silves for this challenge, which aims to raise funds to build a “sensory room” and a garden for children with autism and trisomy 21 from the Agrupamento de Escolas de Silves Sul.
This is not the first time that Philippe, in his mid-60s, has made the journey. A few years ago, he made the journey from France to Santiago with his family. According to the Rotary Club of Silves, Philippe is thus «the main stimulus and support for the older members of the group and with health problems».
“I am a new member of Rotary, I retired a few years ago from a long international career with roles in the direction of operations. My focus has always been to develop a group purpose in order to achieve goals through intense teamwork. I have never stopped exercising and for the last 10 years I walk daily”, he says.
Petra Vahle-Francis, of the same age, is also one of the hikers. After 30 years of playing classical music, she arrived at World Peace Academy at the University of Basel (Switzerland), together with my husband I founded the “Corritors of Peace”, an organization in Switzerland that feeds refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and many others who live on the margins of society. Fortunately, without major health issues, I had a major fall 5 years ago. I'm not as well as I used to be”, she says.
Still, she still wants to be a pilgrim.
«Since 2002 it has been my intention to make the way to Santiago de Compostela, but the right time and group had not yet come up. On a visit to one of the Silves Rotary Club meetings, I was lucky enough to hear an inspiring presentation by Philippe Pfister, who had prepared all the logistics and support information on the way to Santiago de Compostela. for the purpose of raising funds for children with learning difficulties. I feel that it is a golden opportunity to talk to people with the same sensitivity and I feel grateful to be able to participate in this noble project”, he says.
On this path, each pilgrim will represent and have the support of a group of students from the Agrupamento Escolas Silves Sul. Progress and events along the way will be shared on the GoFundMe page “Help Pilgrims Change Kids Lives”.
With this initiative, the pilgrims of the Rotary Club of Silves expect to reach a total of 20 thousand euros in donations, which will be 100% destined to the transformation of the old classroom and garden.
Comments