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There are no lazy summer afternoons in store for Stefany Feliciano ’06 (Forest Hills, N.Y.) and Viktorija Gecyte ’08 (Vilnius, Lithuania) when classes end. The two students will embark on a 3,800-mile bicycle trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. to benefit Global Exchange, an international human rights organization. The ride begins June 9 and ends August 15.
The 25 participants in Feliciano and Gecyte’s group will travel through ten states focusing on the empowerment of marginalized communities. They will meet with indigenous communities in California, Nevada, and Utah; gay and lesbian organizations in Colorado; gay and lesbian and progressive groups in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio; and youth and anti-drug organizations in West Virginia and Virginia.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn how different organizations across the U.S. are working with marginalized groups, specifically with Native Americans, gays and lesbians, abused youth, and low-income and homeless people of color,” says Feliciano, a double major in English and art. “I identify with many of these groups. As a Colombian-American immigrant and daughter of two struggling, hard-working, and non-English speaking immigrants, I can understand what it means to be marginalized. I understand the difficulties of many minorities, like myself, in getting a good education and being able to pay for your roof and to put food on the table, to be able to live in a safe, healthy, and abuse-free environment.”
Feliciano first became aware of Global Exchange’s Bike-Aid program two years ago through her work with the LandisCommunityOutreachCenter. Intimidated by the prospect of raising $3,800, Feliciano decided against applying. She changed her mind when a friend from La SalleUniversity encouraged her to reconsider and decided to enroll as well.
It didn’t take much convincing for Feliciano to recruit Gecyte, an economics and business major, who made the decision in one evening.
“I was fascinated with the idea, asked a lot of questions, and by the end of the night, Stef called the Bike-Aid office to tell them she had recruited another rider,” Gecyte recalls. “It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions.”
The funds each rider must raise help defray the costs of transporting belongings, food, and repaying hosts. A portion of the money also goes toward other Global Exchange programs. Feliciano and Gecyte have received donations from Lafayette faculty, administrators, alumni, and scholarship donors.
Members of the Lafayette community are pitching in to help Feliciano and Gecyte meet their fundraising requirements. A jazz ensemble will perform 4 p.m. April 30 at First Presbyterian Church, 333 Spring Garden Street, Easton. Cost is $10. Band members include Gecyte, vocals; Sean Gough ’09 (North Plainfield, N.J.), piano; philosophy major Greg Martin ’08 (Chappaqua, N.Y.), tenor sax; Pat D. Kelley ’09 (Shillington, Pa.), bass; and John O’Keefe, director of academic technology services, drums.
Both Feliciano and Gecyte are eager to participate in the ride and meet with people from a variety of experiences and socio-economic backgrounds throughout the nation.
“I am excited about the trip, although I doubt if excitement is a strong enough word to describe it,” says Gecyte. “I feel that I have no idea what I am getting myself into. I have hardly touched a bike since I left Lithuania two years ago, and I have never done anything as physically challenging. What attracts me the most, however, is not just riding, traveling and sightseeing, but the opportunity of meeting the local people, talking to them, asking them questions, volunteering with various local organizations, and learning many things that I am probably not even aware of right now.”
“I want to be closely engaged with the people that I meet across the U.S. this summer as well as my fellow riders,” adds Feliciano. “This is a life-changing journey. To be able look at the U.S. from a different perspective – on a bicycle, which is an environmentally conscious form of transportation – is a tremendous privilege. I want to learn, have conversations, listen, and bring back all the experiences and knowledge of this summer to my community and share that knowledge, to apply it to my life. I’m a dreamer and I will continue to dream for peace and a better future for all of us. I will continue to do as much as I can to foster progressive change.”
Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic, and environmental justice around the world. Founded in 1988, it increases public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. This is the 21st annual Bike-Aid event.
For more information or to sponsor the riders, contact Feliciano or Gecyte.