No cars were travelling southbound on Yonge Street this Saturday, as over 2,000 walkers took over the road to hike the 11 kilometres from Lawrence Park to Nathan Phillips Square.
The cause was an event called GuluWalk, the second annual walk to raise awareness of the plight of the Acholi children in northern Uganda. The scope of the walk has grown immensely since last year.
“This is the closest chance for peace in the 20-year history of this conflict,” said co-founder Adrian Bradbury.
The walk was originally started as a two-man statement in July 2005, by Bradbury and co-founder Kieran Hayward. They made headlines for the cause by walking 12.5 kilometres to sleep in front of Toronto City Hall every evening for 31 days. This distance simulates the commute that Ugandan children must make every morning and night to town centers such as Gulu. The Lord’s Resistance Army, a paramilitary group in the region, abducts children outside of these protected city centers, for use as soldiers or sex slaves.
The first public walk in 2005 boasted 15,000 walkers, in 38 cities and 8 countries. This year those numbers doubled, with over 30,000 people walking in 82 cities and 15 countries. The final amount raised in Toronto is over $100,000, and over $500,000 worldwide. This number is expected to keep growing as more people become aware of the cause and continue to donate. The goal is to hit the $1 million mark by the end of the year.
UTSC’s International Development Studies Student Association took part in the walk this year, as well as MP Olivia Chow and Mayor David Miller. Miller emphasized his pride in the fact that so many different people could come together for the cause.
“I’m an Anglican,” Miller said, “but you can go into a mosque and the overall message is the same: it’s about humanity.”
