During the month of July, Mila Miguel, a three-time first-team OUA volleyball all-star for the Varsity Blues, walked from St. Jean Pied de Port, a small town of less than 1,500 people in the south of France, across the entire northern coast of Spain, ending her journey in Cape Finisterre. The distance covered 870 kilometres and took Miguel 34 days to complete.
For the first 780 km, her trip followed a historic pilgrim route, the El Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James). She then continued for another 90 km to the aforementioned Cape Finisterre, which in ancient times was considered to be the end of the flat world.
Miguel’s pilgrimage aimed to raise money and awareness for Athletes For Africa, a campaign committed to the promotion and protection of human rights. The organization works to provide education and opportunities to empower youth in Africa. Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and WNBA all-star Tammy Sutton-Brown are among those already on board besides Miguel.
Only a few days after returning from her trip, which included stops in London, England and her home town of Victoria, B.C., I had a chance to speak with her about her experience.
THE VARSITY: You left for London, England only a few days after finishing up your first year nursing exams. Why did you start in your trip there?
MILA MIGUEL: London was a place between the old, comfortable surroundings of home and the new, exciting adventures of my upcoming pilgrimage. It was a great buffer zone. I had a good friend and old teammate at my side and we saw everything there is to see in London.
TV: Why did you want to be an Athlete for Africa?
MM: Volleyball was a huge part of everything in university for me. But after five years I had a volleyball void to fill. The values instilled in me from sports are the same ones Athletes For Africa look for, which makes it a wonderful fit.
TV: How bad were the blisters on your trip?
MM: Everyone had blisters. The climb up the first day was 1200 meters, followed by an 800 m drop the second day. Your feet swell up in your shoes and by the end of the first week I had blisters on four toes and my heels burned with the heat. The people were so helpful. Everyone kind of had their own home remedies to help cure the blisters. One of them was to have a thread running in and out of the blister so that it would absorb everything and you wouldn’t have to remove the skin.
TV: What about snoring? Some of hostels you stayed in must have had quite a few snorers.
MM: The hostels had anywhere from five or six beds to a couple hundred. I didn’t have earplugs at first, but quickly got them. The snoring was like a symphony: there would be like three people snoring, four people laughing. One German man named Paul told me about his desperate attempt to make earplugs in the dark with toilet paper and Vaseline. [The snoring] ended up being really funny.
TV: You mentioned how hard the walk was on your feet several times in your blog (http://asmallwalkforabigcause.blogspot.com/). Did you ever consider biking the route at all?
MM: Well, the bikers could do the route in eight to 12 days. But I realized how happy I was to do the Camino by foot instead of bike. These two Americans [who biked] had been on the road for eight days, traveled the same distance, and had not met nearly the same number of people nor did they have as many stories to share.
TV: What were your favourite moments?
MM: The people made it worthwhile; the camaraderie and support from strangers. There were so many stories of people wanting to give up, but it wasn’t like you were seen as a big failure. We would support people as far as they could make it and if they felt they couldn’t go any further there would be no pressure on them to continue on.
Everyone had their own reasons for the pilgrimage: [to give] thanks for life, or they once were ill, badly injured, or for soul-searching, religious reasons, etc. We always were of the attitude of whatever you decide to do on the journey, don’t stress over it. You’ve come as far as you can. You should be proud of the journey you’ve completed.
[One woman who contemplated quitting] went with me and some other friends I had made for a bit, but we lost her and thought she was done. One day I was making CDs so I could exchange photos with someone else and she walked through the doors! I wanted her to make it so badly. That showed me how useful friendship is to people. Sometimes you need a reminder of how important friendship is.
TV: So how do plan on filling the volleyball void now?
MM: After I complete my Nursing degree I’d love to go to Africa and help out. I also want to complete my Master’s in International Global Health.
