By Ken Herar
On May 25th the Cycling4Diversity team will be finishing its annual ride at the Mission Sikh Temple at 630pm and the public is welcome to attend the closing where food (Langar) and a little of history of Sikhism will be presented and tours. I often have been asked by community members for tours of the temple and I thought this year we would wrap our journey there and encourage visitors to come and ask questions. The sole purpose of this gathering during Cycling4Diversity Week in British Columbia and the District of Mission from May 20th-26th is for Canadians to reach out in their neighbourhoods, workplaces and schools and break barriers and make new friends from different religious and cultural groups. As a columnist coming up on 23 years I have been constantly hearing that our diversity is divided and as a population grows it will get more difficult to correct. This is one of our primary goals of the C4D ride is to gently encourage young and seniors to embark on intercultural relationships. One thing, I do notice some people can be quick to point fingers at each other rather than finding solutions. For example, some automatically assume our team is speaking about racism and the Caucasian folks are always the culprits. That is not the case, actually when it comes to racism, which we speak about on the ride every group has a finger in the cookie jar and know one group is more racist than the other and its not just a Caucasian issue. When it comes to ethnic soccer or sports leagues I am totally against it. Sports, is the easiest way for young people to get to know each other and at a young age this is extremely important. Cycling4Diversity seeks to foster intercultural relationships by encouraging students and citizens to expand their circle of friends and connecting with people from various backgrounds by showing respect for differences and encouraging inclusion in their schools and communities
Every year, for the past seven years we have been honoured to do this ride and speak to thousands and thousands of students along the way and I believe we have made a difference in communities in British Columbia. Everyone is always welcomed to join our team. It’s about delivering an important message of inclusivity and also having fun doing so. The purpose is also to provide young students to become diversity leaders and a voice in their communities.
Sundeep Kaur said, “ At Khalsa School Mission our educational guiding principal is based off the Sikh concept of prem(unconditional love). This unconditional love for God is expressed be seeing all as one.
We teach our students to not see anyone for their color, gender or race but to see a human heart and to accept everyone. Additionally love for God is expressed by taking care of nature, our school is situated on 160 acres in Miracle Valley, our students maintain and learn from their environment.
I have been involved now with camps for 25 years and have seen the Sikh community grow and develop into a nation that is giving more without asking for any acknowledgement. My aim is to encourage young minds to excel in their academics and professions so that they can become integral members of the community at large. I view every child as a future leader and want to help unlock their potential.
We will be helping host the closing ceremonies at the Mission Temple on May 25th, our students will be hosting tours, providing explanations, and performing religious hymns for our guests to enjoy.”
Ken “Kulwinder” Herar is a Mission-based writer and a winner of the champions of diversity award for his columns in the LINK newspaper and other Fraser Valley newspapers. Herar can be reached at [email protected] or view his blog at http://www.kenherar.blogspot.com
