After traveling to poverty stricken areas in Rwanda, Thailand and the Dominican Republic, youth pastor Bryce Dymond was able to witness, first-hand, the malnutrition, illness, lack of clean drinking water and inadequate education that affect the children living in those areas the hardest. Upon returning to his native Canada, Bryce was shocked and dismayed to discover similar conditions occurred in his own backyard. A visit to a First Nations community in Manitoba provided Bryce with a glimpse into the ways child poverty is prevalent in certain areas of our country. Realizing something had to be done, Bryce conceived of the idea of a cross-country run named One Nation Run, to raise funds and awareness of child poverty in Canada with the backing of World Vision, a charitable organization that has been helping children in need for over 60 years.

Bryce on the road.

Beginning May 1st at Signal Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland and wrapping up at Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC, the run combines aspects of the ‘Terry Fox Marathon of Hope with an Olympic Torch Relay’ component meaning Bryce himself won’t be doing all the running. He has committed to 21 kilometres a day and his running partner, Zaya Kuyena, will be running another 10. The latter, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has also experienced child poverty during his time spent in his native country and jumped at the chance to get involved. In an effort to increase awareness and community participation, locals from each of the town’s the run will pass through are being asked to pick up the remainder of the 71 kilometres a day target.

Bryce, local community participant and Zaya in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Mondetta Clothing has decided to support Bryce and Zaya’s truly admirable goal of raising the public profile of an issue that often times, gets left by the wayside due to the fact many of the problems facing children in need are found in remote areas and not given the public exposure that might spur real change. Mondetta’s sponsorship agreement with the two runners extends to providing all warm up gear for their time spent off the road such as track jackets, pants and sweatshirts.

Zaya and Bryce are joined by local residents from Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

All of us here are proud to be involved in the One Nation Run and wish Bryce, Zaya and the community members who have pledged to run the best of luck on the road!