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Sailor trades peak cap for helmet
Stephanie Burr
Staff writer
September 10, 2007
When Capt Nichola Goddard was killed during a battle in the Panjwai district in southern Afghanistan on May 17, 2006, the effects of her death were deeply felt by a naval officer at CFB Esquimalt. On that day, the Taliban claimed Lt(N) Mitch Rivest’s best friend, and, as grief consumed his innocence, his joy of life.
“That terrible day, although I didn’t recognize it at the time, changed my life forever,” he says.
He struggled for months over his personal loss, and the world’s apathy for the injustice in Afghanistan. That is, until the day he decided to do something about it.
Armed with a memory and a motorcycle, he decided to pack his saddle bags and ride around the world for charity, not just any charity, but his own — Goal: Aid In Afghanistan (GAIA).
“After Nichola’s death, everything in my life seemed so trivial, something had to change,” he says. “I needed to personally do something about it.”
His start date, Sept. 11, is no fluke, and his charity is equally as purposeful.
“I focused on the one other thing I really knew would help: education,” he writes on his blog at www.aidinafghanistan.blogspot.com. “I knew I could contribute in this way. I could fight to educate people for a better order in a nearly failed part of the world. This was my path.”
His goal is to raise $200,000 for women’s education in Afghanistan during his 14-month two-wheeled expedition.
In order to be fully committed to his newly formed charity, he left the navy, and bought a map of the world.
“I wanted to make this trip on my own accord and be responsible for my own decisions,” he says.
He sold most of his possessions, except for his BMW motorcycle, and liquidated his assets to pay for the trip. He’ll be riding with friends LS Gord McKiver and charity co-founder Michelle Hospedales to Mexico, and then he’ll go it solo.
“I suppose this trip is also a medium for me to start to understand what I am about, and what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m just not sure how to figure that all out yet,” he says.
To get his motorcycle from continent to continent he’ll drain the gas, disconnect the battery and package it in a crate. “On this trip I only have to do it three times: Panama to Colombia, Buenos Aires to South Africa, and Japan to North America.”
The trip is planned to last 14 months with Rivest scheduled to return to Canada in the fall of 2008. Once back on home soil, he plans to travel across the country giving motivational talks.
“I want to use my experiences as a platform to educate and raise awareness of the plight of women in underdeveloped countries, and how anyone really can do anything they set their mind to,” he says.
To donate to GAIA, and to follow Rivest’s trip across the globe, go to www.aidinafghanistan.org/home
Stephanie Burr
Staff writer
September 10, 2007
When Capt Nichola Goddard was killed during a battle in the Panjwai district in southern Afghanistan on May 17, 2006, the effects of her death were deeply felt by a naval officer at CFB Esquimalt. On that day, the Taliban claimed Lt(N) Mitch Rivest’s best friend, and, as grief consumed his innocence, his joy of life.
“That terrible day, although I didn’t recognize it at the time, changed my life forever,” he says.
He struggled for months over his personal loss, and the world’s apathy for the injustice in Afghanistan. That is, until the day he decided to do something about it.
Armed with a memory and a motorcycle, he decided to pack his saddle bags and ride around the world for charity, not just any charity, but his own — Goal: Aid In Afghanistan (GAIA).
“After Nichola’s death, everything in my life seemed so trivial, something had to change,” he says. “I needed to personally do something about it.”
His start date, Sept. 11, is no fluke, and his charity is equally as purposeful.
“I focused on the one other thing I really knew would help: education,” he writes on his blog at www.aidinafghanistan.blogspot.com. “I knew I could contribute in this way. I could fight to educate people for a better order in a nearly failed part of the world. This was my path.”
His goal is to raise $200,000 for women’s education in Afghanistan during his 14-month two-wheeled expedition.
In order to be fully committed to his newly formed charity, he left the navy, and bought a map of the world.
“I wanted to make this trip on my own accord and be responsible for my own decisions,” he says.
He sold most of his possessions, except for his BMW motorcycle, and liquidated his assets to pay for the trip. He’ll be riding with friends LS Gord McKiver and charity co-founder Michelle Hospedales to Mexico, and then he’ll go it solo.
“I suppose this trip is also a medium for me to start to understand what I am about, and what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m just not sure how to figure that all out yet,” he says.
To get his motorcycle from continent to continent he’ll drain the gas, disconnect the battery and package it in a crate. “On this trip I only have to do it three times: Panama to Colombia, Buenos Aires to South Africa, and Japan to North America.”
The trip is planned to last 14 months with Rivest scheduled to return to Canada in the fall of 2008. Once back on home soil, he plans to travel across the country giving motivational talks.
“I want to use my experiences as a platform to educate and raise awareness of the plight of women in underdeveloped countries, and how anyone really can do anything they set their mind to,” he says.
To donate to GAIA, and to follow Rivest’s trip across the globe, go to www.aidinafghanistan.org/home
