"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been - a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free"
- Starhawk
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Victoria's Second Annual Infertility Awareness Walk
.jpg) May 24th, 2008 was a fabulous Spring Day in Victoria, B.C. for our first annual infertility awareness walk. A crowd began gathering on the Parliament Buildings lawn just before 1 PM. As people arrived many were given t-shirts with “Conceive the Dream: Canadian Infertility Awareness Week, 2008” on the front, and a list of sponsors on the back (including Ferring Pharmaceuticals, EMD Serono, Victoria Fertility Centre, Green Print, Fairway Market, LIFEstreams Wellness, Elements of Health Centre, Vancouver Island Naturopathic and IAAC). The children were given t-shirts, helium balloons to tie to their strollers or around their wrists, IAAC stickers, and bubbles to blow for entertainment along the walk. IAAC posters were turned into large signs that were carried along Government Street. Over 200 Gerber daisies adorned with fertility resource information were handed out to participants. Each walker was instructed to hand them out to the general public along the walk; however there were not enough flowers to go around. We expected 75 people to attend this first walk for infertility awareness, and hoped for 100, but we had OVER 200 PARTICIPANTS!
A local news channel team attended the walk capturing images of our crowd walking along Victoria’s busy streets to Centennial Square. Once the participants arrived at Centennial Square, water, juice, coffee, and snacks were provided. A booth was set up for people to sign one of five different letters encouraging local MLA’s to support the financing of ART. We ran out of letters within minutes. To end what already seemed like a perfect event, Dr. Hudson, our local fertility specialist, addressed the group uniting us with his words.
We are looking forward to another successful walk in 2009! We hope that our event inspires other communities to join in hosting an annual walk in their city next year – it would be wonderful to walk united on the same day across Canada.
If you are interested in sending your MLA a letter supporting the financing of ART, please visit www.iaac.ca/en/lobby and complete one of five letters today! Together we will make a difference!
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