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145 Spruce St. suite #206
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Cross-Canada bike ride for Burma reaching to final destination

Friends and supporters in Halifax to welcome

For Media Advisory:

OTTAWA [August 5, 2011] - Friends of Burma and local supporters in Halifax are planning to welcome Rod Germaine who has been cycling a cross-Canada for Burma. A welcoming event is planned in front of Dalhousie Law School (University Ave.) at 5pm on August 9 and a reception and public presentations will follow at JUST US COFFEE's Community Room  (5896 Spring Garden Rd.) at 7pm.

Rod and Soe Naing, a fellow cyclist and pro-democracy activist from Burma, started the ride on June 2, 2011 from Vancouver to raise awareness on the situation in Burma and funds vital for refugee and migrant children on Thai-Burma border. They both are key members of Just Aid Foundation (http://www.justaid.ca/) that raises funds in Canada for Mao Tao Clinic on the Thai-Burma border and Back Pack Health Workers Team (BPHWT) that provides cross-border aid to hundreds of thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in eastern parts of Burma.

They have been welcomed by a number of communities and supporters across the country. Daily biking note can be read at http://www.justride2011.com/ and online donation can be made there as well.

In honor of this unprecedented effort for Burma, Canadian Friends of Burma, CUSO-VSO, and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)- Global Justice Committee are working together with local supporters for these welcoming receptions in Halifax.

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For more info, please contact organizers below:

Ian Robinson, local Burma support group
Mobile: 902-444-4501; email: ianrobinson1964@gmail.com

Marian White, Public Engagement Office, CUSO/VSO and CUPE
Mobile:  902-393-4550; toll free: 1-800-676-8411;
Email: marian.white@cuso-vso.org

Or, Tin Maung Htoo, Canadian Friends of Burma
Mobile: 613-297-6835; Email: tinmaunghtoo@cfob.org