Tri-City News: Pedal to the mettle for a local woman

Coquitlam’s Christine Yeung strapped on her helmet yesterday and went for a bike ride. To Mexico. She’ll have about 20 friends with her, mainly university students or recent grads, who will test their mettle on the pedal for five weeks to raise awareness of and money for Agents of Change. The B.C.-based non-profit organization (www.agentsofchange.ca) funds micro-credit initiatives in developing countries so local entrepreneurs can start businesses. Yeung, a 22-year-old who recently graduated from UBC with a psychology degree and works at a Vancouver accounting firm, said the idea of Riding to Break the Cycle caught her attention as an “amazing” opportunity.

“But first and foremost,” she said, “I’m participating because I think the cause is very innovative — it’s a sustainable solution to poverty.” Agents of Change’s micro-lending gives entrepreneurs in developing communities — people who rarely have the kind of employment history, credit record or collateral for a traditional bank loan — a trust-based loan to develop their business idea. It eliminates the start-up debt entrepreneurs are often plagued with, allowing them to get the business started, make a living and then repay the loan.

The organization hopes to build a $1-million micro-credit fund along with its partner group Kiva, a U.S.-based non-profit that connects individual lenders with borrowers who have posted their stories and business goals online (www.kiva.org).

Yeung volunteers with the Lower Mainland Brain Injury Association and has been interested in contributing at a global level but didn’t know how to go about it. “Issues such as global poverty can be a fair bit intimidating,” she said. “How do you go about tackling such an issue? How can an individual like myself go about making changes at a global level? This gave me an opportunity to go beyond the community level and look at communities on an international level.”

Only problem is, Yeung doesn’t consider herself much of a cyclist. The group has been getting together for weekend rides of about 50 km but, during the trip, they expect to average about 100 km each day. Yeung admits that the trip is “kind of a crazy idea” but she’s confident in her ability to cycle the full 3,000 km to Tijuana. “I really don’t know what to expect with the bike ride, but I’m up for the challenge and I’m looking forward to it.” spayne@tricitynews.com