Imagine driving a low powered go-kart across more than 3,000 miles of the most dangerous roads on the planet.
This is how UCF graduate Cedric Dahl describes the charity rickshaw race he is participating in to help raise awareness of the human trafficking problem across India.
“The choices ranged from golf to making the world a wee bit better … so I thought I’d take a crack at the latter,” said Dahl, describing how he went from a job with Microsoft at the ripe age of 28 to riding a rickshaw across India.
While searching for charitable adventures he met Chris Keller, a study-abroad student at Mannheim University and pre-med student at San Diego State, who introduced him to the idea of “charity adventuring” and informed Dahl about the Rickshaw Rally.
The race began April 17 at 10 a.m. Dahl joined with Keller and documentarian Daniel Gonzales. They began their journey in the town of Cochin.
They will be traveling 3,300 miles from Cochin deep into the northeast city of Meghalaya.
An auto rickshaw seats one person comfortably, generates seven horsepower and has a top speed of around 33 mph.
When asked by organizers to choose a team name, one of the boys yelled out “Rabbit Foot” in hopes of bringing them some luck.
Altogether there are 72 teams in the charity adventure from all parts of the world.
“It seems our shared madness knows no limits and doesn’t discriminate by race or region,” Dahl said.
As soon as the boys took off they immediately got lost. They quickly realized how insane driving in India really is.
Dahl describes the driving rules in India as people going forward as fast as they can while simply trying to not kill each other. They were run off the road several times before realizing it was normal.
After six days and near-death experiences virtually occurring hourly, Dahl and his team no longer get adrenaline rushes right before oncoming traffic almost kills them.
So why do it?
Because it’s for a cause. These three adventurers are trying to raise awareness of human trafficking and are doing so by raising funds. So far after six days and traveling 1,056 miles, they have raised $1,254.
Human trafficking victimizes more children in India than anywhere else in the world, according to rickshawadventure.com.
Dahl feels that there is no point of life without freedom, which human trafficking steals from individuals.
Although human trafficking is illegal in the country, enforcement is extremely weak due to the limitations of the country’s judicial system. This has resulted in substantial trafficking in woman and children within India and its borders.
Dahl and his team are making sure to raise the awareness of this growing issue by informing everyone about their cause.
Dahl graduated from UCF in 2007 with a BSBA in Management of Information Systems. He was possessed to live out his dreams while he was still young and capable and began to do so in the Rickshaw Rally.
“Our core values are people, freedom and creativity. The human trafficking problem affects people and their freedom. Our team is using a bit of creativity to help people gain their freedom. So this problem touches on all three of our core values,” Dahl said.
Help fight human trafficking by visiting rickshawadventure.com, which allows individuals to make a pledge and donate funds, which go directly to the International Justice Mission to combat slavery and forced prostitution. Together they have raised more than $45 million.