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At Muripotana Health Centre in Nampula, midwife Ancha Amido Abdala used to begin every night shift in darkness, with no lights, no power, and no possibility of admitting patients after dark. In 2022 that changed, when Alongside Hope and partner EHALE installed a Solar Suitcase—a bright yellow, wall‑mounted box powered by solar panels. Inside, it holds LED lights, a fetal Doppler, headlamps, phone chargers and a thermometer.

Abdala says it made an immediate difference. “There was no way to handle medical materials in the dark,” she recalls. After lighting went live, women began coming to the clinic at night; births increased, and transparency improved because the patients’ companions could follow procedures clearly.

“I gave birth at night,” said one new mother. “I felt very happy because I could see what the nurse was doing.” In districts with installations, night‑time births rose by about 17 percent, and more than 80,000 babies have been safely delivered since 2016, thanks to the installation of 80 Solar Suitcases across the province. The suitcases are made by We Care Solar.

Now in 2025, the Wild Ride aims to raise $52,000 – enough for eight solar more suitcases. Thanks to a generous donor, all funds will be matched. So for every solar suitcase that is funded, another will be added.

The Wild Ride is part of a larger initiative to provide 35 Solar Suitcases in Mozambique and 14 Solar Suitcases in Madagascar. The Coming Alongside Hope with Light project has a total budget of $320,000. All donations will be matched, up to $150,000, so $170,000 needs to be raised to ensure all 49 suitcases will be installed. The Wild Ride has attracted fundraisers of all kinds from coast to coast. A veteran cyclist of the Wild Ride and its predecessor, the Ride for Refuge, Bishop Lynne McNaughton of the Diocese of Kootenay is ditching her bike this year in favour of walking 200 km. “I walk a fast 2 km up into the orchards near my house, a steep climb up onto the ‘bench’ where I can see a stunning view of Okanagan Lake. One Saturday at the end of the summer I'm inviting people to join me for a 5 or 10 km walk in a forest park in Kelowna.” Bishop Lynne was inspired to get involved when seeing the Solar Suitcase demonstration at General Synod. “The suitcases are a brilliant design, portable and practical. They meet such a crucial need. I love walking and walk anyway so why not make that walk count for joining God in God’s work of mending the world.”

Also in the Diocese of Kootenay, Andrew Stephens-Rennie will walk 450 km in Rossland, B.C.

At St. Timothy’s in 100 Mile House, B.C., the name says it all. Shelby Byer is organizing parishioners to walk 100 miles. And Joy Gothard is spearheading the Kamloops WaySeekers of St. Paul’s Cathedral as she rides her e-bike from kamloop to St. Peter’s in Monte Creek five times (200 km). She also plans to host a walk in the alpine meadows of Sun Peaks. Located in the Territory of the People, the people of St. Timothy’s and St. Paul’s are following in the footsteps of their Bishop, Clara Plamondon.

Bishop Clara is creating 50 prayer flags. “I love the idea of creating a visual symbol of our prayer for the people and communities that will be supported and helped through this initiative,” she says. “I will be making the prayer flags from various fabrics and colours with a focus on Mozambique and Madagascar. As I create the flags, I will be taking time to learn about these two countries, their culture and ways. I will be praying specifically for those who will benefit from the gift of these solar suitcases.”

This connection between prayer and action is important to Bishop Clara. “The Wild Ride allows us to join our shared mission and ministry efforts with the global community. I have wanted to do something for the Wild Ride for quite some time, and I wanted to encourage others to do the same. My inspiration is Betty Davidson from Yukon who is known for crocheting baby blankets for Wild Ride. She reminded me that there are many creative ways to raise funds for this important work.”

Indeed, Betty Davidson has been crocheting baby blankets for the Wild Ride for many years and intends to again make 10 this year. “The solar suitcases provide the light needed to help mothers give birth safely and give them security and confidence,” says Davidson. “During the year, I make baby blankets for those having babies, or who have family members or friends throughout Canada having babies.”

Having a safe birth hits home for Davidson. “I was medivaced to Whitehorse when my son was born and I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been to have been in the situation I was in, if there had been no light and no electricity. I really want to be a part of helping Alongside Hope in their desire to help the mothers, doctors and nurses of Mozambique and Madagascar.”

On the east coast, the team from the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador has participants kayaking and hiking. Maxine Drover is Hiking for Hope and Christine Lynch is kayaking 200 km.

These efforts will make a big difference for midwives like Abdala. The Solar Suitcase is a tool that transforms the quality of care. She explains that even during suturing, the room is bright enough to explain and demonstrate each step to women and their companions. In one emergency, the light made it possible to resuscitate a preterm baby that wasn’t crying and begin immediate skin‑to‑skin contact with the mother.

That visibility builds trust. “At first, community members didn’t always respect me,” Abdala says. “But when they saw what I could do with the Solar Suitcase, attitudes changed. Now almost everyone respects my work.” Even clinics that already have inconsistent grid power benefit from the solar backup. Abdala adds, “I ask that this be provided to other centres—even those connected to the grid—because electricity alone isn’t always enough.”

How to Help

It’s not too late to join the Wild Ride and help provide clinics with renewable energy in Mozambique and Madagascar! The Wild Ride continues until the end of October and anyone can take part—a group or an individual. Walk, cycle, knit, bake, paddle, pray, sing – choose any activity you enjoy. Register as an individual or as a team and help us raise funds for eight solar suitcases—which will become 16 with a matching gift!

Register today at AlongsideHope.com/Wild-Ride. And if you have any questions or need help, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Kim Umbach at kumbach@alongsidehope.org

Can’t join the Wild Ride this year? You can still help provide solar energy in Mozambique and Madagascar. Give at alongsidehope.org/wild-ride.

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With my arrival in the parish in September of 2021, I quickly fell in love with this building, but most of all with its people—the true Church. As I got to know the handful of people who attend worship, I was quick to discover that one could not only easily spiritually feed the people present, but that the people present also spiritually feed their priest! To put it in terms of employment: to go to Howley is literally taking a vacation in the middle of a workday. As the liturgical year began to change from Advent to Lent in that first year, and then to the best season of all—Easter—to be in the oldest church of the three churches under the patronage of the Ascension that I am aware of (Church of the Ascension, Wiltondale, and Church of the Ascension, Mount Pearl), I knew it just had to be celebrated all the more on the fortieth day after the Feast of the Resurrection. In my time of being a priest, I have always celebrated the Feast of the Ascension on the day on which it falls—a Thursday. The lectionary website of the Anglican Church of Canada states the following:

Of the seven Principal Feasts of our church, three occur on a Sunday: Easter, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. Further, the BAS provides for one to be anticipated—Epiphany—and one to be transferred—All Saints. Although many worshipers will no longer come to a weekday service, Christmas is an exception and so has been retained on the day of the week on which it falls. This leaves Ascension as the only Principal Feast that is no longer widely observed. Although many Anglicans and Roman Catholics were reluctant to “give up” on the expectation that the Ascension Thursday services would be well observed, most have now realised that the transfer to Sunday is inevitable. The Canadian Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops allowed Ascension to be observed on the Sunday over twenty years ago. Many Canadian Anglican parishes already observe Ascension Sunday instead of the Sunday after Ascension. This ordo makes provision for this. This day is always kept as Ascension Day and if it is also observed on Sunday then this is in addition to its observance today.

Well, in the Parish of Deer Lake, at the Church of the Ascension, we celebrate the Principal Feast of the Ascension on the day on which it falls. We do so with a celebratory and spirit-filled atmosphere, and a good number of people make the pilgrimage from Deer Lake to Howley (which is a return trip of 93 km) with the good possibility of seeing the offspring of those first moose that were introduced back in 1904. With the celebration of the Holy Eucharist using the propers for the Feast of Dedication, we worship and pray around the font, the lectern, the pulpit, and the altar. After the conclusion of the liturgy, we go to the Howley Community Center and continue our celebration with, in good Anglican fashion—TEA!

It is said that after doing something for two years, it becomes tradition. I am proud to say that the pilgrimage to the Church of the Ascension for the Feast of the Ascension, falling on a Thursday, is a highlight not only for the congregation of Howley but for the whole of the Parish of Deer Lake!

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This past June, I was part of a delegation that traveled to Kenya. So many of our partners appreciate the simplicity of the name and how much easier it is to remember (there were still ‘insiders’ who got the acronym mixed up, even toward the end). Yet, the name is much more than an easy-to-remember title. For many years now, our emphasis has been on working with partners, truly coming alongside, walking, discussing, and sharing this journey with others, which follows so very much the example of Jesus walking alongside the disciples on the road to Emmaus. And as we journey together, as we learn from each other and share, we plant seeds of hope. Hope is not wishy-washy thinking; it is one of the three Christian virtues which Paul says will abide and which he says is produced by character, which is in turn produced through suffering and endurance. It is something we need and something we cling to when all else seems lost. “Hope,” said Desmond Tutu, “is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

The “Wild Ride” campaign for 2025 has been launched, and this year, the proceeds go towards solar suitcases. Members of General Synod this past June would have been able to see a demonstration of a solar suitcase. Its premise is simple and a testament to human ingenuity. For families in off-grid parts of Mozambique and Madagascar, nighttime deliveries can be challenging and even dangerous. Connected to a solar panel on the roof of a clinic, the suitcase contains power outlets for portable lights, a headlamp, a fetal Doppler (a hand-held ultrasound used to detect the fetal heartbeat), and cell phone chargers. Medical attendants have the tools they need to support women through labour and delivery, especially at night. Alongside Hope is our new name, but our ministry remains the same—we walk and work alongside each other to bring hope to our hurting world. That says it all.

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Pictured below from left to right are: Archdeacon Amanda Taylor accepting the gifts from COTGS vestry members Christine Greene and Rhonda Noseworthy.

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Pictured above, receiving certificates on June 1st, 2025, from left to right are: Fred Tulk (facilitator), Evelyn Benson, Jane McDonald, Marie Snow, Kay Billard, Josie Dyke, the Rev’d Karen Mitchell, Shirley Jackman, the Rev’d Eli Evans. Unavoidably absent that day were: Sarah and Wayne Dawe, Wayne Andrews, and Viola Bemister.

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In harmony and fellowship with affiliated teams of the ACW, choir, altar guild, and the congregation at large, it’s been a busy time, but an exceptionally rewarding journey. The many spiritual and holy occasions listed in our Church calendar were all recognized and duly celebrated with worship, thanksgiving, food, and fellowship.

On the secular spectrum, such as the fall fair, the flea market, the Holly Tea, and take-out dinners, events were similarly celebrated, all relevant to the sustainability of our mission to the glory of God.

We are now winding down to make way for a brief diversion into a summer hiatus, which began with a closing dinner at Ye’s Wok on Topsail Road on May 12th, where our altar guild, ACW, choir, and Canon Jotie and Pauline all gathered for a relaxing time, sharing food and informal conversation.

As I write this, I have just witnessed an estimated 200 people file past the wrought-iron gate of the cemetery, emerging from the flower service. Rain threatened but held off, and made way for brilliant sunshine. Music echoed throughout, and speakers enabled the multitude to hear the service loud and clear. Canon Jotie delivered a message of encouragement and hope in his usual inspirational way.

Again this year, our Old Heritage Church was painstakingly prepared for the regular summer Eucharist service on July 20th. We look forward to greeting the many visitors, as well as the local residents, who join us in celebration of this annual summer worship.

Then, just like a fleeting moment, the fall season is catching up with us, and with it regular activities are prepared and will be embraced.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. For man does not know his time.”

—Ecclesiastes 9:10, 12

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