Around the world for children

Published 3:23 pm Friday, March 6, 2009

Two brothers from Greenbank are peddling and pedaling philanthropy in a big way.

They’re setting off early next month on a two-year, 25,000-mile bicycle trip through 25 countries.

When they get to southern India, sometime next year, they plan to donate all the pledge money they’ve raised to an orphanage.

“The trip could take more like four years,” said Randall Leese, 21, who lives on the family farm in Greenbank. “Everything’s so up in the air. That’s a big part of the adventure.”

He and his brother Andrew, 29, a barber in Bellingham and a computer science graduate of Western Washington University, hope to raise at least $10,000, and perhaps more than $25,000, in pledges from businesses and individuals.

The brothers are paying their own way, an estimated $30,000, so everything raised from pledges will go to the Servi Domini Orphanage in Palayamkottai, India.

The orphanage was founded by Swarna Vongala, who went from college in Iowa to a high-paying job before returning to India in 2001. The orphanage now cares for more than 30 orphans and elderly people rescued from the streets.

“Times are tough here, but they’re a lot tougher over there,” Randall said. “There are 25 million orphans in India.”

The Leese brothers hope to spend at least a month helping out at the orphanage, and plan stops at several other orphanages along the way.

“We have a lot of confidence in our ability to do this,” Randall said.

Starting around April 3, the brothers, each packing 60 pounds of supplies and with a gear trailer in tow, plan to ride their custom-fitted bicycles down the West Coast, across the Southwest and South, then up the East Coast.

From there, they’ll fly or take a boat to Portugal, then travel across to Morocco and back, then east through Europe in time to watch part of the Tour de France bicycle race.

Then it’s on to Great Britain, eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia before heading south to India.

Once they leave the orphanage, they’ll tour Thailand, Laos and China, travel by boat to Japan, then fly home.

If they have money left, they may head south again and do Latin America too, Randall said.

“That may be a sequel to the current trip,” he said. “Maybe we’ll make it another fundraiser.”

“I’m open to whatever happens,” Andrew said. “I’ve heard this kind of thing can become an addiction. Some people don’t want to stop.

“I’m not setting anything in stone,” he added. “I’m not trying to look too far ahead, just far enough to be prudent.”

It’s not the brothers’ first long-distance philanthropic adventure.

Randall raised more than $4,000 for Darfur refugees with a 16-day, 1,800-mile ride from Canada down the West Coast to Mexico.

He also spent more than 10 months backpacking through Mexico and Central America, including two months volunteering at an organic cacao farm in rural Costa Rica.

Andrew is no stranger to Europe and Southeast Asia, and recently completed an eight-day, 1,200-kilometer bicycle trip from Bellingham to Alberta, Canada.

Randall, a 2006 graduate of South Whidbey High School, commutes from his Greenbank home by bicycle a few days a week, an average of 20 miles, rain or shine, to Useless Bay Coffee Co. in Langley, where he works as a barista and coffee roaster.

“The ride balances out the psychological stress of working in the public service industry,” he said. “And

I love riding in the rain.”

He and his siblings are the fourth generation of the family on his father’s side to grow up on the 13-acre farm now owned by their parents, Gerry and Elizabeth Leese.

Sisters Katie, 18, Maria, 15 and Emma, 10, also live at home, but in the family volunteer spirit, Katie and Maria are currently on Shaw Island in the San Juans, helping the Benedictine nuns on their farm.

Brother Michael, 25, is a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, and hopes to join Randall and Andrew on a portion of the trip this summer.

Elizabeth Leese credits her husband, Gerry, with developing the spirit of adventure in their sons through far-reaching outdoor activities they all took part in with the Boy Scouts.

“They’re at a good place in their lives to do this,” she said of her globe-pedaling sons. “It’ll shape their lives, and I trust that they will be fine, but my mother’s heart has a few misgivings.”

She plans to plant a raspberry vine on the day of departure, “and that’s what I’ll tend when I get anxious.”

Randall said his biggest worry, other than that he and Andrew may get sick of each other during the first two weeks, is that their custom bicycles might be stolen.

“We plan to keep them within 15 feet of our bodies at all times,” he said. “But if they are stolen, we’ll buy a couple of junkers and keep going.”

He said their goal is never to walk up a hill, and to navigate the muddy goat trails they expect to encounter in east Asia.

Andrew worries about the traffic in India, getting robbed and mean dogs.

“We’ll have our little cans of pepper spray,” he said.

What he’s looking forward to is riding the high country of Tibet and China, and especially a visit to Japan.

“I’m not worried about getting hurt,” Randall said. “but I’m sure we’ll get some food-borne illnesses along the way.”

The brothers hope to take advantage of an international network for travelers where people offer a warm shower and a meal.

Randall said he has put the University of Washington on hold for the past two or three years, but plans to get there eventually. His interests are broad, but tend toward the humanities, he said.

He agrees with his mother that travel is one of the best of educations.

Randall said there’s no better way to travel than on a bicycle, and he can’t wait to get started on his latest adventure.

“It’s not about finishing the trip,” he said. “It’s about raising money and having experiences along the way.”

A kick-off party for the brothers will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday,

March 15, at Useless Bay Coffee Company on Second Street in Langley.

There’ll be gourmet Indian food, wine, live sitar music and a trip presentation by the Leeses.

Donation is $35. Reservations can be made at the coffee company or by calling 221-4515.

For more information, e-mail Randall at randall@orphanride.org or visit the trip Web site www.orphan

ride.org.