by Heather Pennie
MANITOWANING—When Danielle Berman rode her bicycle up to Assiginack Public School last Thursday, she brought with her a powerful message. Her message was one of hope; that mental illness can be overcome.
The Ontario woman began her journey this summer in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her cycling trip has been in memory of her father, who took his own life when Ms. Berman was a young teen. The purpose of her journey, Ride Away Stigma, has been to encourage discussion about mental health and to break down the stigma associated with mental illness.
Ms. Berman visited the students and staff at Assiginack Public School to share with them details of her mission and her own personal struggles with mental health throughout her life.
Upon her arrival, she was greeted at the school with a spaghetti dinner prepared by teacher Ray Scott and his Grade 4 class. In turn she spoke with each of the classes about both of her journeys; her one with mental illness and the other across Canada on two wheels.
“I wanted to be a voice and help others,” Ms. Berman explained to the Assiginack students. “I realized there’s so much stigma in communities.” She went on to note that she set out from Vancouver on July 15 of this summer to “share my story with people and break down the stigma.”
The students at Assiginack were spellbound by the story of Ms. Berman’s personal struggles as well as the details of her cycling trip across the country. When answering a question from a student about how far she had travelled, she checked her bike’s computer and found she had ridden for 4,140 km to arrive at Assiginack School.
Her powerful message struck a chord with the students. Mya Otosquaiob, a Grade 7 student, felt that Ms. Berman’s message was an important one. “I learned that it’s okay to be depressed—you can get help,” explained Ms. Otosquaiob.
Manitoulin Island was en route to Ms. Berman’s final destination of Hamilton. Upon her arrival in Hamilton, she had plans to ride her late father’s bicycle to the finish, in his memory. Details of her Ride Away Stigma journey, including blog posts about her cycle through Manitoulin, can be found at rideawaystigma.com.