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Two Edmonton Teens Are Fundraising for a War-Torn African Nation by Longboarding 1,350 Miles

Caleb Sinn and Jordan Smith are making a 37-day trek from Edmonton to Portland to raise awareness for Burundi.

Caleb Sinn and Jordan Smith, longboarding their way to America. All photos by Stephan Boissonneault.

A version of this article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Two Edmonton boys are attempting to make a difference in the war-torn country of Burundi, one push at a time. Last Tuesday, Caleb Sinn, 19, and Jordan Smith, 19, embarked on a 1,355 and 37-day longboarding expedition from Edmonton, Alberta, to Portland, Oregon, to raise money and support for the African country.

For the past two months Burundi has been in a state of carnage, fire, and political turmoil centered on President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in the 2015 election, even though the country's constitution restricts president's to two terms. While members of Burundi's constitutional court have said that Nkurunziza's first term does not count due to the fact that he was elected by the parliament and not voters, his critics are demanding that he step down when his current term is up.

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According to the UN, 100,000 refugees have fled the country since violence between protesters and government authorities began in late April.

I followed the Push for Burundi team to their first stop in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, and even in the early going of this particular journey, I understood the determination of these two self-described "pushers."

The idea for Push for Burundi began with Sinn venturing to the country In 2012 with the nonprofit organization Love Works, whose goal is to change the state of global poverty. After his trip, Sinn decided his work with Love Works was not done and eventually ended up living in Burundi for six months while working with local schools and clinics.

"I saw a lot of hope in Burundi," said Sinn. "Being born in one of the best-off countries in the world, I couldn't live a fulfilling life if I didn't give back."

He then discovered that his love for the nation and longboarding could be intertwined and created Push for Burundi. Sinn told Smith about Burundi and asked if he wanted to be part of the team.

"After Caleb told me about the injustice in Burundi and his experience, there was no way I could say no," said Smith.

Since its creation in 2013, the team has accomplished two "pushes"—the first being through the province of Alberta and the second through British Columbia. The team views its first push through Alberta as a learning experience and British Columbia as a whole other beast.

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"When we started our first push through Alberta, we were like, What have we gotten ourselves into? but we pushed on and learned," said Smith. "BC was entirely different and felt way longer and tiresome because of the mountains."

The Push for Burundi van

For safety, the team has a support that is escorting them on their 37-day trek. It works by having the van drive up ahead 100 meters or so while Sinn and Smith push toward it. This year, the team was lucky enough to borrow a van from Sherwood Park Chevrolet.

I watched the two push towards the van on a gravel-covered sidewalk, alternating between who was in front. It seemed like the actual physical act of pushing was somewhat second nature for the two. Both can easily get lost in their own random thoughts while pushing.

"The push is very mental," said Sinn. "It feels like a short amount of time when you get in that rhythm, but the weather or environment can be very straining and discouraging."

Their combined adrenaline mixed with a bit of music was the constant element that maintained their rhythm, though sometimes they were unable to push and had to walk due to the cruel terrain.

Accompanying them this year is local company director of the videography firm the Broken Culture, Andrew Ipe, who plans on creating a documentary about their efforts.

Sinn calls Push for Burundi a grassroots organization based on "sustainable trust" between the team and the citizens of Burundi.

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A Push for Burundi longboard

"It's very much a trust-building thing," said Sinn. "We don't decide where the money goes, but we find Burundian organizations who have built the trust with the people and raise funds for them."

"It's really the best way to go about it," said Smith. "This way it's not like the 'white man is helping them,' but they are helping themselves. We only give them the means."

Since 2013, Push for Burundi has raised $33,900 of their $50,000 goal. The group is working with Love Works to actually move the funds to Burundi. They have even more support this year due to Love Works now being part of the well-known World Vision charity.

Sinn and Smith believe that Push for Burundi is not only a positive way to raise funds for Burundi, but to actually raise awareness for the country.

"Even the Burundians believe that they are a country that is forgotten about," said Sinn. "I think they are in the shadow of Rwanda. [The Hutu-Tutsi conflict that began in the early 90s that] happened in Rwanda also happened in Burundi, but it lasted so much longer until ending in 2005."

Even though most people don't know about Push for Burundi, once the guys explain it, the story always seems to touch people they meet on the road. However, at first glance the team is usually mistaken for a touring band or other rogues.

"I think the best one we got was one guy who thought we were storm chasers," laughed Sinn.

But not unlike a DIY punk band, the team never really has any concrete plans with where they will stay while on the road.

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"It's usually pretty random," said Smith. "If we have friends in a city, usually they will let us crash, but we have had so many people we don't even know offer us a place to stay."

Push for Burundi has quite a few sponsors, although they don't think of them as sponsors, but more as partners. This year one of their partners, Rayne Longboards, surprised the group by creating a unique longboard and T-shirt for the journey to Portland.

"It's crazy to be sponsored by these massive companies that we look up to as longboarders," said Smith.

It's very easy to see that Sinn and Smith are in this for the long haul and that they have no intentions of slowing down. This trip to Portland will be their longest and most draining push yet, but for Sinn and Smith, this push is much more than that.

"It's one thing to raise money for Burundi," said Sinn, "but it's another to inspire people and show that your actions can make a difference."