Canadian-born Jean Beliveau began to contemplate walking around the world in 2000 because of a midlife crisis. Saying that he had never been a traveler before, the 53-year-old has so far trekked through Canada, the US, South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, China and recently — Taiwan.
But beyond the 557,000km, 55 countries and 40 pairs of shoes that he has been through, Beliveau has also inspired thousands to answer to the call of peace for children, the cause to which he and his wife dedicated their walk.
“I had a strong urge to change my life … I used to enjoy my job very much, [but] I thought in 30 years more my life will end and I had a small depression,” the former developer in the neon signs industry said in an interview with the Taipei Times last month. “We have a strong social system, we are expected to follow a corridor or a labyrinth left or right, but I felt like my freedom was taken and the system was pushing me against a wall, and I wanted to escape.”
One day, after Beliveau’s routine run around Montreal, he aspired to go and see the different facets of the globe by foot.
“I would prefer to be eaten by lions in Africa than by [the system,] because at least I would have seen a lot of the world, which is a privilege,” Beliveau said.
Beliveau secretly planned his trip — which would take more than a decade — for eight months before informing his wife about it, he said.
“Sometimes when people love you, when you explain your dream, they say, ‘stay where you are, we love you, maybe you can find another way’ and break your dream … I didn’t want that, the plan was too fragile,” Beliveau said.
But to Beliveau’s surprise and pleasure, when he eventually told his wife that he was to launch his great journey on his 45th birthday, she not only supported it, but also “gave the walk a soul” by suggesting that he dedicate his walk to peace and non-violence for the children of the world, he said.
“We are together in this, I’m not the only walker, she is the strong lady who is pushing the walk,” he said.
Armed with a baby trolley that would carry all his belongings — including a sleeping bag, a tent, some clothes and food, a first-aid kit, C$4,000 (US$3,215) and his family’s support — Beliveau began to walk in August 2000.
The walk was eye-opening — not only has Beliveau hiked mountains, passed through deserts and witnessed the world’s richest and most disadvantaged along the way, the French-speaking Montreal native also picked up English, Spanish and Portuguese along the way.
Asked about memorable moments during journey, Beliveau said: “In Peru, the Andes was beautiful. I pushed my [50kg] buggy nearly 5,000 meters [above sea level] … My highest point was between Chile and Bolivia, which was 4,660 meters; there was no air, I became skinny and was always cold.”
Beliveau then came down to the Atacama Desert, one of the five deserts he has so far encountered.
“[In Africa], I crossed a zone where there were lions. The people advised me to keep walking when I saw lions; you don’t show that you are nervous. I didn’t actually see the animals [which were hiding in bushes], but I was thinking, I thought I preferred to be eaten by lions than by society, but really I wasn’t ready to be eaten at all,” he said.
But the best wonders that Beliveau saw were people, he said.
Other than his small amount of cash, Beliveau has been supported by strangers along the way,
“I have been received by some 1,200 families — very rich, very poor, very right, very on the left side,” he said. “I’m always culture-shocked; I would think they are wrong, but it is me who is wrong.”
“People are born into different ‘social bubbles,’ which give us our patterns of life, but there are many, many different patterns in the world. After staying with different people, I begin to see like them; I have let my fence down and my heart open,” he said.
In Mexico, a local family took Beliveau in, offered him a bed and prepared him tacos for breakfast; a Nigerian doctor gave Beliveau a free health check and minor surgery; and an Indian hospital refilled his first aid kit, he said.
Once in Africa, Beliveau dressed like the locals and ate their food.
“I was like a black guy, I felt very comfortable, it was amazing,” he said.
Asked how he had managed to carry on his mission, Beliveau said: “I’m not a strong missionary and I don’t claim to change the world … Sometimes I feel like [if] I don’t do nothing; people would do it themselves,” he said. “Violence can come from every facet of society, from the family to every social level.”
Children are especially vulnerable to violence and exploitation, Beliveau said.
“In many countries, such as [in] Africa and South America, I see many children working to support the society, but societies should support them [instead],” he said.
Advanced countries have a part in this by importing goods or setting up factories in undeveloped countries that extend the exploitation of children, he said, adding: “We are all guilty.”
“[The children] work hard for a small amount of food, but we are not concerned about that; we consume and consume, and possess too many things that are not necessary,” he said.
But improving children’s welfare is not only an issue in third world countries, Beliveau said.
“Happiness is very important. In some countries, children get to go to school, but they are not happy. I don’t judge, but some people have many things but are not happy; I saw more smiles in Africa than in many advanced countries” he said.
Other than promoting his walk proactively, “the walk talks by itself,” he said.
In Taiwan, a publisher published a book for school children introducing Beliveau and his mission, he said, adding that some universities have asked him to give talks.
“If with my walk I give people a small moment of reflection, I consider my mission accomplished,” he said.
Reflecting back to his midlife crisis in the eighth year of his 11-year walk, Beliveau said: “We [his wife and him] are very happy. It is not an easy job and there is a long way to go, but it is a positive thing to do.”
The peace project, however, will be a much longer journey than his walk, he said.
“My real mission will begin,” Beliveau said of his return to Canada in 2011.
“I would like to be involved in helping form peace agreements, I have seen many countries which need this,” he said.
People should also seek to restore global children’s rights to education, healthcare and food, he said, adding that he had documented in words and photographs during his journey the status of people and children in the world, which he plans to publish after he completes his walk.
“Children are not the future, they are the present, we have to do something now,” he said.
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