Transition Kamloops folks tried the Amazing Race to Inclusion!
Cover photo by Julien Langlois
The Speak Up Self-Advocacy Society (SUSA) has organized an event aptly called “The Amazing Race to Inclusion” in Kamloops for six years running. On Friday, May 29, 2026 four of us (Gisela Ruckert and Julien Langlois from Transition Kamloops and Jesse Ritcey and Nancy Flood from the Kamloops Naturalists Club) formed “Team Trees” and took up the challenge. And it was a challenge! For four turns of 30 minutes each, we each experienced different barriers faced by our neighbours: using a wheelchair, having impaired vision, being unable to speak, or lacking use of our dominant arm.
Travelling as a group, we navigated downtown streets to visit offices and business that served as “checkpoints”. At each checkpoint an additional challenge awaited—for example, to experience an obstacle caused by a mental health challenge. When on foot, we discovered that the city’s sidewalks are neither flat nor uniformly sloped in the same direction, and there are a surprising number of tricky things to negotiate, including tree wells and patios. We also travelled by bus, which was an experience, especially for some of us; I was in a wheelchair at that point and very glad to have helpers around. Many thanks to the friendly fellow riders who happily advised us how to do things.
SUSA members ran the entire event, so we met people with diverse abilities at each checkpoint—more learning experiences! Thanks to their great job in promoting the event, there were lots of teams participating and becoming more educated on issues of inclusion. The fact that there were so many of us out there all at once, struggling to maneuver into stores, avoid obstacles, etc., probably provided a learning experience for many other Kamloops citizens who were out and about that morning. And that is a good thing, too. We now realize that while some of the “able-bodied” are accommodating and helpful, others are much less so, unfortunately.
We won no prizes but gained lots of intangibles. As the organizing committee wrote to us afterwards: “Throughout the day, you experienced some of the barriers that people with diverse abilities encounter in their daily lives. For [you] the vision goggles came off at the end of the challenge, the wheelchair was returned and life went back to normal. But for many people in our community, these barriers are not temporary. They are realities that exist all day, every day….awareness is where change beings.” Our team was grateful to participate and have a new appreciation for what our City might do to become more accessible to all.
Keep your eyes open for the 2027 Amazing Race to Inclusion and form a team. It is SO worth it!
Transition Kamloops
Transition Kamloops is a volunteer-driven, registered not-for-profit society focused on increasing local resilience and self-sufficiency in food, water, energy, culture and wellness. We emphasize a local economy, healthy ecosystems, and grassroots community building, while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We believe in a better way: a community that sustains life in all its diversity, strives for equality and justice and invests in the future.
Transition Kamloops recognizes that we are living on Secwépemcul’ecw—land that was never ceded to settlers, and continues to be home to vibrant Indigenous cultures, languages, and traditions. We acknowledge the impact of colonization, forced displacement, and ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous peoples. We commit to listening, learning, and building positive relationships with Indigenous communities as we work towards reconciliation.
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