Bikes and Doing Good

This being National Cycling Week, I thought I would relate several volunteering experiences that involved bicycles.

The first story took place in Malawi several years ago. I mentioned briefly in a previous blog that on several Rotary Sweat Equity trips we did in

What a difference bikes can make![/caption]

partnership with Emmanuel and Dignitas, we had provided bicycles to a number of wonderful women. These women – “The Women of Kachere” – rode the bikes to the rural homes of some of the people with HIV/AIDS

where they were providing them with care and basic medicines. This allowed them to visit many more people than they could by foot.

Malawai

This was the good news. The bad news was the paths and roads they rode on were very bumpy and often filled with sharp rocks. The result in many cases was a flat tire or wheels and frames being bent out of shape.

When we came back a year later to Malawi, we found most of the bikes had flat tires, were in need of repair and were sitting in a shed. While there were repair places close by, they had no money to have them repaired.

The solution and more good news: We set up a repair fund. More bad news -the women looking after the money often had to dip into this fund for other things they deemed to be more important such as food or health care Unloading bikes in Cambodia

Another experience we had with bikes was in Cambodia. A refitted bike in Cambodia costs about $50. Through our partnership with BTC (Bakong Technical College) and Lisa McCoy’s, “Rotary Wheels for Learning,” we gave out several hundred bikes to young school children. This always resulted in huge smiles on the faces of the children and instead of a long walk to school they could now ride to school. Because of this, school attendance increased.

I would add these bikes were given to the child on the proviso they looked after them and went to school. If not, the bike was taken from them.

As anyone who has a bike knows a bicycle also provides a sense of freedom and opens the world particularly for a child in a myriad of ways.

A child with their new bike in Cambodia

Many people ask, “What will my $50 or $100 do when the problem is so great?” Maybe this story will partly answer this question.

On the local front, in addition to being good for our heath and the environment, bikes are great for raising money.

Possibly the best-known bicycle fundraiser is Ride for Heart which is run by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Every year in Toronto, more than 20000 people are sponsored to ride up to 75 km. Over the years, the riders have raised many millions of dollars.

Many Other organizations and people also ride their bikes to raise awareness and money. Kevin Wallace of Mississauga rode across the U.S. to raise money for the cancer centre at the Trillium Hospital in Mississauga in memory of his mother. In the process, he raised over $250000.

I spoke with him about a week after he got home at his bike shop I go to in Mississauga called “GEARS.” He told me the hardest part of the journey was mental.

This brings me to Clara Hughes a super athlete who won six Olympic cycling and speed skating medals for Canada. She is better known though, for her cycling across Canada raising money and awareness for mental health in partnership with Bell. What a legacy !!!

I could go on forever, however, I will finish with a ride by members of my Rotary Club – the Rotary Club of Toronto – who are raising money for inner city kids to go to Camp Scugog.

As anyone who has gone to camp knows, camps are life-changing.

If you want to sponsor someone just go online httpps://sna.etapestry.com/fundraising

Need I say more?

Till next time,

Chris Snyder

PS: Please send me your stories (under 100 words) chris@eccgroup.ca and I will try to publish them.