Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Riders for Health is a charity that train African health workers to ride/drive and maintain motorcycle and four wheel vehicles, Riders also provides technical support and cost-per-kilometre calculations that keep vehicles running efficiently and cost-effectively. The result - 10.8 million people in isolated rural communities accessing vital healthcare, often for the first time ever.
“Before I had the motorcycle, I had to walk or hire a donkey cart to visit my villages. Many of the communities would not see me for a month or more. But now I can visit them at any time of the day or night, and they see me at least once a week.” Manyo Gibba, a health worker in the .
The Aim (Please keep yourself updated on our progress check back here regularly, Thanks!):-
Although Andy and I are trying to raise enough sponsorship to help us buy a 4x4 and get ourselves to The Gambia by road and to then give it to Riders to be used as a support vehicle we also want to raise enough through "Justgiving.com/go4gambia" to give four fully equipped Yamaha AG100’s or Honda XL125’s that allow health workers to deliver healthcare. Even a small amount can buy vital supplies such as………
£1 Could buy a spark plug
£3 Could buy an air filter for a Honda XL125
£15 Provides 40 families with a year of healthcare visits
£50 Helps provide replacement parts and servicing for a year
£250 Provides a community health worker with motorcycle clothing so that they stay safe
£1450 Buys an African health worker a Yamaha AG100 enabling them to reach thousands with regular healthcare
"The story so far then.........."
‘in, let’s do a road trip’, he said. ‘Ok Andy, where to; , , ?’ ‘No, no The ’. ‘Oh!’
‘Yes we’ll do it for Riders for Health - they supply and support motorbikes for nurses in to deliver health care in difficult to reach locations’. ‘Ok. Do you have a route?’ ‘Er yes, keep the Atlantic on your right, starting at Tunbridge Wells down through France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and into The Gambia?’
‘Ok, so we get a 4 wheel drive truck?’ ‘Yep, less than eight years old as we are going to leave it there for the charity to use as a support vehicle. We then need to service and prep it for the 3870 mile trip which will take about four weeks’. ‘And getting back?’ ‘Fly!’
‘As it’s for the charity, Riders for Health, let’s also try and raise £6800 to buy four fully equipped motorbikes for them to give to nurses; they will then have another 4x4 support vehicle and four more motorbikes to enable them to deliver much needed outreach medical care’.
So, on 22 March 2010, Andy and in will be setting off into the sunrise on the start of their journey of a lifetime. Please give generously to help them to help the nurses…thank you for taking the time to read this.
Unfortunately due to an increase in the security threats in we have had to think of a possible plan ‘B’. So when will plan ‘B’ be put into action? Well when we get down to the Western Sahara / border we will need to make a judgment on the risk. If the advice from the FCO and other adventure organisers etc is still that we shouldn’t continue we will be forced to take plan ‘B’.
So what will plan ‘B’ be? To the Mauritanian border will be obviously as plan ‘A’ but we will then go east and up along the eastern side of the Atlas Mountains following a stint along the edges of the . Then west to the High Atlas to the forests, plains and plateaus of central and finally back through Spain etc. Otherwise the aim to raise as much money as we can for Riders remains the same and we hope that even if we have to take plan ‘B’ you will continue to support us.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
