Kona BikeTown Africa

2008 BikeTown Africa Update

For those who have been keeping track of the latest news on this blog you know that the countdown to BikeTown Africa is drawing near. Our anticipated travels to South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland to deliver approximately 1,000 AfricaBikes to assist healthcare workers in their treatment of HIV/AIDS patients will begin in June with the shipment of a bunch of bikes.

Tentatively, AfricaBikes are slated to land on the Western Cape starting in the beginning of June and will be held in a storage facility on a short term basis. At the end of the month, roughly 250 AfricaBikes will be distributed between the sites of Delft and Stellenbosch. In Delft, the bikes will head to the NGO Ma Africa Tikkun which cares for children who are either living with HIV/AIDS or have (or lost) a parent that was inflicted with the disease. In Stellenbosch, the bikes will go to a hospice associated with Bristol Myers Squibb Secure the Future Foundation.

Both sites will receive helmets, as well as AfricaBike maintenance training. Bicycling magazine's crew on the ground in South Africa will help with encouraging professional riders to come along and assist with bike building and handover - acting as role models for the communities.

More updates will be forthcoming. For more information on the BikeTown Africa program contact Base Camp Communication's Keith Cozzens at kcozzens@basecampcomm.com or 307-734-7575.

Hitting The Campaign Trail At VT

Hitting the campaign trail is generally designated for politicians...not bike lovers. Our Virgina Tech friend Christine George doesn't speak at podiums or promise good healthcare, but she does run successful campaigns - and is a bike lover. Not to mention a precocious humanitarian.

Since early February, Christine and her troops have been pounding the pavement on an AfricaBike adoption campaign mission to get the message out about the Biketown project to their constituents. The goal's to raise awareness and $10K. So far it's working.

For updates on the campaign check here.  

Cycle For Africa Rides The UK

The UK-based organization Cycle For Africa is on a good, noble mission to boost education in Africa. On September 15, 2008 Matthew and Jonathon Norton and Cleveland Henry - the masterminds behind the group - will embark on a cycling journey from Land's End to John O'Groats. Covering the entire length of the UK from north to south, the trio's goal (besides sampling the regions best fish 'n chips and frothy pints) is to complete the route in eight days while covering distances of between 70 and 140 miles per day. Why?

In partnership with The Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation, Cycle For Africa will be raising funds, and education awareness, to construct, furnish, equip and maintain a school where English and Swahili will be taught, as well as courses on the Maasai heritage. A school that has been supported through Cycle for Africa and the Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation for the past year has been identified as the location for the first school project. The school is named Memusi and is located in the Magadi region of Kenya.

Throughout the next year, several events will take place to start raising funds towards the new school. Corporate and small fundraising events are currently slated with hopes of reaching their goal of having the opportunity to provide Africans education.

This isn't a one-and-done fundraiser project either. Cycle for Africa and the Maasai Heritage Foundation are scheduling sustained work each year to provide education to those who need it most in Africa.

Kona is proud to be a partner of Cycle For Africa. Full details of the organizations program can be found here.

Coffee Addicts Adopt AfricaBike

The winters are long, dark and cold in Minnesota. Hot coffee is a necessary element for survival. At least that's the word  from the folks at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They need their coffee to get through the day-to-day grind - and who can blame them.

We just received a letter from coffee-guzzler/fundraiser specialist Alyssa Bance with a check for $100 to adopt an AfricaBike. With caffeine helping this group of DNA Specialists operate on auto-pilot, Bance saw an opportunity. She put her single-cup coffee machine on her desk and placed a donation cup next to it which her caffeinated colleagues tossed 50 cents in for every cup. And they drank a lot. Over time the collection cup grew, but fell narrowly short of their $100 goal. Cookies go good with coffee, right?

Not to be defeated, Bance started placing racks of cookies on her desk with another cup for the 'sugar' donation. Sure enough, 25 cents for a cookie worked and the $100 mark was easily reached. Bance not only led a dedicated fundraiser drive but also helped foster another office addiction. 

Who knows, maybe the crew in Minnesota got the idea from watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI3Y1auTFpU and wanted to turn their coffee drinking into something globally productive. Bottoms up!

Media Embraces BikeTown Message

With the announcement that Kona will be donating 1,000 AfricaBikes to the program this year, many media outlets have already been grateful enough to help spread the good word. By posting the news on numerous online sources across the World Wide Web, the simple spreading of the BikeTown mission and message throughout as many media outlets as possible is a sure step in building awareness. Here's a list of some helping to keep the AfricaBike rolling, thanks.

Cycle for Africa, MTBR, NSMB, Bike magazine, Velo News, Base Camp Communications, Dirt Rag, I Am Rider, Brian Rides Bikes, Wiggleblog, Speedbird, Bike Hugger, Mountain Biking magazine and the Swiss/French site Bike Kulture.            

Steve and His Handy AfricaBike

A new video by the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN Namibia) featuring Steven. Steve is from the Caprivi region in Namibia, and received a Kona AfricaBike through Bicycling Magazine's Biketown project in 2007. Steve volunteers his time as a HIV/AIDS treatment support buddy, visiting others living with the disease. Here he tells about living with HIV/AIDS and the impact his AfricaBike has had. BEN Namibia partnered with Biketown to provide mechanic training, tools, delivery logistics and project monitoring support.