On Dec 1 - World AIDS Day - the final basket was tighten on the 1,000th Kona AfricaBike
bring to a close BikeTown Africa 2008. Over the last two months-plus, the AfricaBikes have been donated to home healthcare workers in four different areas of South Africa, Chokwe, Mozambique and Mbabane, Swaziland. Over the course of the builds dozens of volunteers, program organizers, honors students, ski bums, professional photographers, bike-lovers, humanitarian-lovers and good people helped get the wheels rolling to better the lives of many in the communities they touched. And the communities touched us as well.
Here's a report from the final AfricaBike build in Swaziland last week from BikeTown Africa project manager Bradley Schroeder.
There were no fireworks, no one jumped out of a cake and there wasn't even anyone clapping or cheering. We just rolled that bicycle down the same hallway we had rolled the 159 prior. We were in Swaziland, just outside Mbabane and this was the last BikeTown Africa project of the year. This BikeTown Africa team (Loren, Audra, Desmond, Heather, Simon, myself and a team of local volunteers) had completed what we'd promised and talked about to everyone for the last 11 months. To deliver 1000 bicycles to healthcare workers. I had tried all morning to come up with something of significance to symbolize the event; even asked the other participants for their ideas. What finally happened was a group photo in front of a flat bed KIA which would deliver the bicycles to inner Swaziland to the healthcare workers who a day earlier had joined us on World AIDS Day for a ceremony.
At that ceremony the Minister of Health had summarized what we all knew: this is an appropriate technology, many African roads off the main track are very bad or non-existent and a bicycle can be a very effective way of getting around. She pointed out that other “more developed” countries use the bicycle for transport. But she ended with the reality of why the fireworks hadn't gone off when that last nut had been tightened on the 1000th Kona Africabike. She noted that although she was very impressed with the line of 160 bicycles being donated, it was not going to be enough for everyone in Swaziland to get a bicycle. One-thousand bicycles in Africa is like filling a swimming pool with a single raindrop. There is a lot more to be done.
But by no means should we be discouraged. In three years, BikeTown Africa has built something to be proud of: delivering Kona AfricaBikes to healthcare workers using the best design and delivery practices known. We've created a model which can be replicated. We've brought together partners from the bicycle, magazine, pharmaceutical and computer industries to create a unified effort to address a serious problem in Africa – access.
And, so far the program is looking bigger and better for 2009.
Thanks for all who have helped in our 2008 BikeTown Africa campaign and stay tuned for next year's pursuits.
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