Funded by the annual 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda, the bicycles will make it easier for students in rural areas to get to school.
708 brand new Dimension Data-branded Buffalo charger bicycles were distributed today to students in Eritrea. Funded by the annual 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda event and the #BicyclesChangeLives campaign, these bicycles will enable students to travel to and from school faster and more safely, with the goal of helping them to increase their attendance and academic performance.
The distribution is a collaboration between Team Africa Rising, the Ministry of Education, the Commission for Culture and Sports, the National Eritrean Cycling Federation, the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda, founded by Doug Grant, is an annual fundraising ride that supports education and economic development in Rwanda and other African nations. Qhubeka and Team Africa Rising are beneficiaries of the 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda.
The 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda event raised over $40 000 towards the charity.
The 2017 edition of the event takes place on 29 April and the organisers plan to once again use the opportunity to fund bicycles to help connect people in Africa with bicycles, which will be sourced through Qhubeka.
The remaining funds for the bicycles (just under $70 000) were raised by #BicyclesChangeLives, a Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka campaign that aims to raise 5 000 bicycles over a year period to mobilise people in Africa. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka is Africa’s first ever UCI World Tour cycling team. The team works to give talented African riders a path to the pro peloton while mobilising people with bicycles through Qhubeka.
“The Qhubeka Charity remains at the forefront of everything we do as we continue to accelerate the ambitions of African cycling and make an impact that matters,” says Doug Ryder, Team Principal at Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka. “It’s wonderful that our supporters have helped mobilise students here in Eritrea with bicycles through #BicyclesChangeLives, and we’re delighted to have been a part of distributing more bikes into a country that is producing such talented cyclists, including our own Natnael Berhane, Mekseb Debesay, Merhawi Kudus and Daniel Teklehaimanot. They are examples of how bicycles can change lives.”
Team Africa Rising (formerly Team Rwanda) works to recruit, train, and compete in cycling, as well as to teach and train the next generation of coaches, mechanics, and cycling support professionals. The team partners with Qhubeka as the two beneficiaries of the 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda to channel bicycles to people in Africa. The two organisations believe that bicycles are a simple solution to many of the socioeconomic challenges in the continent, helping people to travel faster and further and to access new opportunities.
“Team Africa Rising has partnered with Qhubeka for the past four years via the 50 Mile Ride Fundraiser,’ says Kimberly Coats of Team Africa Rising. “We are thrilled that this year’s distribution will see more than 700 new bicycles delivered into Eritrea! This could only have happened with the support and partnership of the 50 Mile for Rwanda riders and Qhubeka. We hope for many more years of getting Qhubeka Bicycles to the people who need them most.”
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