Making a difference

 Mike Coo in Arusha with representatives from Alpha, Umatu and MIHV

Each year, in collaboration with its partners, various individuals and the TDA riders, the Tour d'Afrique Foundation donates bicycles to various organizations in countries on the TDA route.  This year 95 bicycles have so far been donated in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

On Sunday, February 15^th, at a ceremony in Addis Ababa, Tour d'Afrique Foundation, in association with CPAR Ethiopia, donated 20 bikes to four different organizations; Urji Anti HIV Club, Addis Tesfa Gohatsiyion, Youth League and the Youth Forum. Each received 5 bikes.

On Saturday March 8^th, 45 bikes were donated to three different organizations at a ceremony held at Indaba Camp in Nairobi, Kenya. Fifteen bikes were donated to Mazi Majuri, an organization that the TDA has supported for the past three years. They brought some Masai children who entertained the guests with some traditional dancing as well as some songs. 5 bikes were donated to representatives from the Arrow-Webb hospital, a facility helping local people in the city of Nairobi. Finally, 25 bikes were given to the Great Rift Valley Development Organization to be distributed to individuals in the western and eastern regions of the country. A couple of women who had received bikes in previous years were also in attendance and gave moving testimonials on how the donation of one of these bikes had affected their lives.

On Thursday, March 12^th in Arusha, Tanzania, 30 California bikes were donated to four organizations. 9 bikes were donated to a small hospital located in Wasso, an isolated community situated just south of the Kenyan border. The funds for the bikes were raised by Jan Eissenloeffel, a Dutch rider in the 2007 Tour d'Afrique. We were pleased to finally be able to arrange the transfer of the bikes to this worthy organization. The other 21 bikes were divided equally between three organizations suggested by CPAR Tanzania; ALPHA (Arusha Living Positive & with  HIV/AIDS), UMATU (Upendo na Matumani, Love and Hope) and  MIHV (Minnesota International Health Volunteers). A representative from each organization gave a short presentation explaining what use the bikes would be put to and thanked the Tour d'Afrique and its riders for making the donation possible.

With four more donation ceremonies coming up over the next two months in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa, over 250 bicycles will be donated this year.