Barry Childs the founder of Oregon-Based Africa Bridge, a non-profit that helps farmers and orphans in rual Tanzania was on Live @ 7 to promote the Africa Bride Farm to Table Dinner on the 21st of August.
Barry also talks about the Kona Africa Bike and our intention for Kona Basic Needs to work with Africa Bridge on a bike donation in 2011.
Watch the video below of his interview and info on the Farm to Table Dinner.
HopeFirst Foundation and Kona Basic Needs are looking for volunteers to join us in “The Gambia” in September to assemble and handover 225 Kona Africa Bikes to help the children of rural Gambia get to school.
Most villages have a primary school, but secondary schools are spaced farther apart. There is no public transportation, and rarely a motorised vehicle. Middle and high school children walk the round trip to and from school each day, many as far as 7 miles each way. A bike can reduce that 2 hour walk to a 30 minute ride.
Girls may especially benefit from the AfricaBikes, as they are frequently kept home from school to do chores (sweep, gather wood, carry water, pound rice). If they spend less time getting to and from school resulting in enough time to complete their chores, parents may agree to let them be educated. Half of the bikes will go to girls, so perhaps they will not have to choose between their family obligations and getting an education.
Villages in The Gambia may lack access to water, food, healthcare, education, and enterprise. Removing the barriers to education may be the piece of the puzzle that can connect the dots and help alleviate these problems. Transportation to school for children that live too far to walk will ensure that every child gets the chance to learn.
Can you spare a week and want to visit an amazing country, The Gambia, and help build and donate these bikes?
Don’t worry about not being a bike mechanic, the Kona Africa Bike is very simple to put together and full training will be given on site.
You will have to cover your flights and daily 
expenses, typically around $60 USD per day (this includes local transport, accommodation and food in the villages). HopeFirst Foundation volunteers will help you coordinate your flights and arrange everything for you on the ground in The Gambia.
Travel Dates: Come for one week or two. Arrive on a Sunday and depart one or two weeks later on a Sunday. September 12 – 26 will be spent between two areas of The Gambia, assembling bikes, as well as introducing other HopeFirst Foundation Projects.
So what are you waiting for? Have a trip of a lifetime and feel good helping a great
cause!
Contact Sandy Murray, sandym@hopefirst.org for more information.
T-shirt weather is here! Want to have a cool, limited edition t-shirt and know that all the proceeds are going to help an AfricaBike donation?
Well look no further!
HopeFirst Foundation have developed these cool new t-shirts to help raise funds to cover the $7500 USD shipping costs of the 225 Kona AfricaBikes to Gambia next month.
$ 25 USD + shipping ($6 USD for North America) will get you one of these limited edition t-shirts and all 100% of the $25 goes towards covering the costs and making sure the bikes arrive in Gambia, so please helps us out and wear your t-shirt with pride!
Sizes:
To order a t-shirt please email russ@konaworld.com with the size/quantity you require, plus your shipping address, we will reply with the total amount and confirmed shipping cost, you can then pay via our PayPal donation page.
T-Shirt artwork by Kellen Petersen of Green Hill Clothes – www.greenhillclothes.com
Thanks to the Stu from Alki Bike & Board in West Seattle who provided some tech help to the crew from HopeFirst who will be heading to Gambia to build 225 Kona AfricaBikes in late Sptember.
Much Better Adventures have featured Kona Basic Needs and our up and coming Kona Africa Bike donations, check out the full story HERE.
Hello Friends,
As a follow of Kona Basic Needs you will have seen that one of our up and coming donations is to the HopeFirst Foundation in Gambia to assist middle and high schoolers to pedal their way to an education.
Half the bikes will be for girls, who are first in line for chores and last in line for school, satistics show when 10% more girls go to secondary school, a country’s economy grows by 3%. An extra year of secondary school boosts her wages by 20-25%. Ensure a girl has seven or more years of school, and she will marry 4 years later and have 2 fewer children.
Together, we can help her break the cycle of poverty for her and her family. Let’s lessen her time away from home, and increase the chance that her family will send her to school.
All was going to plan until recentaly our shipping partner pulled out and we are now stuck with a $7800 USD bill to enable us to send the bikes to the Gambia for this project.
We require any help in the way of donations to help fund these bikes getting to Gambia and improving the lives of these school children.
Donations can be made HERE
In December 2009, BikeTown Africa built and distributed bicycles to health-care workers in Kibaha, Tanzania. Seventeen BikeTown Africa volunteers from the US, including Dr Travis Stork of the CBS show ‘The Doctors’, worked with locals to build the bikes. Read Deb Cosgrove’s blog here or check out an image slide show here.
Last July Carol Williamson formed a BikeTown Africa team for the 37th RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) to raise awareness about BikeTown Africa. The team plastered stickers on their bikes and helmets, handed out stickers, wrote “BTA” on their calves and were interviewed by several different film crews at the event. Some of the team members rode the Kona AfricaBike (the very same one that was raffled off at the Swarthmore Charity Fun Fair in April this year, which Carol wrote about in the BTA blog) during parts of the race.
A Million Spokes is a feature-length documentary that was made during RAGBRAI, the largest and oldest bicycle touring event in the world. An annual bicycle ride, RAGBRAI takes place in Iowa over seven days in July, with thousands of bicyclists descending on the state to take part in an adventure that is singular in its ability to attract some of the most unusual people you will ever encounter. Some come for the challenge, some come for speed, some come just to party while others derive very specific meanings from the ride.
The world première of A Million Spokes is being held on July 23rd in Sioux City, Iowa, prior to the 2010 RAGBRAI, which begins on July 25th. The filmʼs director, Varda Hardy, and its producers, Ken Gorrell and Talia Rodriguez-Shakur, will join many of the characters we meet in the film at the screening. In addition, there will be a number of surprise guests – celebrities, film executives and film critics.
When: Friday, July 23, 2010, 5:00 pm
Where: Riviera 4 Theater, 714 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101
Price: $25.00 (première, limited tickets), includes a medium bag of popcorn and a medium drink
Additional screenings will be held on July 23rd (5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 9:00 pm and 11:00 pm) and 24th (11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 9:00 pm and 11:00 pm). Cost $10.00.
To book, please visit the Riviera 4 Theater’s website.
Dr. Travis Stork, one of the hosts of the syndicated TV show The Doctors, joined BikeTown Africa in Kibaha, Tanzania, for World AIDS Day on December 1st 2009. Dr. Stork came to help build bicycles that would be distributed to healthcare workers in Tanzania, as part of BikeTown Africa’s program, made possible by partners Bicycling magazine, Rodale Press, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Secure the Future Foundation, Kona Bicycle Company and UTi.
Dr. Travis Stork riding a Kona AfricaBike in Kibaha, Tanzania. (Photo by Brenda Veldtman)
“As a physician and avid cyclist, I know the health benefits a bike can bring,” said Dr. Stork. “In Africa, a bike brings much-needed access to healthcare and health education to people who live far from a town or even running water. Being able to bring bikes to these communities and see first-hand how they’ll be used is a humbling experience and not one I’ll forget easily.”
Watch The Doctors on Wednesday July 14 to see Dr. Stork in Kibaha. Visit the show’s website for details of screening times.
BOSS REPORT 6.14.10 AfricaBike Story
