Partnership Aims to Provide Bikes – and Much Needed Mobility – to Rural Africans
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- September 28, 2009. -- In Africa, girls are 70 percent more likely to attend school if their family owns a bike. Healthcare workers can visit up to four times as many patients if they have a bike and people with bikes can travel five times as fast as they can on foot. Poor transportation means poor access to healthcare, economic and education opportunities. Simply put: bicycles can change a life.
Bicycles for Humanity-Colorado (B4H) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization solving the lack of mobility which is a leading impediment to development and access to critical healthcare services. By providing donated used bicycles to rural African healthcare professionals, B4H dramatically increases the volume and breadth of healthcare services.
Based in Colorado, Bicycles for Humanity has distributed more than 800 used bikes in Namibia. And now, with new partner ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours, Bicycles for Humanity hopes to make a difference in the lives of even more Africans.
“We’re delighted to partner with ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours given their bicycling focus and global mindset,” said Joshua Pace, president of Bicycles for Humanity Colorado. “Together we can provide the gift of mobility to hundreds of rural Namibians over the coming year.”
ExperiencePlus! is lending a hand in a few ways. First, the company will donate $100 to the cause for every person who books the epic, 45-day Eastern European trek from St. Petersburg to Istanbul. Secondly, the tour operator is allowing clients to choose to donate $10 to the cause instead of receiving an ExperiencePlus! gift.
“We’re excited to support a local, yet global reaching non-profit which is also bike related,” said Maria Elena Price, co-owner of ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours. Price and her sister and fellow co-owner, Monica Price, have both studied, traveled and bicycled throughout the world and strongly believe in the value of increasing mobility and exposure beyond ones borders.
The combined proceeds are expected to raise between $1,500 and $2,000 for Bicycles for Humanity-Colorado.
“These funds will help us open our third Namibian community bike shop in the rural town of Katima, Donated bikes enable healthcare workers to travel deeper into the bush delivering critical medications on a consistent basis,” said Pace. Located 1,000 kilometers from the capital Windhoek, Katima is a remote town with limited healthcare facilities and high HIV infection rates.
About ExperiencePlus!
Bicycle tour specialist ExperiencePlus!, a leader in international tourism, has been family-owned since 1972. The first U.S. based tour operator to offer bicycle tours in Italy, ExperiencePlus! has expanded to include tours in over 15 countries, blending true cycling expertise with innovative routes and off-the-beaten-path immersion. For details and tour departures/itineraries, please visit www.ExperiencePlus.com or www.BikeRentalsPlus.com.
About Bicycles for Humanity-Colorado
Bicycles for Humanity-Colorado (B4H) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that uses 100 percent of proceeds to address a fundamental barrier to African development – mobility. Poor transport systems mean poor access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities. B4H delivers donated bicycles through community based bike shops to provide sustainable mobility solutions for rural Africans. To learn more about how you can help make a difference, visit www.b4hcolorado.org.