Schools and Young People
Riders' motto is: ‘You can’t save a child unless you can reach her’. Despite all the improvements that have been made in medicine and technology, thousands of children still die every day in Africa from diseases and illnesses that could easily be prevented – like measles, malaria and even diarrhoea. The reason is that health workers simply can’t reach them with the simple health care that could save their lives.
What does Riders do?
Most children in Africa live in remote, rural villages which are difficult to reach. There can be many miles between villages and the roads are often no better than cart tracks. Without reliable transport, it can take a health worker several hours just to walk to one village.
That’s why Riders for Health trains African health workers to ride motorcycles, and provides regular maintenance to make sure that they bikes keep working day in, day out. In the Gambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya, our work is helping to make sure that over 10 million people receive the kind of basic health care we take for granted.
One of the health workers we support is Manyo Gibba, who lives in a rural village in the Gambia. She looks after 20,000 people in 14 different villages, so it’s important that she can get around easily.
“Before I had the motorcycle,” explains Manyo, “I had to walk or hire a donkey cart to visit my villages. Many of the communities would not see me for a month or more. But now I can visit them at any time of the day or night, and they see me at least once a week.”
You can make a difference!
Riders’ goal is to make sure that, by 2015, we will have doubled the number of people we are reaching with essential health care. But to do it, we need your help!
It couldn’t be easier to get involved. Whether you are in the Guides or Scouts, are part of a young church group, or want to do something to help Riders at your school, there are lots of fun ways for you to find out more about our work and raise vital funds to help us help children in Africa. And every donation – no matter how small – makes a big difference. Just £15 could provide 40 families with health care for a whole year.
Why not challenge yourself or your friends to hold a sponsored silence, or ask your teachers to have a non-uniform day at your school? Or if you’re feeling more energetic, you could ask your family, friends and neighbours if you can clean their cars (or motorbikes!) for a donation.
Get in touch
If you want to find out more about Riders for Health, or would like to help us by raising funds, we would love to hear from you! We can provide information packs, posters, sponsorship forms and everything else you need to get started. Someone from Riders could also visit your school or group to tell you more about our work.
To find out more, please contact Astrid Jenkinson at ajenkinson@riders.org or phone 01327 300047.