We’ve written about the benefits of bikes for development programs in Africa before — we did a feature article on Bikes to Rwanda in Volume 3 Issue 3 — but here’s another project that should be on your radar.
In 2005 Kona developed a special bike to help out healthcare workers treating HIV and AIDS in Africa. The bikes were uniquely designed to deal with many of the challenges that southern Africa presents health care workers delivering ARV drugs to HIV/AIDS patients: unpaved roads, diverse terrain, long distances, thorns and a general lack of service personnel and facilities. This year’s World AIDS Day — December 1 — marked the delivery of the 1000th AfricaBike of the Bike Town Africa Campaign 2008, bringing bikes to several parts of South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. That’s a lot of bikes going to a good cause!
Since the creation of the AfricaBike, the cycles have been donated to other programs as well, most recently to assist workers on a water project in Tanzania. You can follow the work of Kona and its dedicated colunteers on the Bike Town Africa blog. There you can also take part in the project by “adopting” and AfricaBike yourself.
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