U.S.A, Switchback Magazine-Uganda/Kenya
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14 GRAVEL.
Fro Keto Ede
WORDS & imagES: CaRmEn FREEman-REy
It had been four years since Hans
and I visited East Africa on aWheels 4 Life trip. January 2008
saw us travelling to Tanzania,circumnavigating Kilimanjaroon our bicycles and focusing
our Wheels 4 Life attention on
the Ugweno Valley where wedistributed a number of bicycles.In 2009, we followed up giving
away more bikes, opening a bicyclerepair shop and we completed our
lm, which covered the trips.
At this time, Wheels 4 Life was aedgling charity, just starting out
at that point. We knew we had a lotto learn and our Tanzania journey
set the foundation for the directionwe would choose to take our
charity. Neither of us had any realcomprehension of what lay ahead
for us. Now in 2013, Wheels 4 Life
is very different; we have learneda lot and evolved. We have aninfrastructure in place with a team
of eld volunteers that enablesus to run a charity that is efcient
and effective. That being said, itwas abundantly clear to Hans and
me that it was time for us to visit
East Africa againthis time Kenyaand Ugandawhere we have
given away a couple of thousandbikes already. Our mission was to
meet many of our project leadersin the eld, as well as talk to lot
of our previous bike recipients to
monitor the impact the bicycleshave had on their lives. We alsowanted to give a whole lot more
bicycles away at the same time, 270bikes to be precise, and wanted to
learn more about the countries, thepeople, their character and needs.
We are often asked these questions:Can we make a difference?Are we making a difference?
After a grueling journey that saw
us y from California to Kenyavia Amsterdam, we nally arrived
late at night in Nairobi. Tired andin desperate need of a shower,
we were greeted by Johnnie,our Kenyan driver and security
man. I felt a little alarmed whenapproaching our hotel; we had
to negotiate concrete chicanesand armed guards just to get into
the car park. Then faced withfull airport-type security with
our bags X-rayed and us swiped
with metal detectors just to getto the reception, I wondered
exactly what we were coming to.Another ve electronic gates and
various locks before we couldenter our room instilled in me
a healthy sense that we shouldwatch our bagsand our backs.
Our rst full day began with our
cameraman Rob meeting us atbreakfast straight from a red eye
from England. He came alongto cover our journey on lm as
a follow-up to the 2009 movieWheels 4 Life, A Story About Giving.
A quick cup of tea and we hit theroad with Johnnie in his trusted
Toyota to an area called Ndeiya,which is north east of Nairobi,
where we were meeting with someof our project leaders. It was here
we met Bishop Francis Kamau.
Thanks to an introduction froman Australian based charity, we
started working with BishopKamau in 2012. He is a neexample of a man who grew up
in abject poverty, but through
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180 km to cover before we would
arrive at the Ugandan border.
As usual, the drive took longerthan we expected, but we were
horror-struck when the line oflorries spread out before us farther
than the eye could see. Our GPSdevice read 7 km to the border.
How can that be? It turns out alorry had overturned about 5 km
further up and everything hadcome to a grinding halt. But we
had our heroic driver Johnnie,who negotiated every ditch andgap between these hunks of metal
like a seasoned Dakar Rally driver,get us to the Uganda crossing in
time to meet Daniel, our driverfor the next leg of our road trip.
Finally in Uganda and on our
way, but the delight soon turnedto disbelief when we spent
another two hours at a standstillin 90-degree heat, with no air
conditioning and exhaust fumeschoking us just to reach the end of
the border. We thought the roads in
Kenya were bad, but the road fromMalaba to Mount Elgon gave usa whole new perspective on road
standards. We rattled, bouncedand groaned our way at the rapid
speed of 20 mph to the Sipi RiverLodge, situated 1,795 meters up
Mount Elgon, where we wouldmeet our host for the next two
days, a British expat named Will.
The Sipi River Lodge is anexquisite place, a collection of
cottages scattered along the hillsideacreage beside the stunning Sipi
Falls. Built in the Ugandan style,
with thatched roofs, slate oorsand batik fabrics, they offeredcomfort and simple luxury againsta backdrop that it will forever
be imprinted in our memories.Indeed, the view out back from our
terrace was of the cascading watersin their magnicent glory.
The next morning, we loaded our
bikes into the 4 x 4 and shuttled to
the top of one of the many plateauson Mt. Elgon. Will had gured out
a route for us that would includefollowing trails carved into the red
dirt that owed along meadows,through villages, across rivers,
along waterfalls and throughthe forests. Mt. Elgon itself is a
huge volcano, with a diameter of80 km across; it stands at 4,321
meters (14,177 feet) above sea leveland has one of the biggest intact
calderas on the planet. Straddlingboth Kenya and Uganda, with the
summit being on the Ugandan side,this is a behemoth of a mountain.
The rst 2,500 meters of Mt. Elgon
is like a giant staircase. A seriesof steep cliffs ascend, leveling off
abruptly into vast plateaus that
expand before our eyes. Fromeach plateau waterfalls descend,
millions of gallons of waterthundering over the precipice until
landing into giant pools that thenow into rivers. At one of the many
vista points, we were able to lookover the sheer drop and could
just make out the small dots on ahillside opposite that were in fact
the cottages we were staying in.
Sipi gave us a chance to re-group,charge equipment, wash our
clothes and get a few nights ofgood sleepall very necessary
for soon we would be on theroad again, this time heading toKampala the capital of Uganda
and a meeting with our nextWheels 4 Life project leader, Agnes
at ARUWE, Action for the RuralEmpowerment of Women. Agnes
was introduced to me in 2010,and she has received 141 bicyclesfrom us since that time. The
bikes are used to go out into thevillages to administer medication
and vaccinations, offer pre- andpost-natal care, and to educate
the community about disease
prevention and family planning.
As with all of our projects, we were
once again headed to a remotelocation, this time Busi Island in
Lake Victoria, the second largestlake in the world. Arriving at the
Mabamba landing site, Hans, Rob,Suzanne (our co-coordinator) and
I climbed into a long canoe ttedwith an outboard motor. Chugging
along at an idle speed we passed
through a narrow channel clearedbetween the water lilies and reeds.
What a wonderful way to get toone of our project sites. Suzanne
then explained that next we had totake the Boda Boda, a motorbike
taxi service whilst Hans could usepedal power courtesy of his bike.
Minutes later, Hans and I entereda larger room lled with seatedpeople holding homemade banners
saying THANK YOU. They wereall voluntary healthcare workers.
Some had been given bikes lastyear and some would be receiving
one that morning. It felt good tosee how elated these people were
to see us and to be able to thankus for their bikes. The Ugandan
government does provide fundingfor health care, but the villages on
the island are so spread out thatthe medics cannot visit all their
patients in the widespread area.Action for the Rural Empowermen
of Women asked the governmentfor 100 bicycles for their workers.
In an interview, Suzanne summedit up: The government gave us
ve bicycles, and up until thisday Wheels 4 Life have given
us 89. This means that each
health worker can travel fartherand faster than before, resultingin many more patients visits.
It was still dark on Friday mornin
as we readied ourselves for anotheday. This time we would be in
Agness hands, and as my primarycontact within the organization,I was really looking forward to
meeting her. She is warmhearted,hardworking, cheerful and fun.
We are very lucky to have her onour team, and we are denitely
going to be sending funding formore bicycles her way. Today
she was going to take us toKyankwanzi, 252 km northeast of
Kampala and four hours by car.
Friday was race day. Pullinginto the compound of a school,
we could see 40 new bikeslined up, numbered and ready
to go home with their selectedowners. Alongside them were a
few bikes that we had providedin 2011. We were greeted again
by a lot of elated voluntaryhealthcare workers and also the
local government chief activelyworking to improve his county
and not just talk about it. As thebike receivers lined up and signed
their contracts that bind them to aagreement that they will maintain
and not sell their b icycles, Hanswas getting his race face on. We
mentioned that we had prizes, andthat upped the excitement level.The prospect of winning some
adidas sunglasses and varioustreats for the other pa rticipants
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really made their competitive side
kick in. As Hans anticipated, theKyankwanzians really know how
to pedal fast. The race was won bya gentleman in the pink shirt. There
was a positive party atmosphereat the nishing line, everyoneexcited and having a good time.
The Ugandans are lovely people,
cheerful, mellow, agreeablenot atall confrontationala nation that
has seen far too much suffering,ghting and fear since the 1970s.
Now they want to live, let liveand be harmonious with their
neighbors. Something here struckme very early on. I carry sweets to
give out to the village children onour excursions. In both Tanzania
and Kenya the children would
jostle each other out of the wayto get to the ca ndy. Some wouldbe sneaky and go to the back
of the group with the hope thatI wouldnt recognize them in
the furor and go for round two.In Uganda the children would
wait patiently in a row for meto hand them the sweet, then
they would drop into a kind ofcurtsey and say thank you with
a gigantic smile. It is important
to understand the societies thatwe work with and the challenges
they face, as well as knowingthe many positive aspects of any
country we give bikes to. And we
have been able to give 5,500 bikesto people all over the world.
The penultimate day of our tripsaw us saying goodbye to Kampala.
We were on our way to Masaka tomeet Mr. Jude Muleke, our Wheels
4 Life Ugandan ambassador. Judehas a history with us that goes back
to 2009 and is very much a part ofour Ugandan infrastructure. Heis my eyes and ears in Uganda, a
country disabled by atrocious roadsand primitive c ommunication
infrastructure. One of the manywonderful things Jude does is to
help host, twice-yearly Wheels 4Life Family Meetings, at which he
invites all previous, existing andpossible future Ugandan project
leaders. The idea is that they candiscuss the bicycles, how to operate
the project, negotiate for the bestprice for the bikes, teach people
to ride safely, how to maintaintheir bikes and how to follow-
up with reports that provide uswith such vital information.
While we were with Jude, a
young man came to shake myhand. Mark received a bicycle
in 2010, but on this day he toldus that his family could not
afford his secondary school fees.He was given one of our bikes,
took a year off from school andfound himself employment. With
this bike he obtained work ona building site where he would
get water to mix for cement,transporting the large yellow
containers he lled at the riveron his bike rack. He did this for
a year and saved enough moneyso that he could pay his fees and
go back to school. What now?He left the building site behind
and is now going to university,where he is studying hard with
the aim to become a doctor.
We have now come full circle,
so that the question posed at thebeginning is now where we end:
Can we make a difference? Yes.
More: Visit Wheels4Life.com to
see how you can make a difference.
Website for Sipi River Lodge,
Uganda; sipiriverlodge.com S