#BicyclesChangeLives
This project's parent organization is World Bicycle Relief/Qhubeka
It operates in South Africa
It uses Cycling
Entered the Sport for Education Award
More about #BicyclesChangeLives
Research by Statistics South Africa indicates 11 million out of a possible 17 million students in South Africa walk to school, with ‘walking all the way’ being the primary means of travel. Of students walking to school, 500000 walk for more than an hour– up to 6 km each way– thus impacting concentration and learning ability.
The challenge of distance results in increased tardiness, frequent absenteeism, exhaustion and often the complete withdrawal from the education system.
Bicycles are the most effective and economical method of quickly addressing this problem.
This year Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung was the first African registered pro-cycling team to participate in the Tour de France. The team has embraced the Qhubeka name and non-profit organization as part of their mission to make bicycling accessible to people in Africa as a means to “progress” or “move forward”.
Using the opportunity of the Tour de France – the Team has used it to promote Qhubeka, World Bicycle Relief’s programme in South Africa. Together, we’ve created a fundraising campaign to provide bicycles for 5000 of the 500000 schoolchildren who walk all the way to school. This campaign is called #BicyclesChangeLives.