Senegal - Gambia 2016

From 27 January till 3 February 2016 Bike for Africa III heads to West-Africa : this upcoming edition of Bike for Africa will bring us to Senegal and the Gambia. West-Africa needs our support after the Ebola crisis, and we believe it’s a unique opportunity to put these countries in the spotlight.

From 27 January till 3 February 2016 Bike for Africa III headed to West-Africa : this 3rd edition of Bike for Africa brought us to Senegal and The Gambia. West-Africa needs our support after the Ebola crisis, and we believed it was a unique opportunity to put these countries in the spotlight.

In 5 biking days we crossed Senegal and The Gambia,  a country of steppes, grassland, tree savanna and dry open forest formations, cycling along villages with traditional mud cabins and huge baobabs. 

Bike for Africa 2016 raised €150.000 for humanitarian projects. Amongst the participants was Piet Goddaer (Ozark Henry), United Nations Goodwill Ambassador against Human Trafficking.

 

 

We supported following organisations

Junior Bears on Wheels

Junior Bears on Wheels , via United Fund for Belgium.

This subdivision of the famous Leuven Bears basketball team offers wheelchair basketball to disabled children. Bike for Africa 2016 donated 26.000 to Junior Bears on Wheels, to be used to buy a trailer to transport the wheelchairs and 4 youth sports wheelchairs.

Muriel Africa

Maternity unit “Muriel Africa” in Mbour.

The Belgian Muriel Jonckheere took the initiative to construct a maternity unit next to the Grand Mbour2 hospital in Mbour (Senegal) entirely funded with donations. It’s the only maternity unit in the area, with 10 beds, a labour ward and a delivery room, changing area and rest room for the midwives. Focus lies on hygiene and cleanliness. Muriel has done tremendous efforts to collect the budget required by addressing all possible service clubs, companies,parishes…Muriel has lost both her son and husband in a short period of time. These tragic losses motivated her to engage in this humanitarian project, dedicated to the remembrance of her son Bernard and to all African women.

Thanks to the donation received from Bike for Africa, Muriel can proceed with the construction and installation of the first floor of the maternity and the overall upgrade if the infrastructure, more in particular:

In June 2016, Muriel succesfully inaugurated a brand-new ultrasound machine in the maternity ward in Mbour. The gynecologist who runs a weekly consultation round in the maternity is thrilled by the quality of the device and the images. She can now perfectly determine the exact number of weeks of the pregnancy, view the foetus from closeby and spot any problems.

Construction works (with a new contractor) have restarted in June as well.

For more info visit www.maternitemurielafrica.com

  • Electricity
  • Plumbing
  • Masonry
  • Carpentry
  • Waterproof facade
  • Painting works

The Horizons Clinic

Cleaning out 100 childbirth facilities across The Gambia via The Horizons Clinic.

Most childbirth facilities in Gambia are below standard when it comes to hygiene and competence of the staff. This results in a high child mortality rate (50% of all child mortality happens within 24 hours after they’re born due to unhygienic conditions). Bike for Africa supported this initiative of the Horizons Clinic (http://www.thehorizonsclinic.com) with the upgrade of 5 facilities during 5 years. The money will be used to successfully change behaviour and attitudes toward cleanliness as well as to establish self-sustainability. The budget will be used for training of midwives, cleaning staff, consumables, and monitoring of compliance and infection rates.

Moreover, in two if the facilities (Serrekunda and Fajikunda), important infrastructure works will be carried out (€70.000):

  • Ensure 24-hour water supply
  • Covering of the septic tank and soak away
  • Maintenance of non-functioning solar water heater
  • Fix all electrical wiring issues
  • Supplement electricity supply by providing 12 hours of solar power daily to cover peak periods (already installed in the meantime)

Explore the Programme

 

Read the Journal

3 February // Visit to Horizons Clinic in Banjul After the cycling challenge of the last week, we of course want to see with our own eyes where the funds we have raised end up and which results were yielded thanks to this. So today we paid ... Read more
2 February 2016 // Berefet to Banjul // 95km // highest temperature: 40° Last ride today and it is the longest one so far. Everyone is mentally preparing for the 95km we have ahead of us, packing energy bars, bananas and water for the road. Before we ... Read more
1 February // Tour around Berefet // 30, 50 or 60km // highest temperature: 39° We woke up early again this morning to get an early start, because the mornings are so nice and cool, perfect mountain bike weather. At around 11AM The Gambia seems to have ... Read more
31 January // Bike day 3 // Toubakouta to Brefet // 70km // highest temperature: 38° Today we got up at 6AM again, because everyone agreed that today they wanted to leave early to avoid the midday heat. A great off road part was the first stage ... Read more

our Participants

Kim Vanderhaeghen's picture
Kim Vanderhaeghen
Matthias Spohr's picture
Matthias Spohr
Matthias Funke's picture
Matthias Funke
Saskia Michels's picture
Saskia Michels
Simon De Backer's picture
Simon De Backer
Robert Jahn's picture
Robert Jahn
Pieterjan Luyten's picture
Pieterjan Luyten
Markus Leopold's picture
Markus Leopold
Laurens Verlinden's picture
Laurens Verlinden
Joerg Beissel's picture
Joerg Beissel
Frank Bauer's picture
Frank Bauer
Claudia Tluk's picture
Claudia Tluk
Rudy Serneels's picture
Rudy Serneels
Martine Vereerstraeten's picture
Martine Vereerstraeten
Anne Tricot's picture
Anne Tricot
Walter Windey's picture
Walter Windey
Bart Neukermans's picture
Bart Neukermans
Jan Derycke's picture
Jan Derycke
Sven Peeters's picture
Sven Peeters
Thomas Dieu's picture
Thomas Dieu
Bjorn Cornelis's picture
Bjorn Cornelis
Josiane De Neef's picture
Josiane De Neef
Yves Kerremans's picture
Yves Kerremans
Ilse Verhelst's picture
Ilse Verhelst
Stefan Van Nereaux's picture
Stefan Van Nereaux
Wim Boecxstaens's picture
Wim Boecxstaens
Mike Vanderlinden's picture
Mike Vanderlinden
Uli Van Bruggen's picture
Uli Van Bruggen
Monique Dijk's picture
Monique Dijk
Matthias Lefèvre's picture
Matthias Lefèvre
Herman Carpentier's picture
Herman Carpentier
Kirsti Vrancken's picture
Kirsti Vrancken
Herman Carpentier's picture
Herman Carpentier
Kirsti Vrancken's picture
Kirsti Vrancken

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