Cycle for Health

Honorable Mention
Mr. Joseph Agoada, Two Wheeled Foundation Dr. John Baptist Niwagaba, Kigezi Community Project Mr. Patrick Kayemba, First African Bicycle Information Organization

Cycle for Health is a pedal powered catalyst that when placed into a failing rural East African transport system mobilizes medical resources, personnel and patients. The initiative capitalizes on thousands and thousands of bicycles left unused in the garages, apartment buildings and streets of North America by recycling them to rural African communities to save lives. The initiative is an immediate need for rural communities with ample medicine and skilled professionals not being delivered or accessed
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because of poor roads and the limited use of motorized vehicles. When advanced care is many miles away, timely diagnosis, treatment and drug delivery is critical, especially true in the case of pregnant women and HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB patients. In the rural setting, mild delays in initial care dominos small, treatable problems into serious ailments, resulting in a long, costly journey for advanced care at city hospitals. To treat this rural health care problem at its root cause, Cycle for Health collects idle bicycles in North America, packages them with spare parts and tools, and ships them in purchased 40 ft. containers to community based organizations (CBOs) in rural East Africa. The fully stocked, containerized bicycle workshop becomes instant storage and workshop space upon arrival. The non-governmental organization (NGO) First African Bicycle Information Organization (FABIO), trains recipient CBO staff to repair, refurbish and remodel recycled bicycles into ambulances, goods carriers and off road transporters. The bicycle designs are marketed to hospitals, health care organizations, NGOs, and women development groups as a resource to mobilize their resources and improve their services. Cycle for Health is a breakthrough in its comprehensive package of materials and trainings. Where current aid programs see bicycles as a donation dropped into a needy community, Cycle for Health envisions recycled bicycles as a capital to start sustainable small scale bicycle enterprises which improve mobility of medical resources, create jobs, and enhance quality of life.

Describe the current stage of your initiative and your implementation plan over the next three years

Cycle for Health organizers conducted a 2007 baseline needs assessment for bicycle use and health care delivery systems in Uganda. Community buy-in and project planning is complete for a pilot workshop in the rural Kigezi District of southwest Uganda. Technical trainings are being facilitated by FABIO and implementation is being managed by the CBO Kigezi Community Project (KCP). The two organizations have an MoU with Two Wheeled Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) which is coordinating recycled bicycle shipments, fundraising, and conducting monitoring and evaluation.

The Kigezi bicycle shipment departs mid-November from a collection point in Calgary for the Red Cross compound in the village of Kabale, located in the heart of the Kigezi region. During the two month travel period of the oversea shipment, KCP will establish a Cycle for Health office and schedule trainings with FABIO. The containerized bicycle workshop will be established in Kabale early 2009.

The Cycle for Health three year implementation plan rolls out satellite bicycle workshops from the central “hub” in Kabale. The satellite sites double as bicycle repair points and stops on a KCP mobile health clinic route. With empirical evidence of a Kigezi model, Cycle for Health scales out to other Ugandan and East African communities.
The prize monies will be invested in a community foundation account and injected to offset shipping costs for future containers of recycled bicycles, facilitate trainings, support purchasing of specialized bicycle building materials and tools, and for monitoring, evaluation and documentation.

Describe how your strategy meets the entry criteria ("What We're Looking For")

Cycle for Health operates within the ‘global village ideal’ and emphasizes treating the root cause of social problems. It presents a bold, visionary initiative backed by a solid plan and administered by a capable team of globally conscious, grassroots experienced, technically savvy organizations. It is a comprehensive package, integrating health care delivery needs with an appropriate transportation technology. The program leverages existing medical resources and empowers existing health providers rather than re-inventing the wheel.
Cycle for Health is ecologically responsible, promoting pedal power as a carbon-free transportation choice. The initiative builds on bicycle recycling programs involving North American groups and recipients in Ghana and Namibia. The impact of bicycles can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively in studying health delivery in the Kigezi region. The bicycle is an accepted and valued form of transport in rural areas, and so the concept can be adapted to a broad range of conditions.

Describe the qualifications and experience of you and/or your team and your ability to execute your implementation plan

Dr. John Baptist Niwagaba, the director of KCP is a resident in the Mulago National Hospital of Kampala, Uganda and a native of the Kigezi region. He is well experienced in rural community health care and has intimate knowledge of the Ugandan health care systems. His connections to health care providers and health related organizations in Uganda will help to generate a market for the Cycle for Health services.

Joseph Agoada chairman of Two Wheeled Foundation is an administrative coordinator in the International Development Initiative at MIT. Through grassroots work in Uganda and administrative experience in the global arena, Mr. Agoada has built the story of how bicycles acts a simple, yet revolutionary instrument for saving lives and solving the mobility issue in rural Africa. He understands the accountability and organization that is needed for a successful program.

Patrick Kayemba and the staff of the First African Bicycle Information Organization add Africa specific bicycle knowledge to Cycle for Health and experience in the importing of bicycle resources. Seven years of grassroots bicycle training and advocacy in Uganda will facilitate smooth implementation of innovative bicycle technologies in the Cycle for Health Program.


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The Cycle for Health Logo
A bicycle carrying water jugs
A screen painting purchased in Ugandan craft market.
Example of poor road infrastructure in Ugnada
A bikeload of pineapples reveals the transport potential.
 
 
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ycling - the healthy

Submitted by felipeducaa on September 16, 2009 - 17:35.

ycling - the healthy option
Cycling is healthy, both for you as an individual, and for the community you live in. That's the conclusion of the British Medical Association's report, 'Cycling: Towards Health and Safety'.

Cycling regularly will improve your fitness and can help you live a long and healthy life.
Riding a bike can help you maintain a healthy weight.
Three quarters of all personal journeys are less than 5 miles long - that's half an hour on a bike.

Switching these short journeys from car to bicycle will benefit your health and your community. You'll be helping to reduce noise and air pollution as well as traffic congestion.

What's In It For You?
More cycling is good news for the environment and your local community. But the biggest benefit is for you as an individual.

Increasing Fitness
Your strength, stamina, aerobic fitness and general muscle function will all be improved. Cycling is a low impact activity and one of the safest ways to exercise without risk of over-exertion or strain to muscles and joints. Regular physical activity also facilitates other healthy behaviour and could help you reduce weight or even give up smoking.

Lowering Risk of Heart Attack
Your heart muscles are strengthened, resting pulse is lowered and blood fat levels reduced. People taking regular physical activity suffer far less heart disease than people who don't!

Shedding Excess Weight
By burning body fat and raising your metabolic rate you can lose weight. If you undertake physical activity regularly you can enjoy a more varied diet without increasing body weight. Cycling is one of the more comfortable forms of physical activity for those who are new to exercise, allowing most people to get fit easily and safely without undue physical strain.

Reducing Stress
Anxiety, stress and depression are all alleviated, partly due to the physical activity itself metrologic , but also due to the pleasure and satisfaction of riding a bike. Cycling is convenient for short journeys, and often faster across town than other forms of transport. It's a stress free means of taking physical activity because it can form part of a daily routine. So there's no need to worry about fitting your new healthy lifestyle into an already overcrowded schedule. So go cycle - you'll feel better for it!

poor road construction

Submitted by Erik Todd Keene on August 13, 2009 - 23:13.

I like it. I have my manual. I crazy. I saw a 9 series transformation of convection, conduction, and radiation leading into 4 microbial tranformations to convert the superdump problem although I don't have enough background into microbiology that I would like. I told Entertainment Weekly that the existing spaghetti grid of power lines could be attuned to all the natural phenomena. For my game Dig A Hole! I began to break down natural phenomena according to a regenerative 92 segments in considering a theoretically worldwide power grid constructive waves are constructive waves. Local discovery doesn't preclude further discovery, and I haven't made any discovery which indicates I'm not alone. I'm at a midlife crisis and what I need is time to reestablish my identity. But peo ple will not do the right thing. It would be so easy to get what I needed but then everyone wants to stigmatize me. I've lost so much opportunity just waiting, and trying to go along. I'm here with a family member and I know time. And I'm stuck like chuck right now. And I don't feel like being a drunk redneck. I was born supposedly sick, and I wasn't supposed to find that out. And I've been running and struggling. I know what I have to do to regain help but my brother lives a different life. my younger brother. We need out of here. Or I do. Life force fields settle as I put my quick summation of Kurt Leveen. Well, I believe in the challenge of longevity theory. Put the Methuselah prize in front of me and I will take a shot. I just learned about eating for blood type. I want to workout and practice tai'chi running. I'm a warrior but no one knows what kind. That is what the United States made me. And although we fight for many reasons, many struggles. I feel alone. Living on a prayer of a scatter brained idea. Put the paper pushers to sleep sayeth, RB. I pray for you! Mister Joseph Agoada, Dr. Niwagaba, Mr. Kayemba. Jambo!