Re-Cycle East's bikes go to help health clinics and individuals in Sierra Leone
In
September 2006, Re-Cycle East received a very touching thank
you letter from a recipient of a recent shipment of 30 bikes.
Shona Lockyer, from the Kambia Hospital Appeal, which is a charity based in Cheltenham UK, said "We are so grateful for the bikes - they really are making such a difference to peoples lives in Sierra Leone."
The bikes left Colchester in the summer of 2006 and when they arrived at the project in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Shona said there was 'a near riot'.
Bikes for health clinics...
The majority of the bikes have gone to outlying health clinics for use by the staff - there are usually two or three staff per clinic.
Typically one member of staff remains at the clinic seeing patients and another goes out on 'outreach' to the villages. This used to be done on foot but now they can do more visits, and therefore see and treat more people.
Bikes for education...
Other bikes have gone to support local schools and school children. This photo above is of a 'schoolboy' in his uniform. He is actually 24 years old but, like so many of the children in Sierra Leone, he had no education during the 10 years of the civil war. Now it is common to see small children sitting alongside young adults trying to catch up on their education. Both Andrew's parents were killed during the war and he now lives with an Aunt.
Bikes for 'couple of the year'...
Two
bikes were donated to 'Couple of the Year'. This is an initiative run
by the District Medical Officer to highlight the importance of traditional
family values.
The couple that won are monogamous - men in Sierra Leone often take several wives. The husband was very supportive of his wife during her pregnancy: he came to ante-natal clinics and made sure that she didn't have to do any hard physical exercise while pregnant.
The donation of these bikes was made possible by the Spitfire Trust UK.