our beneficiaries

The Ride for World Health 2010 beneficiaries are World Bicycle Relief and HEAL Africa.

World Bicycle Relief – The Power of Bicycles

Founded in 2005 in response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami, World Bicycle Relief is a not-for-profit organization specializing in large-scale bicycle programs dedicated to providing advancing human livelihood through The Power of Bicycles.  Compared to walking, bicycles represent an enormous increase in productivity and access to healthcare, education, and economic development opportunities.

World Bicycle Relief Fund Projects:

• Project Tsunami – Over 230,000 people lost their lives and one million citizens were left homeless following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. WBR has provided over 24,000 bicycles to the people of Sri Lanka. Bikes have been the catalyst in helping these individuals rebuild their communities, find work, and in the case of children, stay in school.
• Project CHAI and Project Zambia – In support of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and USAID-funded consortium, RAPIDS: Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support, WBR has provided 23,300 bicycles to health care workers, mentors working with vulnerable children, and educators of disease prevention in six different African countries.  Over 450 bicycle mechanics have also been trained, ensuring a system of bike maintenance, as well as providing an economic opportunity for people in the community.
• Bicycles for Education Empowerment Program – Based on United Nations notion of education as health care prevention, WBR will provide approximately 50,000 bicycles to school-age children in rural Zambia who are at increased risk for extreme poverty and high HIV/AIDS infection rates.  Safe, reliable transportation to school will increase their opportunities for better health and economic outcomes as a result of completing their secondary education. 

Visit the World Bicycle Relief website

HEAL Africa

HEAL African is based in Goma, Democratic republic of Congo, a devastated region of central Africa characterized by extreme violence and mass population displacements, which has claimed over six million lives in the past fifteen years.  Founded in 1996 by a Congolese orthopedic surgeon, HEAL Africa is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide holistic care for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This is accomplished by fostering peace and development through medical, social, and economic initiatives, such as training health professionals, strengthening social activists, and providing physical, spiritual, and social healing. 

HEAL Africa’s Impact:

• Each year, surgeons at the HEAL Africa hospital perform over 1000 orthopedic surgeries for conditions such as clubfoot, cleft palate, polio, and injuries from land mines, gunshots, and grenades. 
• Completion of 300 fistula repair surgeries a year and over 1400 successful reparations since 2004 for victims of sexual violence.
• Training rural healthcare professionals and educators.
• HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.
• Human rights education.
• Micro-grants and collective insurance.
• Support for widows and orphans, safe motherhood programs.
• Bed net initiatives to prevent malaria.

 Visit the HEAL Africa website