Within Livingstone and Kazangula Districts, Zambia, there are very few secondary (Grade 8+) schools. Which means many pupils, have very long distances to walk to school. The head teachers of these schools have told us that the distances that children have to walk are causing a huge problem with performance and attendance. Many pupils only attend 2 or 3 days a week as they stay at home to rest on alternate days and as a result their grades are suffering.
This bicycle donation will be able promote school attendance and give better energy levels to children during the school day.
The donated bicycles are given to the schools and communities, not to individuals to ensure the long term sustainability of the donation. The performance and attendance of the pupils who utilize the bicycles are closely monitored in order to assure the donation is fully and productively used.
DEBS (District Education Board Secretary- Ministry of Education) said this at the donation ceremony…
“We know that the pupils and the schools are hugely appreciative of the bicycles, it is not just a donation but an investment into their future. THANK you, you are all an inspiration to us, keep up the amazing work.
This is the 6th time that we have been honored by the generosity of Tour D’Afrique and its participants.
Of the more than 200 bicycles kindly donated to date, recipients who have benefited are The Ministry of Sports to promote bicycle racing. Home Based Carers who provide health outreach support within the community, Linda Community Farm for the Disabled, and many schools in Livingstone and Kazangula as well.
This year you still made it possible to donate 12 bicycles, a huge thank you goes to the management and riders of Tour d’Afrique for this kind gesture which has such a positive impact on the lives of the beneficiaries.
We have already heard so beautifully from some of the students the impact that these bicycles have is enormous.
I would like to say a huge thank you to the riders and staff of Tour d’Afrique for their kind fundraising and in particular to Graham Whelan.”
Christabel Mushe, 19, past beneficiary: “Allow me to say thank you very much on behalf of the other sponsored children and those who benefited from previous donations of bicycles. These bikes made a very huge difference in my school life and of those of my colleagues who received or rather benefited from this; I used to cover a very long distance from Nakatindi to David Livingstone High School about a 4km walk therefore arrive at school late and tired, to some extent stay home to rest the following day. This really affected my concentration and participation in class as I will be dozing but when I received the bike all this was over and both my performance and attendance improved and also my distance or rather my journey to school was made short. This kind of donations will be able to promote school attendance and give better energy levels to children/ students during the school day.
We are hoping that with this kind gesture the levels of absenteeism which in term results in poor performance will reduce to a lower percentage among us. To the people behind this wonderful gesture please do not get tired of making our dreams come true as pupils as we are the future generation. Once again thank you very much for your support.”
A quote from one the beneficiaries’ parent: “I didn’t have hope that my child will make it to grade 10 this year, but the bicycle that he was given at his school both his attendance and performance improved drastically. Thank you very much for your help”.
Roy Kanga, 60, Libuyu Home Based Care Giver: “This donation came at the right time when we needed it. As a Care Giver I have been able to visit more patients (10-15 patients) on a daily basis than I used to when I had no bicycle as some of the patient’s houses are far apart from each other. We have also been able to transport the patients to the clinics if there is no transport ‘vehicles’ in cases where the patient doesn’t have money to pay for a taxi.”
From all of us at The Happy Africa Foundation, thank you Tour d’Afrique for your continued support.