Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/220782
FEATURE P68 RIDERS EXPERIENCE AFRICA technical support. Which means a little over half of the money paid for the trip goes to Riders for Health. There are additional costs not included in the package: flights, inoculations, appropriate travel insurance, riding gear, and the bike's fuel (estimated at around $98), but they are there to offer advice to help your planning. If the price tag makes you wince, they have a fundraising packet ready to download to help make the dream a reality. "When we see the figure… When you first look at it and you go 'oooh that's an expensive trip,'" Says Mamola. "Yes it is, but I think maybe you've heard me say there's ways of raising the money and you write a nice report about your trip and your travels." Mamola went on to share his enthusiasm for the trip. "I cannot stress enough how great the trip is. It's seeing Africa the best way that you can see," he said. "Especially in Zambia. At the end we see elephants, we see animals, we go to these parks. My wife and I actually walked with lions six, seven month old lions, which were quite big. You can do a lot of things that are the touristic things. "But I promise you… everyone's such in a hurry at the beginning to get there and then we get down to the Livingston area and it's like, 'there's only two days, oh there's only one day.' "The houses that we stay in the thatched-roof houses that PROJECT ZAMBIA Starting with three bikes, Riders for Health launched its program in Zambia in 2009. That number grew to 10 bikes for 2010 and 2011 - a small number for a country larger than the size of Texas. Then in June of 2011, they began a partnership with the Gates Foundation and Stanford University for a two-year project. They started with a case study of the eight districts of the Livingstone area – over 1 million people – and started registering what they were dying from, the age of life expectancy, etc. Since 2011, the number of motorcycles has grown from 10 to 85 in four of the districts and they are continuing to work with Stanford to analyze what's being done in the districts with the bikes and without the bikes. The end of this year marks the end of the two years and their findings will be announced publicly in 2014. Co-Founder Randy Mamola is passionate about the cause and the impact it has and while excited about the continued success of the organization, wanted to stress the importance of growing the organization itself. "I speak from the heart," he said. "Sometimes if I say something like, 'oh well listen with the Gates Foundation we implemented another 85 motorcycles' and some people might say then why aren't you having UNICEF buy you bikes? We still need donations. If you asked the world of motorcycling that doesn't come to Grands Prix if they've heard of Riders for Health, the answer is no. If they've heard of UNICEF the answer is yes. And so we're still behind in that area." are on the Zambezi river. You watch the elephants cross in front of you… There's nothing like this tranquil feeling and sensation. You can see the Victoria Falls and so on and so forth. So yes, I'm trying to sell a touristic type thing, but in reality I want to show them what support can do and what Riders for Health is a very big part of." CN Part of the trip is riding to a few of the rural health centers to meet some of the Riders for Health Zambia staff and the Zambian health workers who make a difference.