Malaria Bike Tour
By Jonathan Padway
When dealing with moving parts, things often get complicated. But, that moment of fluidity, when all of the pieces flow together in a symphony of cooperation, it’s magic. That symphonic melody was the tune trumpeted from the success of the malaria bike tour.
We all came together, from across the country, to ride from school to school in the hopes of educating some of Rwanda’s rural regions most severely affected by malaria. Our tools were ingenuity and creativity. Our lessons consisted of malaria facts, information, and methods of prevention. In this truly grassroots approach we reached almost 1000 students who, in turn, now have the ability to spread the message to their villages.
The kilometers were many and long, but the lessons were instructive and supportive. The opportunity to bike from village to village, school to school, truly grounded our perspective and promoted a better sense of understanding for our volunteers, which translated to more effective lessons. The mode of transportation also brought us closer to the villages and the people. We didn’t arrive in vehicles, hidden by the metal and pavement. We came open, vulnerable with our bicycles. That made us approachable—we were more than an organization coming in for the afternoon to drop off materials and leave. We were a group of dedicated individuals there to combat the menace of malaria.
As smoothly as everything went, there were still hiccups: bike maintenance, physical stress, and exhaustion. Covering 70 kilometers in a day, through valleys and peaks of hills, is not something for the faint of heart. Add to that teaching an auditorium full of students for three hours after pedaling our path often felt more grueling than the actual hills! But, at the same time it was more rewarding than conquering the hills—knowing that the lessons we taught educated students and gave them the tools to prevent malaria and save lives far surpassed the accomplishments of peaking hills.
More opportunities for these sorts of projects need to be pursued. The high-impact success of the tour can easily be replicated with any number of projects and topics to combat the problems that Rwanda faces. In fact, this type of project is implementable in many parts of the world for a multitude of topics. A good lesson was learned and, with all good lessons, more teaching must be done.
We all came together, from across the country, to ride from school to school in the hopes of educating some of Rwanda’s rural regions most severely affected by malaria. Our tools were ingenuity and creativity. Our lessons consisted of malaria facts, information, and methods of prevention. In this truly grassroots approach we reached almost 1000 students who, in turn, now have the ability to spread the message to their villages.
The kilometers were many and long, but the lessons were instructive and supportive. The opportunity to bike from village to village, school to school, truly grounded our perspective and promoted a better sense of understanding for our volunteers, which translated to more effective lessons. The mode of transportation also brought us closer to the villages and the people. We didn’t arrive in vehicles, hidden by the metal and pavement. We came open, vulnerable with our bicycles. That made us approachable—we were more than an organization coming in for the afternoon to drop off materials and leave. We were a group of dedicated individuals there to combat the menace of malaria.
As smoothly as everything went, there were still hiccups: bike maintenance, physical stress, and exhaustion. Covering 70 kilometers in a day, through valleys and peaks of hills, is not something for the faint of heart. Add to that teaching an auditorium full of students for three hours after pedaling our path often felt more grueling than the actual hills! But, at the same time it was more rewarding than conquering the hills—knowing that the lessons we taught educated students and gave them the tools to prevent malaria and save lives far surpassed the accomplishments of peaking hills.
More opportunities for these sorts of projects need to be pursued. The high-impact success of the tour can easily be replicated with any number of projects and topics to combat the problems that Rwanda faces. In fact, this type of project is implementable in many parts of the world for a multitude of topics. A good lesson was learned and, with all good lessons, more teaching must be done.