Hi Johnny,
Sorry to hear you weren't getting the updates. I was, even though they hadn't made the connection between 'Cogs' and 'Ian Underwood' and had included me in a list of 'missing' which generated a reassuring enquiries for my wellbeing from Grey and Red team members
I received the latest of a number of updates last Friday with, finally, some good news that 33 bikes were now out in the field in Zim.
Apologies for the length of the following but I believe those genuinely concerned with the the work of RfH and Enduroo Africa would like to read the whole, reassuring, mail.
Well done with EA 2007 BTW you lucky devil
Dear supporters of Riders for Health , Zimbabwe
We are thrilled to tell you that almost a third of the Enduro motorcycles, 36 in fact, are now with their new owners in the provinces of Zimbabwe. So the motorcycles you used for fun in South Africa are now being used to deliver regular and reliable health care, helping to save lives.
The training for these 36 riders has been completed and the motorcycles will be used in three Zimbabwean provinces; Midlands, Masvingo, and Manicaland. Alfred Gonga and members of his team from the International Academy of Vehicle Management (IAVM) have recently been to the provincial centres to present the bikes to the health care workers and complete their training.
As you know, the health workers were already using motorcycles within the Riders managed system, but Alfred reported that a great deal of excitement was caused by the handing over of the new bikes and protective clothing to the health workers. Alfred explained to each of the groups how Riders had come to receive the motorcycles and the health workers were very happy to be partnered with an Enduro rider. The health workers were also grateful to you all for your efforts in raising money for their new motorcycles.
And then onto the training. The health workers are all experienced riders, but have moved from a 2-stroke, 6-volt to a 4-stroke, 12-volt machine. The trainees had already been trained to carry out daily maintenance and safety checks, a system which Riders refers to as PLANS - Petrol, Lubricants, Adjustment, Nuts and bolts, Stop (breaks). But t he electric start system of the AG200 has a different lubrication system, so Alfred and his team explained the new system to the health workers and they were shown how to check the sump for their daily maintenance.
The health workers then spent three days with Alfred and his team, where they were retrained to handle the more powerful and heavier AG200 motorcycles. This was also an opportunity for the team from the IAVM to refresh the riding skills of the trainees. Alfred has been very pleased with the development of the health workers and their riding skills.
Below is a message from Alfred to you all about how the motorcycles make a difference to the lives of the health workers and the communities they serve. We know from your support of Riders that you already understand how vital reliable transportation is to saving lives in Africa, but we wanted you to hear this from the team in the field.
"Training in the three provinces covered so far has gone very well. As you know, in most wards and villages an Environmental Health Technician (EHT) and his or her motorcycle is the only link among the community to the clinic, hospital or nearest referral centre or source of life-saving drugs. Before the EHT had his or her motorcycle they had to walk to see people, but with a motorcycle the number of times they visit the villages in their care increases from once every month to once a week. All areas are reached in time, it is easier to identify problems and faster reporting is possible. This enhances rapid response and investigation into outbreaks, diseases and other aspects such as suspected rabies and cholera cases.
There are various programmes an EHT co-ordinates and manages; for example the National TB and Leprosy control programme. With a motorcycle, district TB co-ordinators find it easier to travel throughout a district to carry out supervising visits to clinics and any other necessary training. This then means increased TB management activities, which include disease investigation, notification, contact tracing and follow up of defaulters.
Having reliable transportation also means the EHT's can train and monitor more community-based workers. These community based workers focus on water and sanitation and as a result of increased links with the EHT, services are seen to improve.
Within the community in general, malaria control and treatment is enhanced - malaria drugs are delivered direct to the community, rather than the community having to walk up to 40km to collect the drugs themselves. Plus indoor residual house spraying and monitoring can now be easily carried out.
The EHT's and all the three Ministry of Health child welfare departments were delighted to receive the motorcycles, which they said would make a huge difference to their work. They expressed their gratitude to Riders and the participants who donated the motorcycles.
Alfred Gonga
Principal - IAVM''
What we would like to do is contact as many of you as we can and send you a photograph of your motorcycle and the health care worker who now uses your vehicle for their life-saving work. As you can imagine, this is not a simple process with so many motorcycles and a great deal of activity taking place during training. It also means all of these photographs have to be sent to us from Zimbabwe, so we ask for your patience during this process.
For those of you whose bike has been placed in the Midlands, Masvingo and Manicaland, you will be hearing from Jennie at the beginning of next week. Unfortunately though, we still do not have the e-mail addresses for every participant. For the three provinces already completed, we do not have e-mail addresses for those people listed at the end of my e-mail. If any of you are in touch with these people, please ask them to e-mail Jennie on
jgoodman@riders.org if they would like an update on their motorcycle.
The next province where training will take place is Mashonaland West and then onto Matabeleland South, so we will be in contact with you all again soon to update you on our progress.
In the meantime, if any of you would like to see photographs of the training taking place in the three completed provinces, please let Jennie know and she will arrange this for you.
Finally, since my last update the team in Zimbabwe have received the clothing some of you donated after Enduro Africa 2006. For those of you that kindly donated jackets, boots, helmets etc. - thank you very much. We appreciate your kindness and generosity.
With warm wishes from everyone at Riders,
Andrea Coleman
CEO - Riders
- Adrian Arnold
- Thomas Rafferty
- John Dick
- Peter Garrod
- Christopher Knight
- Grant Jeffrey
- Peter Holland
- Derek Thompson
- Paul Hooker
- Ian Underwood
- Iain Matthews
- Anthony Cox
- Thomas Williams
- Rodney Brotherwood
- Thomas Reynolds