KAMPALA — World Bicycle Relief donated 1250 Buffalo bicycles worth UGX 900 million to the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) to bolster humanitarian community responses.
The bicycles will be used by URCS volunteers and staff through community visits and reach the most vulnerable communities, Robert Kwesiga, URCS General Secretary said during the handover ceremony at their headquarters on Friday, April 21.
“This has come in at a time when we are trying to ensure the volunteers and staff who do a tough job and make us who we are sorted in terms of easy mobility. Some of these people can in a day walk 10 kilometres with a backpack on the back in difficult terrain where even getting water is not easy,” the General Secretary said.
He said the bicycles will support URCS Volunteers in communities to deliver timely services to the people they serve.
“A volunteer who has been walking 10 kilometres will see a difference with the bicycle to facilitate the job to be done faster and easier,” he said.
He said the Buffalo bicycles will be given to volunteers and staff in the field, mostly in rural areas.
“They will be distributed according to needs. The branches with more active volunteers doing field work will get more bicycles.”
Mr. Sean Granville – Ross, Senior Global Director of Programs, Buffalo bicycles in his remarks noted that the bicycles are designed for rural Africa and meant to allow people challenged with distance to overcome the problem of distance.
“We hope that the Buffalo bicycles will contribute to the mandate and mission of Uganda Red Cross Society through enabling the to reach more people quickly hence saving more lives.”
The Buffalo bicycles will be distributed through five regional hubs including Soroti, Lira, Gulu, West Nile and South West – Mbarara/ Nakivale.
Mr. Ross further committed that World Bicycle Relief will train mechanics within the regional hubs and are currently establishing shops to sell Buffalo bicycles spare parts that the beneficiaries can easily access.
This will create opportunities for the young people to train as mechanics and also work in the shops. He further noted that “we understand that you have over 500,000 volunteers ,1250 is only the beginning of the journey.”
