Riders for Health introduces health systems expert
Riders for Health’s goal is to provide 25 million people in Africa with access to health care by 2015. Newly-appointed Partnership Director, Kameko Nichols, will help achieve these goals by forming relationships with ministries of health and non-government organisations to help Riders replicate their successful, life-saving transport management programmes in more African countries. ‘In our office, to do our site visits, we need transport; for a ministry of health to do all of its functions, they need transport; and health workers getting out to the field to do their outreach services need transport,’ explains Kameko. ‘Transport is everywhere in the health system and when it doesn’t work it’s very apparent’. 
As a lab systems expert in Lesotho, Kameko discovered this problem first hand. Lesotho’s mountainous terrain and a lack of transport made it very difficult to transport blood and sputum samples from remote rural areas to centralised district laboratories to get tested. Without a specific transport system in place, rural areas in Lesotho would often have to wait up to four weeks to receive the results from tests that were analysed in a district laboratory in 48 hours. Delays in laboratory results not only put the patient at risk but also increase the risk of a disease spreading.
Riders for Health was already operating in Lesotho mobilising health care workers and we worked to develop a transportation solution. The Professional Sample Courier (PSC) programme was launched in 2008 and 26 Riders sample couriers are now working across ten different districts in Lesotho. The couriers collect and deliver samples using special backpacks developed by Riders, which manage temperature and vibrations. Riders trains the couriers in safe and controlled motorcycle riding, as well as daily preventative maintenance so the vehicles never break down. As a result, quick yet accurate diagnoses can be made, allowing for timely care and treatment. ‘I really hope that Riders for Health as an organisation becomes very well known throughout Africa,’ says Kameko. ‘The work that Riders is doing is so important: reliable transport is critical to the health system and I think that too few people know about Riders for Health in Africa’. Kameko is currently working with our team in Zambia to expand our programme into the Southern Province.
Riders take part in TEDx event
During September, leaders from across the world met in New York to assess the progress that has been made towards the Millennium Development Goals. As part of this summit, the organisers of the TEDx series of lectures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation held a series of talks in cities across the world at the same time. The event included a live satellite link with New York featuring a talk given by Melinda Gates. 
Riders’ CEO and co-founder, Andrea Coleman, was one of three speakers at the London event held in the IMAX cinema at the Science Museum. Andrea spoke about how visits to Africa 20 years ago and seeing women being taken to hospital in wheelbarrows led her and Barry Coleman to establish Riders for Health. The sight of people going without health care, while motorcycles lay broken and rusting simply because no one knew how to look after them, inspired them to challenge the status quo and come up with a solution. One of the key messages of the event was that in many parts of the world there has been great progress to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Yet much more needs to be done, if those who live in remote communities are not to miss out. In her speech, Andrea argued that if the health care goals are to be reached then health workers must be able to reach everyone, no matter how remote. For that, they must have reliable transport. Too often the focus is on new technologies and huge investment. Yet without putting in place simple, proven methods of looking after vehicles, health care will continue to fail to reach many of the world’s most vulnerable people. Andrea’s speech, along with all those given on the day will be online soon at www.tedxlondon.com. Photo courtesy of Sophia Schorr-Kon.
Join Riders on our new Facebook page
Riders for Health launched our new Facebook page last week and we already have over 200 supporters! The page features all the latest news, upcoming events, photographs of our work and videos too. We would love to hear what you think so why not have a look and post us a message? 
You can use our new page to connect with other supporters, share our favourite pages and post any comments you might have on our wall. As well as being highly interactive, we think it’s a great way to highlight the importance of the work we do in Africa. Suggest our new page to your friends and, together, let’s spread Riders’ vision of a world in which people in Africa do not die because barriers of distance, terrain or poverty prevent them from being reached. We have already uploaded photo albums from our programmes to give you a glimpse into the life-saving work that our technicians do every day. In our album from the Gambia you can see how health care worker Bubacarr Jallow uses his motorcycle to visit a pregnant woman in Penyem village.
We have video clips from our field programmes, as well as pictures and videos of our fundraising from across the world. We will be adding more to the page, so keep checking.
The page is also a great way to keep up to date with Riders in the news. You can already find a link to an interview with British comedian and biking fanatic, Ross Noble, who talks about his trip to Kenya and the brilliant work that Riders is doing there. Upcoming events from the world of motorcycling are posted, including links to Riders’ exclusive auctions for paddock passes for each of the last four rounds of MotoGP. You can find all of the exciting information mentioned, as well as links to donations pages in both the UK and America, at: www.facebook.com/ridersforhealth. You can also keep up to date with Riders by following us on Twitter. Find us at www.twitter.com/ridersforhealth.
Az prepares for mammoth fundraising effort
Earlier this year Riders for Health’s supporter, Az Heydari, took part in the Paris Marathon to support our work. Now she is taking on an even bigger challenge. 
In November, Az will be travelling around the world to run around every MotoGP track used in the 2010 season to raise funds towards our work. With over a month to go, Az has already managed to raise a staggering £9,129 and hopes to raise £15,000 in total!
As someone who works in a hospital intensive care unit, Az knows how important quick access to health care can be. After learning about the work of Riders for Health, Az admitted that she had just never thought about how hard it must be to deliver health care or medicines to people in Africa who live in remote communities. The money Az has raised so far could equip three provincial workshops in Zimbabwe with tools, ensuring that motorcycles and four wheeled vehicles do not break down when they are needed most. The work done by our technicians in our workshops ensures that health workers continue to reach isolated communities with vital health care. Az sets off in November to complete her challenge and we wish her the very best of luck. If you’d like to support Az, please visit her JustGiving page by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/pablo46.
If you would like further information about how you could fundraise for Riders, please contact Elizabeth in our fundraising team at edunn@riders.org.
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