Lise Olivier - Team MTN Qhubeka: Qhubeka Bike Handover

This past weekend teammates Charlotte, Sarah, Adrien and I had the privilege of joining Qhubeka and Wildlands Conservation Trust staff as well as MTN employees for the Qhubeka bike handover in Luphisi, Mpumalanga.

"Transportation is a fundamental element of development: Most of Africa’s rural population have no access to transport and people have to walk long distances to access opportunity, education, healthcare, shops and community services. Rural schoolchildren are particularly badly affected by lack of mobility. In South Africa, of the 16 million school going children, 12 million walk to school. Of these, 500,000 walk more than two hours each way, spending four hours getting to and back from school each day. Bicycles are the most effective and economical method of quickly addressing this problem."
http://www.qhubeka.org/qhubeka/HOME/HOME.html

This is where Qhubeka comes in. Many people are already aware of the great work that is being done by Qhubeka. Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means "to carry on" and "to progress". This bike handover was part of their "Trees-for-Bikes" project where children (called "Tree-preneurs") grow trees to earn bikes.

For me the most memorable part of this experience was to hear the stories about the "Tree-preneurs". Kids that used to spend hours walking to school can now use that time to study. Something like a University degree that previously seemed impossible becomes possible. Another boy was planting trees to get a bike for his little brother. There are many more stories like these of how this project has changed the lives of children in rural communities. With so little you can do so much.