Riders for HealthRiders for Health is an international charity born out of the world of motorcycle racing. Riders’ mission is to deliver healthcare to those who need it most. Their groundbreaking work in Africa saves lives daily and proves a fundamental point about development: with reliable transport, almost anything is possible. Without it, almost nothing is.
Riders’ mission is to provide local health care workers with a motorcycle and to teach them how to ride and maintain it. Instead of flooding Africa with new motorcycles, Riders’ focus is on keeping existing fleets of two and four-wheeled vehicles running with locally run preventive maintenance programmes as rigorous as they are unglamorous. They operate a zero-breakdown policy on the world’s worst roads, and as a result provide swift access to primary healthcare for villages that were lucky to see their district nurse once a month before Riders’ arrival.
Transport is a vital component of any development initiative. But it is routinely overlooked by purveyors of aid in favour of more televisually compelling frontline work, and it is routinely blamed when that work grinds to a halt. Supporters of Riders for Health know that their money will have a sustainable legacy. To become one, follow this link: Just Giving
Dignitas International
Dignitas International is a medical humanitarian organization that dramatically increases access to essential HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support, including life-saving antiretroviral therapy, in resource-poor settings. Dignitas works with communities to train and support healthcare workers and coordinates services with governments and grassroots groups to empower communities in their response to AIDS. Each month Dignitas International begins hundreds of people on life-saving HIV medications.
An example of the positive impact Dignitas is having on the lives of people suffering from AIDS in Africa can be seen in Malawi. In partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health, Dignitas has provided life-extending antiretroviral therapy to thousands of children and adults in Malawi in southern Africa, a country devastated by the AIDS pandemic. Each month, hundreds of new patients are gaining access to medications that will not only keep them alive and improve their health, but also enable them to work, support their families, contribute to their communities, and allow children to continue their education.