History of Ride. Climb. Transform.

The Ride. Climb. Transform. project formed when two emerging and innovative international nonprofits crossed paths.  When globablike and Kiliminjaro Initiative (KI) organizations met one another opportunities for collaboration immediately started brewing.  As a result, in 2011, globalbike joined in KI’s annual climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro with youth from some of Kenya’s toughest neighborhoods and KI joined globalbike in a 400 km bike ride from Nairobi, Kenya to Marangu, Tanzania (at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro) and distributed 115 bikes along the way.  The two groups dubbed this inaugural event Ride. Climb. Transform. (or RCT) and made a powerful statement through not only providing bikes to youth groups and supporting youth leadership opportunities, but also by traveling from the largest city in East Africa (Nairobi) to the highest point in all of Africa by the power of their own two legs.

The impact of the bikes cannot be overstated.  Organizations serving youth, many of whom live in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum, received the majority of the bikes.  With bicycles as transportation, these community-focused organizations are now: serving more youth, generating more income by being able to transport goods (vegetables and jewelry) to larger markets, and allowing health care providers to see more young patients every single day.  These bikes are improving the lives and redefining the future of over 10,000 youth.

Ride. Climb. Transform. 2012

On February 27, 2012, directors and partners of globalbike will join with leaders of local community groups as well as fifteen youth cyclists from Kenya and Tanzania to commence a 400 km bike ride around the base of Mount Kilimanjaro.  This diverse but unified group will stop in five different communities over the course of the six day trek.  Together, they will donate a total of 100 bikes to care workers and community service providers in each locale, and will spend time there, learning about the area's challenges and opportunities, and giving particular attention to women's issues.  At the close of the bike ride, the participants will join forces with members of the United Nation's Women's Agency and representatives from all over the continent of Africa.  On that day, this group of collaborators, who hail from countries around the world, will learn about the communities that surround Mount Kilimanjaro, learn about each other, and devote their collective resources to tackling some of the world's toughest challenges.  The trip will transform the lives of 100 Tanzanian care workers and many more villagers, and will transform the hearts and minds of each RCT 2012 participant, as well. 

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