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CYCLING ROUND RUKIGA*
Twenty-six cyclists had signed up for the sponsored bike ride on September 25th, with the aim of ‘cycling round Rukiga’. “Quite an adventure, only for the most committed endurance athletes,” you might think. Well, not quite that arduous, really: for they weren’t setting out with their bikes to journey round South West Uganda. Instead, they met up outside Bikewise in Ickenham after Sunday lunch, for an eight mile round trip, taking in the itinerary shown in the box below.
Well, it’s more exercise than most of us did that day! And the weather was kind, the company good, and an enjoyable time was had by all. Most importantly, with Gift Aid included, over £2,500 has already been raised by their efforts.
Our CLICK Rukiga project is now one of the good causes registered on the Just Giving website, so a number of the cyclists used this approach for their fundraising. Some pages are still open, so if you want to contribute to this worthy cause, there is still time. Project leader Mike Whitlam was one of the participants, decked out in a yellow jersey (well, a fluorescent safety bib!) and if you wish to, you can show your support for all the cyclists by donating through his page at www.JustGiving,com/Michael-Whitlam0 .
CLICK Rukiga, which links Ickenham with Rukiga in Uganda, has been gathering momentum, and rolling out to involve new people in both communities. In February’s edition of ICN, we outlined the four areas of activity to focus on for now: links with the ‘Young Watford’ Football Team, St James’ Church, Kamwesi’s Parents’ School and KWID – Kyanbuhangwa Women In Development.
 The last of these – KWID – is an organisation based in Kamwesi which helps to mobilise the community to get the best out of local government services. But if services fall short, KWID encourages the community to support itself. Until now, it has been a volunteer based group, whose main concerns have been with schooling, health issues and economic development, particularly agricultural development. But it has been clear that KWID could benefit greatly from some paid administrative help.
The good news is that the money raised from the sponsored bike ride will pay the wages of three KWID employees for a year - a great result!
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