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Cyclist from around the world will be rolling into Europe at the end of this month to participate in a four-day event aimed at raising funds and awareness to support medical projects provided by The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).
Cycling4Gaza is a grassroots, female led, charitable initiative that has been bringing people together since 2009 to bike between major cities with the aim of raising funds for carefully selected children programmes in Gaza.
The fundraising project is headed by Palestinian- British Zara Hannoun, a 33 year old post-doctoral immunologist working at the University of Oxford in the UK. She is further supported by Jordanian-Canadian Dina Dajani, 32, who just completed a Master’s in International Relations at the IE School of Global and Public Affairs in Madrid, and Palestinian-Irish Salwa Abu Wardeh, 45, an education officer at Makan Rights (Palestinian Educational Charity) in London.
“After the 2009 Israeli military offensive on Gaza, a group of friends gathered various individuals through their networks to cycle from London to Paris to raise awareness and collect much needed donations to help with the growing humanitarian and medical needs in Gaza that arose as a result of this military offensive.,” said Hannoun. “Cycling4Gaza was born in an effort to draw international attention to the emergency humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and to the effects of the ongoing blockade on its people.
“It was also established as a means through which to support reputable organisations working in Gaza that carry out work aimed at building a culture of self-reliance and independence among Palestinian communities through projects that focus on providing infrastructure and provisions in the sectors of health and education. Eleven years on and we are still cycling!”
The group has been arranging cycling events across the world, crossing more than 3,000kms in 10 countries including the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Jordan, USA, Turkey, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain.
Since its inception, the initiative has garnered more than £1.5 million (BD687,482) for vital and sustainable healthcare and education projects in Gaza; impacting the lives of more than 15,000 children and 8,000 families and community members in the Strip and Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps.
In 2016, the campaign raised £270,000 (BD123,450) in support of PACES (Palestine Association for Children’s Encouragement of Sports). This helped in enhancing children’s life skills through sports programmes and education activities, empowered them to become active citizens within their communities, improved the employability skills for young female and male coaches, developed the capacity of local partners to become part of the development of sustainable communities and provided equal opportunities for both genders in sports. A total of 3,700 out of 4,370 children benefited from the support of Cycling4Gaza and the children were coached by 190 young male and female coaches in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon. In addition, 138 young male and female volunteer assistant coaches were engaged in Palestine, 28 of which were based in Gaza.
“We alternate the projects we are supporting depending on the healthcare and educational needs of the people living in Gaza and try to focus our efforts on areas that have limited resources and require attention” added Hannoun.
This year’s theme is Cycling4Freedoms, focusing on freedom of movement and freedom of access to healthcare, both of which are enshrined in the United Nations’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as stipulated in Article 13 and 25 respectively.
Hannoun added: “The lack of freedom of movement experienced by the people of Gaza takes many forms and curtails people’s freedom to access healthcare in a number of ways. Doctors and patients are not free to leave or enter Gaza without permits, which are frequently rejected and take a long time to issue if approved. Medications, as well as medical equipment and supplies cannot move freely in and out of the territory, which has caused a crisis in healthcare provision in Gaza.”
The humanitarian team aims to address these issues and raise awareness in partnership with the PCRF by sponsoring projects that send injured and sick children abroad for free medical care, sponsoring medical missions to provide treatment in Gaza, supporting physical therapy for children with Cerebral Palsy in Northern Gaza and providing training for doctors and nurses in Paediatric Cancer Care abroad.
“These projects have the potential to positively impact the lives of around 1,500 children directly, with many times more benefiting over the long-term,” said Hannoun. “This will be achieved by providing life-saving and life-changing treatments to those children most in need, by training more than 30 medical practitioners, and by putting in place the infrastructure, expertise and resources necessary to create a sustainable and effective healthcare provision that is tailored to the needs of the children of Gaza.”
More than 55 bikers from around the globe, including from Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, have already registered for the cause staged on August 28. They will cycle 400km across four countries in an effort to raise £180,000 (BD82,300) for the PCRF as part of its annual campaign. It will begin from Mertesdorf, Germany at 10am, cycling 60km with 850m of accumulating climb to Vianden, Luxembourg. From there, on day two, the 78km cycle will be to Saint Hubert, Belgium, climbing an impressive 1200m. On day three, the group will ride for 94km to Dinant, Belgium with a 920m climb an on August 31. The final day of the cycle will be a 108km ride to Brussels with a 680m climb aiming to finish at the EU parliament by 4pm.
“Covering 400km in four days will definitely be challenging considering the hilly terrain, and long and tiring days,” said Hannoun. “However just like every year, the positive energy and high spirits within the team keeps the group going!
“Throughout the trip, cyclists will meet like-minded people who share the same passions and will come together as a team to reach the finish line and accomplish our goals. They will also meet locals and tourists along the way, and engage in meaningful conversations about Cycling4Gaza and the situation in Palestine.
“In the evenings, they will attend events such as movie screenings and talks from various people hosted by us.”
This year the talks will be held by Steve Sosebee, founder and CEO of the PCRF, Benjamin Ladraa from Sweden, who walked for 11 months all the way from Sweden to Palestine to raise awareness on the situation in Palestine, and C4G’s Salwa.
Bahrain-based Lina Muhtadi, a 52-year-old jewellery designer and her engineering husband (who wished not to be named), 57, are excited to be joining the bike parade around Europe.
“We heard about Cycling4Gaza from a friend in the UAE and thought what a great way to support and bring awareness to a worthy cause,” said Muhtadi, from Riffa Views. “The trip combined all the things we love- travel, sports and being able to lend a hand to people who have been forgotten.
“It will be our first time and hopefully not the last. We are of course worried about the amount of cycling and the physical hardship but it’s always easier in a group especially this team who we have heard a lot about.
“Our main aim is to bring awareness to the circumstances and medical needs of these kids by sending information to our friends. We also aim to be physically fit by training and being ready to take part in this cycling trip.
“Initiatives like this one are great because it doesn’t take a lot to make a difference in people’s lives. This initiative has given artificial limbs to children with no legs, or arms and that means they were given a life.
“A few months training and four days of cycling will make a huge difference of a lifetime for some children and that’s why we are all participating.”
While they are already booked up this year, people can sign up by visiting www.cycling4gaza.com for 2020. The expenses that cover the full cycle are £1050 (BD480) and each cyclist is asked to raise a minimum of £1500 (BD686) for the projects. Donations are welcome through this site: https://pcrf1.z2systems.com/cycling4gaza2019 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cycling4gaza/
