By Michael Liswaniso OPUWO Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia), in collaboration with the Namibia Red Cross Society, has facilitated the donation of two bicycle ambulances to an Opuwo home-based care project. The two bicycle ambulances were donated by two overseas volunteers, whose names were given as Jorrit and Srouke, from the Netherlands. They were officially handed over to the Red Cross regional office here on Friday morning. The bicycles, that were channeled through BEN Namibia’s ambulance project coordinator, Aaron Wieler were delivered at the Red Cross Society office to regional manager, Kakarandua Mutambo. “If you bring a bicycle to a home-based care volunteer, you help them with their work. But if you teach them to repair the bicycle you build the capacity to access transport for health care,” said Wieler shortly after the official handover. He said the entire donation is worth N$3 750, which amount also caters for brief training on the usage and proper management of the bicycles as well as transport costs. “We briefly trained some home-based care volunteers on how to handle patients and load them in the bicycle ambulances,” said Wieler, adding that evaluation of the effort put forward will be done after 18 months. Despite the dusty conditions, the ceremony was jovial to the end, outside the premises of the Red Cross. Opuwo town’s chief executive officer Alphons Tjitombo spoke on behalf of mayor Pieter de Villiers, who was out of the country on business. “Not all of us have the financial means to flag down a taxi to take our loved ones to the hospitals, thus this donation is welcome,” said Tjitombo, adding that the donation will assist in improving the health sector by reaching and giving assistance to sick people and other vulnerable people of society. He repeatedly thanked all stakeholders involved in making sure that the home-based care project is active and successful. BEN Namibia is a non-profit organisation established in 2005 in Windhoek with the aim to empower disadvantaged Namibians through the provision of sustainable transport and related income-generation opportunities. It focuses on areas such as provision of affordable and sustainable transport to disadvantaged people, provision of bicycle-related sustainable income-generation opportunities, promotion of cycling as a healthy, affordable, sustainable and dignified means of transport, advocacy for improved sustainable transport infrastructure, and promotion of knowledge sharing and networking amongst the global ‘bicycles for development’ movement, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa, among others.