Riders for Health and Yamaha joined their forces in organising a raid, named ‰Û÷Ride for Life‰Ûª.
The raid will help to support health workers in Africa by giving them means of tough and reliable transport to perform their invaluable work and reach isolated communities in Africa.
A group of Dakar veterans, journalists and five selected participants from the general public will take a fleet of Super Teå«neå«reå« bikes and supporting vehicles from Paris to Lisbon to Morocco.
At the end of the raid, Yamaha and its network of partners will donate to Riders for Health five Super Teå«neå«reå«s and a supporting package of essential replacement parts which will ensures 3 years of perfect operation in the severe African circumstances. Riders for Health has chosen to operate these five Super Teå«neå«reå«s in the Eastern province of Zambia. These motorcycles will help to improve the delivery of health care in rural communities by ensuring the efficient detection and diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.
To date Riders for Health have mobilised five couriers who will help to deliver blood samples by motorcycle. In 2010, Riders will be mobilising another five professional sample couriers as well as 15 health workers who will provide primary health care to local population.
The Ride for Life will be kick-started under the Eiffel tower, by the famous French adventure rider David Freå«tigneå«. He will join a team of European motorcycle journalists, riding the Super Teå«neå«reå« for the very first time, to Toulouse. From there, Franco Picco will take over and take another group of journalists to Madrid, where Stephane Peterhansel will join a third press group for their ride to Lisbon.
From Lisbon on it‰Ûªs up to some privileged customers to take over. Together with Helder Rodriguez - 4th in the 2010 Dakar Rally - they will be riding from the Portuguese capital down to the North African coast. The raid will be going through the extraordinary, craggy beauty of the Atlas Mountains to the final destination: the exotic city of Marrakech. It‰Ûªs here that on May 17th Yamaha will donate these 5 Super Teå«neå«reå« bikes to the humanitarian organization Riders for Health.
‰ÛÏYamaha is proud to support the invaluable work performed by Riders for Health. We hope our Super Teå«neå«reå« bikes can contribute to make a difference to many hundreds of people who are currently without access to the medication they need to stay healthy,‰Û
