On the road with 'Bikes to Mulawai' project

The 'Bikes to Mulawai' project has now entered its second phase, thanks to the generosity of Australian bike owners who donated their secondhand mountain bikes to support the work of the ' Open Arms Infant Home Malawi' in South Africa.

The infant home, working in conjunction with Malawi Children's Village, utilizes the bikes to enable volunteer co-ordinators to provide health and education support for villages, where orphans are repatriated to their communities.

Overseen by Peter Madden (left), and generously supported by Cummins South Pacific, the project amassed 400 bikes from Queensland alone, which were collected and packed into a container at Darra over the Easter weekend. The container was shipped on April 19 and is well on its way, with its contents destined to provide transport for the volunteers of the Mulawai infant home to cover their vast territory.

Peter, a 40 year veteran of Cummins South Pacific, is now retired but still sits on the company's board as its community care representative. The company has allowed its branch locations to be utilized as collection points for the bike project. Peter has undertaken the role of co-ordinator for the project on a voluntary basis.

"Carol-Anne and I spent almost a month on the road and covered 7600 km with a tandem trailer collecting bikes and transporting to Darra for consolidation," Peter said.

"We did take a week out to ride from Hornsby to Southport 940 km with a group to raise funds for the Father Chris Riley organisation Youth of the Streets (YOTS)."

"This completes phase one and we are now on to phase two to raise funds to offset some of the shipping costs," he added.

"Phase three will be a visit to Malawi in July/August to oversee unloading and distribution."

(left) The Good Friday load team at Cummins Darra, Queensland.

(Preceeding page) At Canowindra, NSW, where 110 bikes were loaded.