17 July 2016
Cycling for Cycles 2016 - Bicycles for Cambodian Volunteers
Bicycles for Cambodian Volunteers
EVERY day, about 180 volunteers in Cambodia walk between 5km and 10km to treat victims of malaria. Rain or shine, these volunteers comprising 80% women, walk to villages in the north western part of Cambodia to help administer treatments and raise awareness about the deadly infection.
Known as Village Malaria Workers (VMW), these women would even brave the 45°C humidity in the summer to help eradicate malaria, transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.
Though they are not getting paid, these VMW still go all out for this cause due to the severity of the disease there.
World Health Organisation statistics show that Cambodia has the highest number of malaria infection in the world.
“As malaria is so widespread there, most of the volunteer workers might have lost a loved one or friend to malaria, thus this cause is very personal to them,” said Soroptimist International Damansara (SID) project head Dr Saradha Narayanan.
To reach out and ease their burden, SID will be raising funds to buy bicycles for the VMW to be used as a mode of transport to travel between villages to treat malaria.
Funds will be raised through a “Cycling for Cycles Campaign” on July 17, where all proceeds will be channelled towards buying the bicycles and maintaining them.
SID will collaborate with its sister clubs in Singapore and Melbourne to raise funds for the VMW.
The aim is to raise more than US$18,000 (RM73,000) to purchase 180 bicycles.
For SID alone, the target is to raise RM25,000 to buy 60 bicycles.
“These bicycles will be equipped with a bicycle pump and basket, as the volunteers carry a lot of thing in their bags,” she said.
The 5km charity ride will start from 6.30am onwards at Dataran DBKL down Jalan Raja Laut before turning into Jalan Sultan Ismail and making a loop back to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman before ending at Dataran DBKL.
The 5km charity ride will start from 6.30am onwards at Dataran DBKL down Jalan Raja Laut before turning into Jalan Sultan Ismail and making a loop back to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman before ending at Dataran DBKL.
“This event will also be held in conjunction with the KL Car Free Morning thus the roads will be closed and there will also be people on roller blades and roller skates, ” said SID president Joanne Yeoh.
She added that those without bicycles can also rent them on the day itself for RM35. “Fake drugs in Cambodia is really common and without help from VMW, most of those infected with malaria will not get proper medication and might die,” she said.
It is crucial for the volunteers to visit patients every day for two weeks and ensure they take the medication in front of them because often patients either forget to consume the medication or throw them away.
This will then cause the parasites to become resistant to the drugs administered.
Joining SID in this fundraising campaign is Maybank Foundation, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of Maybank.
“We are happy to partner with SID for this cause as this resonates with what Maybank Foundation does and stand for,” said Maybank Foundation chief executive officer Shahril Azuar Jimin.
For those interested to participate in the event, the fee is RM50 while those who only wish to donate money can do so by going to the websitewww.simplygiving.com/event/CyclingforCycles. On the spot registrations are also accepted on the day of the event. For details, email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
