Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has received 1200 Buffalo bicycles from World Bicycle Relief to boost humanitarian community responses.
Robert Kwesiga, the URCS Secretary General, said the bicycles will be used by the URCS volunteers and staff through community visits and outreach to the most vulnerable communities.
“This has come in at a time when we are trying to ensure the volunteers and staff who do a tough job and make us who we are sorted in terms of easy mobility. Some of these people can walk 10 kilometers in a day with a backpack on their back in difficult terrain where even getting water is not easy,” Kwesiga said.
Kwesiga said that the Buffalo bicycles will be given to volunteers and staff, mostly in rural areas, and they will not be used for other work apart from Red Cross work.
“They will be distributed according to needs. The branches with more active volunteers doing field work will get more bicycles,” he added.
According to Sean Granville-Ross, the Senior Global Director of Programs at Buffalo Bicycles, the bicycles are equipped with special features to help navigate difficult terrain.
“These are the Land Cruisers of the bicycle world, and we are very confident that when you think about durability, quality, and ability to keep on the road, Buffalo bicycles are the ones to look out for. This bicycle has been designed to allow people challenged by distance to overcome it. With this bicycle, the burden of the 10 kilometers that volunteers walk will no longer be there. The bicycle is designed to carry 100 kg, and we hope it will contribute to the mandate and mission of the Red Cross by enabling them to reach and help people in need quickly,” Granville said.
However, Granville noted that mechanics will be trained to work on bicycles, and spare part shops will be set up in locations where the volunteers are.
In Uganda, World Bicycle Relief has set up a warehouse where walk-in customers and organizations can purchase cycles.
