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Dirt Rag Fresh Dirt
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1.18.2007
Tidbits: African Style.
By: Karl Rosengarth
Riding for Rwanda
What started out as a 50 mile ride among friends to celebrate the 50th birthday of Southern California mountain biker Doug Grant ended up morphing into a charity ride that raised over $29,000 for Project Rwanda. You see, Doug got to thinking that his birthday ride should be about something more significant. Doug and ride co-organizer Andy Brazelton talked about incorporating a fundraiser into the ride, and the idea for a 50 Mile Ride for Project Rwanda was born.
Riders raised funds for Project Rwanda—Tom Ritchey's charity that is furthering the economic development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and symbol of hope—by soliciting friends and family for donations in the form of "per mile" pledges. Both Doug and Andy thought the ride had potential to attract additional support, but the level of support that they received blew them away.
"Our original goal was to get 50 riders and to raise $7500 for Project Rwanda", said event founder Doug Grant. "As it turns out, our dreams were too small. Industry support was overwhelming, people were talking about this event all over the county. We ended up with 247 registered riders, and we raised over $29,000 for Project Rwanda!"
The 50 Mile Ride for Project Rwanda has already inspired others to get involved. Tom Ritchey has received inquiries from other communities who are interested in hosting fundraising and awareness rides on behalf of Project Rwanda. Santa Barbara is hosting a (less grueling) nine mile charity Ride for Rwanda on Saturday, January 27th.
Loyal Dirt Rag readers will recall Martin Edwards' article in Issue #125, Riding Rwanda, which tells the story of Project Rwanda's inception and the positive effect that the program is having on a country that is recovering from a brutal civil war. Issue #125 is currently available on newsstands, at cool bike shops or via Dirt Rag back issues. For more information about 50 Miles for Project Rwanda, contact Doug Grant at dgrant@wagraphics.com.
Ayamye World Premier
Ayamye is a documentary film that begins in Boston, where volunteers from Bikes Not Bombs carefully pack a container with 450 donated used bikes and parts for shipment to Ghana. Ayamye follows the lives of four community members in the African village that receive the bikes, over the course of one year. The film tells the story of the determined and resourceful people of the rural village, in a dramatic look at how lack of transportation can impact the education, health and livelihood of their community. Ayamye premiers at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 26th at 1:45 p.m. at the Metro Theatre, and runs again on January 30th at 7:00 p.m at the Center Stage.
Ayamye was directed by Eric Matthies and Tricia Todd. Frequent Dirt Rag contributor Eric Matthies is an award winning producer and director specializing in documentaries, video installations and special features for DVD's. His company EMP Inc. has produced documentary content for dozens of films and games including the entire catalog of Matrix projects, Spider-man, T3, The Fountain and Scanner Darkly.
Tricia Todd studied film and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her photographs have been exhibited in art galleries as well as exhibits at the California Museum of Photography, The Los Angeles Center for Photographic Study and the Museum of Fine Arts, Florida. In 1998 she joined forces with Eric Matthies, and in 2005 she created the documentary division of EMP Inc.
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