The girls pictured here, and who feature in the video below, are typical of many young children in Rwanda. Access to clean water is scarce, with many having to travel 2 hours, twice a day, to collecting water in jerry cans weighing 20kg. This affects their lives in many ways – they miss school, are prone to injury and sickness, and worse are often attacked by drunk men on their journeys.

When you add into the mix the backdrop of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where more than 1,000,000 people were killed during a 100 day period, Rwanda is a country where the scars of the past still run very deep, and whole communities are stuck in a cycle of despair and hopelessness.

In February, along with 17 other folks from around the UK, we hope to make a positive difference. As keen cyclists, we will be travelling to Rwanda (not by bike, we’ll use a plane for that bit!), and from our base in the capital Kigali, will cycle to three key areas in Rwanda where Tearfund are working in rural communities to address a range of challenges including access to clean water, extreme hunger and peace and reconciliation. Please help me and the team to transform a cycle of despair, into a new cycle of hope for those we meet.

I’m covering all my own costs, so anything you can do to support me reaching my target of £1,000 will go directly to Tearfund and help support the very people we will be meeting face to face. Thank you.

… and as Rwanda is also known as ‘The Land of a Thousand Hills’, us cyclists will need all the help we can get!

Photo credit:http://www.marcusperkins.co.uk/

(153201 NI CycleHopeRide 17 / 466)