Motorcycle Outreach Launches New Appeal for 2008

The Charity Motorcycle Outreach is today launching a new appeal for funds to replace ageing motorcycles which are used for rural healthcare delivery on the Indonesian island of Flores.

The existing 125cc motorcycles have been reliably used since 2002 by healthcare workers on Flores who use them to reach remote rural areas of the Indonesian islands. Without these motorcycles many basic and essential healthcare activities could not take place, as travel is difficult and roads treacherous.

Currently, the existing fleet of 19 motorcycles serves remote communities and a total of over 55,000 people.

Motorcycle Outreach, though it's Indonesian organisation Health for All (HfA) implements a program of Transport Resource Management (TRM) specifically providing zero breakdown motorcycles for rural health deliveries. The health services offered includes vaccines for children, maternal and child health care, and treatment for tuberculosis, malaria, STDs and HIV/AIDS, as well as the distribution of health education literature.

Motorcycles and other vehicles are often provided by aid agencies who give little thought to vehicle, maintenance, repair and sustainability. Often such vehicles last less than a year. Motorcycle Outreach's work is based on the successful TRM model which was created by Riders for Health. MoR's Indonesian Director Willy Balawala was trained by Riders for Health at their Academy in Zimbabwe.

The Riders for Health system has been successfully adopted in Indonesia, but even the best maintained motorcycle can only last for so long on rugged and unmade roads, which is why Motorcycle Outreach is now seeking public support so that they can be replaced by new machines.

Motorcycle Outreach was inspired by humanitarian and global rider, the late Simon Milward who passed away in Mali, West Africa in March 2005. He was on the final stages of a round the world motorcycle ride in support of projects aimed towards using motorcycles for the delivery of primary healthcare services in remote areas of developing countries.

During stages of his journey, he worked closely with Riders for Health and co-founded the project on Flores