Ride for Rwanda cyclists stay in Williston on way to NYC

Six students from Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, and Grand Rapids, Mich. cycled through Williston Wednesday afternoon.

They started in Anacortes, Wash. on June 16, since then they've biked over 1,282 miles (over 200 in the last two days). They plan to finish their ride in New York City sometime in August. The total length of the trip will be about 3,700 miles.

This journey isn't just some summertime amusement. These guys are riding to raise awareness and purchase bikes for the people of Rwanda. Their mission is a part of Project Rwanda.

"We're promoting tourism, trying to raise money for bikes and trying to promote the Rwandan national bicycling teams," said Kevin Cusack, the father of one of the riders who is temporarily riding with the group.

Like many nations in Africa, Rwanda has endured years of civil unrest and wartime atrocities. Now the country is slowly working to improve itself and its people. The main industry in rural Rwanda is growing coffee beans. The people of Rwanda are only able to transport the beans by bicycle, a luxury many of them are unable to afford. Most spend six to 12 hours walking to stations so that their beans can be loaded on to trucks to be readied for market. The huge amount of time spent transporting the beans decreases their quality and value significantly. Biking brings the time of getting the beans from tree to truck down to two to four hours, raising the value of the beans. The bikes can carry up to 400 pounds of farm produce.

So far, The Ride for Rwanda has raised over $50,000. According to their website, www.therideforrwanda.org, Project Rwanda is an organization "committed to furthering the economic development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and symbol of hope. More information can be found about Project Rwanda at www.projectrwanda.org.

The bicycles donated to the people in Rwanda are not free. Instead the project is designed as a "hand up" by subsidizing the price of the bike. Purchasers are only required to pay a percentage of the bike's cost over a period of time at a low interest rate. The plan is to eventually use a similar process in other African nations and developing countries around the world. The bike is an affordable and eco-friendly solution for transportation and hauling needs, which makes it especially ideal not only for people in need, but for anyone.

"We wanted to do a cross country bike ride. It was going to be just for fun, we didn't imagine it was going to be for a fundraiser or for anything this big," said C.J. Eckman, one of the riders, on how they got involved with Project Rwanda.

The young men participating in this ride for hope are Alex Manion from Grand Rapids, Mich., C.J. Eckman from San Ramon, Calif., Leighton Cusack from Grand Rapids, Mich., Greg Christian from Yor Balinda, Calif., Luke Tubergen from Grand Rapids, Mich. and Jason Burkholder from LaCrescenta, Calif.. Ben Biondo, another student at Azusa Pacific, is driving a van with the group. The van holds all their supplies, including tents for the occasions when they have to sleep outside. Most of the time the group either meets people on the road or arranges their lodgings ahead of time.

"One lady in Washington literally found us on the street and asked if we needed a place to spend the night," said Manion.

The next stop for the cyclists will be in Minot, where they will spend the Fourth of July weekend before they continue on their trek.

The Ride for Rwanda encourages everyone to explore their website and Project Rwanda's and donate to the cause. All of the proceeds go towards supplying the specially made coffee bikes to the Rwandan people.