×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Further and faster by bike

by Terre des hommes | Terre des hommes (Tdh) - Switzerland
Tuesday, 29 December 2015 10:37 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Last year, Ericsson and Capital Group were asked to finance our interventions in rural Bangladesh. This support had a very precise aim: acquiring bicycles and motorised tricycles for our partners.

Terre des hommes is active in Bangladesh with several projects based on maternal and child health and water, sanitation and hygiene as well as the prevention of natural disasters.

Tdh supports local communities in the prevention and treatment of different sanitary problems such as malnutrition, child related diseases and the support of pregnant women. For this, our teams travel to their villages. They also organise cooking demonstrations or hygiene instruction activities.

Why do we need bicycles?

Tdh is active in new geographical areas which are sometimes difficult to reach. The roads are often narrow dirt tracks. During the rainy season, they are impassable and vehicles often get stuck. Our collaborators therefore often have to walk for hours to get where they are going or give up getting there. A bicycle can therefore be very practical for getting around and for transporting equipment for the organised activities. Thanks to the generous donations that we received, we were able to buy 68 bicycles and 4 motorised tricycles for group journeys.

From now until 2017, Tdh envisages widening its areas of activity even further in close collaboration with the health organisations from Kurigram and Barguna. In this way, 120 community clinics will be able to provide basic health services to the rural population and the best possible conditions. Children less than 5 years of age and their mothers are the most targeted group. But of course, our collaborators have to be able to reach the area where they are needed and that is where bicycles and motorised tricycles will be indispensable.

A donation as a Christmas present

The Managing Director of Ericsson Switzerland, Martin Bürki, is happy that the donation made by his company is contributing to guaranteeing health care in inaccessible areas of Bangladesh. “For many years now, we at Ericsson have decided to make a donation to a charitable organisation rather than give Christmas presents to our customers. Having worked for Tdh, I know that, in this organisation, the money really does good for useful projects. The bicycle project in Bangladesh is particularly dear to me since I have been to that region twice to visit these projects.”

Tdh would like to take this opportunity to make a heartfelt thank you to Ericsson and Capital Group for this precious contribution.

Terre des hommes brings about positive change to the everyday lives of more than two million children and their families every year. Learn more about our projects in Bangladesh and about our health projects.

-->