Archive for February 2009
Calum’s Road to The Gambia 2010
My friend Johnny is of on a ride from The Isle of Skye to Gambia. Him and some other riders are doing the ride to raise money for a worthwhile cause.
For 20 years, Calum MacLeod toiled alone to build a road to his croft on the island of Raasay, near Skye in Western Scotland.
He began the arduous job in the 1960s after failing to win public funds for an upgrade, his exploits featured in the press, on radio and television, and in the best-selling 2006 book Calum’s Road by the Raasay-based author Roger Hutchison.
Now that story has inspired the people of the villages near Kuntaur in The Gambia to build their own road supported by a local charity.
The village women use this road daily to get to the rice fields, and it is the route to the nearest secondary school, health clinic and market from which they can both buy goods and sell their produce. Most of the road has been washed away and during the rains and for some months after the rains, this road is under water.
It is dangerous for children going to school and must be very disheartening if you are sick and need to get to the clinic. People have been known to put off the visit until it is too late and this has caused unnecessary deaths.
The road is estimated to cost £130,000 – £150,000 to build.
To raise both funds and the profile of this worthy cause, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts are preparing to ride in January 2010 from the site of the original Calum’s Road on Raasay to the new Calum’s Road in the Gambia, traveling through the UK, France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal.
Each team member will be covering the costs of the trip themselves and any donations made will go directly to the charity.
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