Portuguese bikers hit the road, across Africa, in support of Mozambique hospital

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Portuguese bikers hit the road, across Africa, in support of Mozambique hospital

2:54 CAT | 16 Jun 2021

FILE - Illustrative photo. [File photo: Lusa]

“They don’t have mattresses, heart monitors, sheets, desks… They don’t have a proper sewer, [don’t have] paint on the walls.” says Rafael Paulino, one of the founders of the movement.

A Portuguese bikers’ club is raising money for the Marrere General Hospital, in Mozambique, which it will deliver at the end of a motorbike trip to raise awareness of the plight of the African continent, now aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The trip, scheduled to reach Nampula a month later, starts on October 30, marking the beginning of the many thousands of kilometres that ‘Bikers Without Borders’ [Motards sem Fronteiras] are set to travel to draw people’s attention to Africa and the difficulties it is facing.

The first stop will be Marrere General Hospital, where Paulo Almeida, one of the association’s founders, was born, 50 years ago. The project was born after he revisited his birthplace and had a conversation with the hospital director, sparking a desire to make a difference by helping to raise funds for basic goods.

“They don’t have mattresses, heart monitors, sheets, desks… They don’t have a proper sewer, [don’t have] paint on the walls..”, Rafael Paulino, another founder member, tells Lusa.

Impressed by the shortages, which also energised photojournalist Carlos Martins, the three bikers founded the association and, with the help of the hospital director, drew up a list of priority goods which they plan to deliver at the end of the trip.

The bikers will issue reports throughout the trip publicising the situation on the continent, including how it is being neglected regarding access to Covid-19 vaccines. The director of the African Union Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said recently that less than two percent of Africa’s population had been vaccinated.

The bikers hope to arrive in Mozambique at the same time as the container with the donated goods and oversee the delivery which, while it won’t solve all the hospital’s needs, will at least “help make a difference”, as Rafael Paulino puts it.

Among the aid being collected – and estimated as worth €50,000, including shipping – is material for the rehabilitation of the walls and drains, hospital equipment such as beds, screens and heart monitors, and consumables such as masks, gowns, shoes and thermometers.

According to Rafael Paulino, the response from companies and individuals has been positive.

Source: Lusa