Olivia and I founded a non-profit organization called Rural Health Collaborative (RHC) with 2 of our friends. RHC trains and supports a group of women called Kekeli (which means ‘brightness’).

Since 2011, we have trained 47 Kekeli Women who promote health in rural Ghana. These women volunteer their time as Community Health Promoters to help the communities where they live be healthier. You can read more about them here.

After the first year of working with Rural Health Collaborative they receive a bicycle. This month marks the one year anniversary for the newest 19 Kekeli Women, trained last November. For Giving Tuesday this year we are raising $1720 to purchase bicycles in Ghana for each of these women at a cost of $91 each. Click here to read more about our campaign.

Below we share the Top 5 things Kekeli Women use their bicycles for in their communities to give you a better sense of why this campaign is important. This first appeared on the RHC blog.

Top 5 Things the Kekeli Women Use Their Bicycles For

1. Teach! – The backbone of the Kekeli Program is education and the bicycles help them reach more distant communities with their message of health. The Kekeli Women teach on a broad range of health topics, including how to prevent the all-too-common malaria and diarrhea deaths that still occur in their communities. These dangers more often affect children.
2. Dress wounds – One of the most popular services the Kekeli Women provide their communities is free wound care. Injuries are common, most often from farming and motorbike accidents, and require ongoing dressing. The Kekeli Women are trained to care for wounds and offer this to their communities. With bikes they can reach more communities, more easily.
3. Support one another – The Kekeli Women often work together. They provide support for one another in teaching, wound care, and other community interventions. With bicycles they can more easily reach their nearby Kekeli Women to lend a hand.
4. Monitor pregnant women – This past August the RHC team visited Ghana and introduced a new Pregnancy Monitoring Program. The Kekeli Women use their smartphones to register pregnancies, show videos, and help encourage women to get the care they need from their nearest maternity clinic. With bicycles, their reach grows.
5. Promote the Kekeli Program – There is no question that a new bicycle is a special gift. Each bike we give comes with a blue Kekeli basket with the letter K painted on the basket. As the women use their bicycles they promote the Kekeli Program and offer their services to people who may not have heard about it before.

Please join us as we raise funds to purchase these bicycles for the newest Kekeli Women. In giving to this campaign, you are giving tangibly to both the Kekeli Women and the communities they serve.

Click here to donate.

Thank you.

— Jason and Olivia

PS: If you’d like to support our work in an ongoing way, you can join The Collective, our monthly giving group, by clicking here.