Cycling in Uganda

george costanza is god

Hi guys,

Not sure if this is the right place. So hopefully the admins can move it to the correct place if not?

Anyway, I’m new to the forum and cycling in general. I’ve been cycling for about a month now, and I’d consider myself to be fairly fit. Not great, but not bad either. I’ve been thinking about doing a fundraiser on my bike or something and my cycling group got an email about cycling in Uganda with World Vision??? Never heard of them until now. Has anyone ever done anything like this before?

What kind of training is involved? How fit does a person have to be? It seems expensive enough though. That’s the only problem. Any tips on how to raise funds like that? I was thinking about having a 32 man FIFA World Cup on the playstation @ €50 per person. The winner takes €500 and the rest goes to the cause. I really want to do it, but I don’t know if I can.

Anyone any good tips in general, about how to raise funds, but at the same time, about how to get fit and prepare for cycling in a hot climate? Apparently it can be really hot there.

george costanza is god

Meant to say that it's a total of 300km or thereabouts. Roughly 70k per day, which isn't too bad, but in a hot, mountainous region, that could be quite a lot. I've no idea.

touts

Whatever you do you would want to get it organized soon. I've already had two people at work ask me to help pay for their summer holidays on the pretext that they are doing it for charity (one wants to stroll around Spain doing "the Comenius" and another is heading to South Africa to pretend to build something) so the charity holiday fundraising thing is already in full swing at the moment and it is likely that the patience of the people you are hoping to target is wearing thin.

Johnny Jukebox

Wouldn't be too comfortable wearing lycra in public in Uganda in light of their recent legislation...

thebouldwhacker

touts wrote: »

Whatever you do you would want to get it organized soon. I've already had two people at work ask me to help pay for their summer holidays on the pretext that they are doing it for charity (one wants to stroll around Spain doing "the Comenius" and another is heading to South Africa to pretend to build something) so the charity holiday fundraising thing is already in full swing at the moment and it is likely that the patience of the people you are hoping to target is wearing thin.

I pretended to build something in Haiti after the storms and earthquakes. The pretend village we built during 15hour days in 40 degree heat now houses a large number of families who were living in houses made of rubbish no bigger than your bathroom with raw sewage flowing down the main 'street'. This pretend village has saved lives, allowed people to grow crops in their garden to sell at market and get them to a level above caveman existance. They have a community centre and public space, each house has it's own toilet. The villages now even have their own football team. I like pretend, it changes the world while others bitch about it and letting people eat cake.

touts

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

I pretended to build something in Haiti after the storms and earthquakes. The pretend village we built during 15hour days in 40 degree heat now houses a large number of families who were living in houses made of rubbish no bigger than your bathroom with raw sewage flowing down the main 'street'. This pretend village has saved lives, allowed people to grow crops in their garden to sell at market and get them to a level above caveman existance. They have a community centre and public space, each house has it's own toilet. The villages now even have their own football team. I like pretend, it changes the world while others bitch about it and letting people eat cake.

Maybe you could have just raised the money and sent it to Hati where the money that was spent flying you over, putting you up and feeding/watering you for a couple of weeks could instead have been used to employ a local to do the job you were doing as a "volunteer".

thebouldwhacker

You have obviously done your research because your understanding of the topic is in-depth and your suggestion is unique.

Today's to do list: post money to the third world.

ford2600

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

You have obviously done your research because your understanding of the topic is in-depth and your suggestion is unique.

Today's to do list: post money to the third world.

I've done two of these.

One hiking in Argentina for two weeks. I raised 5k and paid for my own flights etc. I walked 20k as a guide to a blind man. I stayed on for two weeks for solo wilderness hiking in Patagonia.

Also worked for free for a charity as a guide on Lodon Paris. Got about 4 hrs sleep a night. A blast but hard work. Again paid for my own flights

One word of warning. These things are for single people only.

touts

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

You have obviously done your research because your understanding of the topic is in-depth and your suggestion is unique.

Today's to do list: post money to the third world.

Well maybe a few like yourself are doing some good but I know the two working with me are seeing it as a holiday. One isn't even doing any work just raising money for a charity by walking the Comenius and having her expenses covered with the balance going to the charity. There may be some good coming from it but it seems every man and his dog has jumped on the charity holiday bandwagon and I know a lot of people are getting weary from these requests (certainly there is a lot of grumbling going on in the office).

thebouldwhacker

You do have a good point about expences, these should not come from collections if the person isn't giving something in return esp if it's an event such as doing a walk. Getting hit at work all the time is certainly a modern problem, perhaps nominate a charity each year which the office will support and learn about, ask the collector to give a work place talk about the charity, where the money is going and what it's doing. The givers will feel better about it, it may spark more support and it would stop ye being harassed and desk mugged randomly.

Ford, it sounds like you got more than just a reward for helping your fellow man!

ford2600

Ford, it sounds like you got more than just a reward for helping your fellow man![/quote]

First trip maybe. Trip two my circumstances had changed. No trip 3 you might notice

george costanza is god

Cheers for the suggestions lads.

I'm sure there a few people out there who go on 'holidays' to places like this, but then there are a high number of people like yourself thebouldwhacker that do it because you want to help. That's all I want to do really.

Don't think this is much of a holiday lads. Sweating me ***** off in that heat? I'd rather sit at the pool drinking long island ice teas if I'm honest. So Uganda wouldn't be my number one holiday choice. But sure it's for a good cause so I'm happy enough with that. I heard something about that legislations all right. I'll be sure to not to wear a man-kini ha. How bad is it though? How do they test you for sexuality? Seems ridiculous to me.

Anyway, anyone any tips on how to raise money for this, and what I should watch out for while cycling in that heat etc?

Alias G

touts wrote: »

Well maybe a few like yourself are doing some good but I know the two working with me are seeing it as a holiday. One isn't even doing any work just raising money for a charity by walking the Comenius and having her expenses covered with the balance going to the charity. There may be some good coming from it but it seems every man and his dog has jumped on the charity holiday bandwagon and I know a lot of people are getting weary from these requests (certainly there is a lot of grumbling going on in the office).

Nobody is forcing you to make a donation. If you don't agree with it then don't contribute. But to write off a charity drive because of some uninformed opinion just comes across as bitter. All charity generation will have to meet overheads to a greater or lesser extent but if the ultimate outcome is positive for those in a more disadvantaged position then I don't see a problem with it.
That being said, I believe we do need greater transparency regarding where exactly charity funds end up.

george costanza is god

Alias G wrote: »

Nobody is forcing you to make a donation. If you don't agree with it then don't contribute. But to write off a charity drive because of some uninformed opinion just comes across as bitter. All charity generation will have to meet overheads to a greater or lesser extent but if the ultimate outcome is positive for those in a more disadvantaged position then I don't see a problem with it.
That being said, I believe we do need greater transparency regarding where exactly charity funds end up.

Agree with this. Transparency is key. These guys have it all on their website so that's good. I know there has to be admin/fundraising costs etc but the lower the better for me.

Green&Red

Have to say I'm with Touts on this one

Obviously each case is different but there are people that go to do say Machu Pichu, raise €4k, it costs €2k for them to be flown over there and put up for what is a holiday and then €2k goes to the charity.
That is someone paying for your holiday. Why not just raise the €2k and go on a holiday that you pay for yourself or Ford2600 did and pay for your own flights

Alias G

Green&Red wrote: »

Have to say I'm with Touts on this one

Obviously each case is different but there are people that go to do say Machu Pichu, raise €4k, it costs €2k for them to be flown over there and put up for what is a holiday and then €2k goes to the charity.
That is someone paying for your holiday. Why not just raise the €2k and go on a holiday that you pay for yourself or Ford2600 did and pay for your own flights

Because rightly or wrongly, collecting donations in lieu of performing some feat - be it a cycle, a run or a parachute jump - is an effective means of incentivising people to donate. The reality is that people aren't going to donate money just for the sake of it, often they require some kind of spur. If that wasn't the case, then there would be no need for charity groups as a business in the first place. On the other hand, very few people are in a position to fund outright some of the fundraisers although naturally, any charity collector should be willing to donate within their means. Any responsible charity will have a min value that is required to be raised to ensure that a significant enough amount is donated to the specific cause and to avoid system being open to abuse.

george costanza is god

Yeah to be fair, I don't see why a parachute jump is that different to a cycle. Do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone and get people to sponsor you. Isn't that how it works? I didn't think there was any other way to be fair. I've never heard of anyone just asking for money to give to charity with no physical contribution to make. I guess I want to do it to help while pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I'm arranging a 32 team FIFA tournament that will get my friends together for a few beers and a bit of laugh and the way I see it, there is no loser here. Everyone is getting something. Honestly, I give to charity all the time, a few different ones. But if I thought I could just walk up to my friends and family and say 'here, giz money so I can give it to charity' I'd have done it a long time ago. People do need to see some sort of effort from you. A real commitment I guess

george costanza is god

Any more tips on how to prepare for this is greatly appreciated guys. Thanks

godtabh

I'm doing something similar (see below).

Work are paying for travel. I'll the cash I've raised goes straight to the charity.

For all the fund raising I've done I've offered something in return. Last jersey order here, selling books, consultancy services to clients etc. Not every one is in for a free ride.

As for uganda look into travel insurance, injections, visas etc. There will be a lot more than cycling to worry about.

Green&Red

Alias G wrote: »

Because rightly or wrongly, collecting donations in lieu of performing some feat - be it a cycle, a run or a parachute jump - is an effective means of incentivising people to donate. The reality is that people aren't going to donate money just for the sake of it, often they require some kind of spur. If that wasn't the case, then there would be no need for charity groups as a business in the first place. On the other hand, very few people are in a position to fund outright some of the fundraisers although naturally, any charity collector should be willing to donate within their means. Any responsible charity will have a min value that is required to be raised to ensure that a significant enough amount is donated to the specific cause and to avoid system being open to abuse.

The point is, pay for the bungee jump or parachute jump or flights to exotic location yourself. Give all the money to charity

Alias G

Green&Red wrote: »

The point is, pay for the bungee jump or parachute jump or flights to exotic location yourself. Give all the money to charity

I already stated that the collector should be willing to donate whatever is within their means. But you have just got sour grapes by the sounds of things.

george costanza is god

Thanks for all the responses guys.