Beginning January 14, 2012 Gizele Price, a high school math teacher from Mississauga Ontario, will cycle almost 12,000 km from Cairo to Cape Town in Tour d’Afrique to raise money to restore sight and prevent blindness in eastern Africa. The 4-month ride will end on May 12, 2012.
Gizele is hoping to raise $2 for every kilometre of the ride for Seva Canada's eye care programs in eastern Africa, specifically, Malawi, Madagascar, Burundi and Tanzania. She has already raised over $12,000 and she hasn't even started yet!
“My father showed me a newspaper article about the need for cataract surgeries in Africa. It was a pivotal moment for me and I quickly committed to fundraising for Seva. Once I had made that decision suddenly my trip found the ‘heart’ that it was lacking,” said Gizele Price.
Blindness and visual impairment is one of the largest health disabilities in the world with 285 million people who are visually impaired, of which 39 million are blind but it’s solvable. 80% of blindness can be prevented or treated, often with a 10-minute cataract surgery costing just $50. And in Africa, childhood blindness and low-vision caused by cataracts is up to 10x more prevalent than in Canada.
“Seva couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador than Gizele to start 2012, our 30th Anniversary year. Gizele’s amazing commitment to do this physically challenging ride, raising funds and awareness of Seva’s work, is unbelievable especially since she considers herself to be ‘a rider of average fitness… just a girl on a bike.’ She is much more than that to us at Seva. Blindness and poor vision keep people trapped in poverty but regaining sight and preventing blindness can transform their lives. Adults and children are able to go back to work or school and lead healthy, productive lives, entire communities have a chance at a better future. What Gizele is doing inspires all of us to take risks and live our dreams while making the dreams of others come true.” said Penny Lyons, Executive Director of Seva Canada. Restoring someone’s sight is the single most cost-effective health intervention to reduce poverty according to the World Health Organization.
The Tour d'Afrique (www.tourdafrique.com/tours/tourdafrique ) is a 94-stage race broken up into 8 sections. The daily stages average 123 km in length, and range from 80 km on rough terrain to more than 180 km on the best paved roads. Travelling through 10 countries in all, Gizele will cycle along the Nile past ancient temples, through the Sudanese desert, and up into Ethiopia's rugged Simian Mountains. After crossing the Equator in Kenya, she’ll pedal past legendary Mount Kilimanjaro, to Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, and along the edges of the magnificent Kalahari and Namib deserts, en route to the finish her ambitious and epic journey in Cape Town, South Africa.
Gizele is hoping to raise $2 for every kilometre of the ride for Seva Canada's eye care programs in eastern Africa, specifically, Malawi, Madagascar, Burundi and Tanzania. She has already raised over $12,000 and she hasn't even started yet!
“My father showed me a newspaper article about the need for cataract surgeries in Africa. It was a pivotal moment for me and I quickly committed to fundraising for Seva. Once I had made that decision suddenly my trip found the ‘heart’ that it was lacking,” said Gizele Price.
Blindness and visual impairment is one of the largest health disabilities in the world with 285 million people who are visually impaired, of which 39 million are blind but it’s solvable. 80% of blindness can be prevented or treated, often with a 10-minute cataract surgery costing just $50. And in Africa, childhood blindness and low-vision caused by cataracts is up to 10x more prevalent than in Canada.
“Seva couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador than Gizele to start 2012, our 30th Anniversary year. Gizele’s amazing commitment to do this physically challenging ride, raising funds and awareness of Seva’s work, is unbelievable especially since she considers herself to be ‘a rider of average fitness… just a girl on a bike.’ She is much more than that to us at Seva. Blindness and poor vision keep people trapped in poverty but regaining sight and preventing blindness can transform their lives. Adults and children are able to go back to work or school and lead healthy, productive lives, entire communities have a chance at a better future. What Gizele is doing inspires all of us to take risks and live our dreams while making the dreams of others come true.” said Penny Lyons, Executive Director of Seva Canada. Restoring someone’s sight is the single most cost-effective health intervention to reduce poverty according to the World Health Organization.
The Tour d'Afrique (www.tourdafrique.com/tours/tourdafrique ) is a 94-stage race broken up into 8 sections. The daily stages average 123 km in length, and range from 80 km on rough terrain to more than 180 km on the best paved roads. Travelling through 10 countries in all, Gizele will cycle along the Nile past ancient temples, through the Sudanese desert, and up into Ethiopia's rugged Simian Mountains. After crossing the Equator in Kenya, she’ll pedal past legendary Mount Kilimanjaro, to Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, and along the edges of the magnificent Kalahari and Namib deserts, en route to the finish her ambitious and epic journey in Cape Town, South Africa.
