Today, employees of Brussels Airlines flights left for Dakar to take part in the third Bike for Africa. Tomorrow, 20 CEOs and top managers of Belgian companies will join them when they start a 5-day, 400km mountain bike tour through Senegal and The Gambia to help both local and Belgian organisations and raise awareness about the potential of the African continent after the Ebola crisis. The goal was to raise €150,000.
The first Bike For Africa took place in 2011 in Rwanda and Burundi. Employees of the airline and companies from Belgium raised €93,000.00 for SOS Children's Villages. Two years later, the team went to Uganda to do what Stanley did. The money went to the CoRSU Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, and the United Fund for Belgium. This time, Brussels Airlines is trying to raise €150,000 for three charities in Belgium, The Gambia, and Senegal.
This year, Brussels Airlines chose West Africa as the location for Bike For Africa on purpose. They did this to bring attention to the Africa is not Ebola initiative, which was started by the airline to help Africa rebuild its reputation after the Ebola epidemic, which hurt the continent's economy a lot.
45 employees of Brussels Airlines and 20 Belgian CEOs and top managers take part in the third edition of Bike For Africa. The CEO of Brussels Airlines, Bernard Gustin, and the CEOs of Rossel Group and Lampiris, Bernard Marchant and Tom Vande Cruys, are among those taking part. Piet Goddaer, a singer, will also work with them as an ambassador (Ozark Henry). Bike for Africa is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility programme called b.foundation for Africa, which was started by Brussels Airlines in 2010. With this programme, the airline helps a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian projects that care about Africa, as well as projects started by its own employees.
"We feel very close to Africa, and it has a special place in our hearts. We haven't stopped flying to Ebola-affected countries because of this. We also started the "Africa Is Not Ebola" awareness campaign to show the world that this amazing continent has a lot to offer both economically and in terms of tourism. Bike for Africa was made as a way for people to work together and see Africa from a different perspective, as well as to help local projects, says Bernard Gustin, CEO of Brussels Airlines.
Bike For Africa can be followed live on the Bike For Africa blog and the b.foundation for Africa's Facebook page.
