Author Archives: Andy

•

It’s hard to believe the day is finally here but yes, it actually is. Here I am at Vancouver airport, getting ready to fly for two days via Frankfurt and Johannesburg to meet up with Andrew in Cape Town. It’s still a bit surreal that a dream idea kicked around over an email back a year or two ago is actually going to happen. I guess that’s the way of dreams. If you lean into them, they sort of sneak up on you when you're not looking.

By the way, apologies if you got a ton of emails a few days back. We had a website glitch, but our tech guru Jayson tells me it’s fixed now.

This is what all the kit I have to carry on the bike looks like in bags. Plus we’ll have food, water and cooking gear. Can’t wait to see how we manage it. Also can’t wait to see how much of it is left after 8,500 Km, 10 African countries and a month on the road.

We start the ride a week from today on July 14th so don't forget to subscribe for updates. You can track us live on the tracking page as well. We'll also be raising funds for Wellspring and the Youth Hub all the way through, so please drop by the sponsor page and join with us as we ride to change the future for tens of thousands of children in Africa.

Later

Andy

IMG_3043

•

It’s just two weeks to go until I take off to meet up with Andrew in Cape Town, where we’ll have a few days to make final preparations and for me to get used to riding the bike, which by the way, is a KLR 650 for those of you who’ve been asking. Then in three weeks time we’re off on the adventure!

There’s tons to do, from organizing finance, border crossings and spare parts, to buying the last bits of gear and performing the miracle of fitting everything I’ll need for a month into these two bags!

We’re also organizing the stops along the way. We’re planning to visit a number of projects as we ride that share the values of the Youth Hub and Wellspring and prefer dignity and justice on the people they work with. Some of our stops will include outposts of the Youth Hub, Zimbabwe YFC, schools in Tanzania, the Duncan Africa Guitar workshop in Uganda and many more we are still working on.

We’ll be updating you as we go, so make sure to sign up for updates. Also we‘d love you to sponsor the ride and help us to change the lives of the many young people in Africa we are riding for. We believe they deserve the same opportunities as every young person in the world, to receive a good education, to have the chance to grow mentally, physically and spiritually, that they should be treated with justice and dignity and have the opportunity to see transformation in their lives. It’s time to make a difference and we ask you to join us as together, we seek to do that.

You can sponsor either Andrew and the Youth Hub or myself and Wellspring on the sponsorship page or you can sponsor a fuel stop along the way. You’ll be keeping us riding and be part of something amazing.

 

Thanks for being part of the journey!

 

IMG_2925

•

One month to go until we hit the road. I just worked out it's the distance from Vancouver BC to Halifax Nova Scotia...and back again!

Here's the trusty steed I'm spinning around on to get my training wheels removed.

IMG_2880

•

It's just a month to go until I board a plane to fly to Cape Town and get off two days later, jet lagged but raring to ride the 8,400 Km to Kigali Rwanda.

The aim for both Andrew and I is to raise $15,000 for our organizations through sponsorship of the ride. So you can see what I’m raising for, here’s a taste of the work of Wellspring. If you like what you see, please click here to sponsor us.

 


 

•

August 1-30th 2018

Some friends, some bikes and 6,000 kilometers, all with one goal - to help young people across Africa live a richer, fuller life.

The Kigali to Johannesburg Trek will see old friends Andrew Vaughan and Andy Harrington joining with 8 new friends to pound out some long, beautiful and stretching kilometers north along Africa’s Great Rift Valley on a route through nine countries connecting  Kigali Johannesburg, all in support of the Wellspring Foundation for Education and its work in Rwanda.

On the way, we will connect with people and projects that we believe are making a difference to young people throughout the region.

We’ll also face some big challenges as we avoid hidden potholes that can shatter a front wheel; traverse sandy tracks that can bog down a motorcycle; survive corrugated dirt roads that rattle eyeballs; and stay focused on long, long stretches of tar road through the East and Southern reaches of the African continent.

Our aim is to raise $25,000 for the work of Wellspring and we would love your support. .All personal expenses are taken care of so all funds raised will go directly to the projects.

Join us on this journey of discovery and connection in Southern Africa. We’ll be posting updates, photos and videos as we prepare and as we ride the route. Stay tuned!