Mpame Village Project supports the Imana Wild Ride

On Thursday, 23rd of July 2009, the Imana Wild Ride passes through Manzamnyama. Just like the organizors of the Ride, we appreciate our beautiful coastline and we encourage education in rural areas. Therefore, Manzamnyama villaga has decided to meet the Imana Wild Ride on the hilltop between two beaches. We will provide local drinks and food for whoever decides (or has time) to stop and fresh drinking water (free!) for the riders. The villagers have agreed to donate any income from drinks and food to the project to help build the creche (building process started 2 weeks ago).

Photos and information about the event will follow by the end of this week ...

building site of the creche - village girls preparing a local dance - painting the signboard to welcome the riders

 

23rd of July 2009 - Manzamnyama welcomes the Imana Wild Ride

Oh dear oh dear. We had prepared such a nice welcoming for the Imana Wild Ride, but the weather simply wiped out all our efforts. It was, plainly spoken, utterly miserable. We had anticipated rain the night before the race but it held off ... until the daybreak revealed heavy dark clouds on the horizon. The wind blew so fiercly that it was almost impossible to set the big welcoming signboard up - and we're talking about a heavy wooden board here! Some children pitched up at Sobonana Lodge, dressed in short skirts for their dance performance, and the boys tried to set up a musical equipment. Around 9 a.m., as the first bikers crawled up the hill, the first raindrops fell. So there we stood, Mike, Babalwa and Rahel plus a bunch of village kids, shivering in the cold wind, cheering for the mountain bikers that had to ride through the storm. It was a miserable affair. The gale force wind shot raindrops at us horizontally and they hit like bullets, and some of the kids were wearing only flimsy clothes. There was no music, no dancing, no selling drinks, no community event - everyone in their right mind hid in their huts. Around 10:30 Tony, a friend from Mpame, arrived like an angel from heaven, in a big white bakkie, and we decided to abandon our welcoming post, leave our signboard to the wind and rain, and seek shelter. Looking like a bunch of drowned rats, dishevelled and wet to the bones and shivering with cold, we all climbed onto the bakkie and headed back to the village. And that was the end of that.

click on the photo for larger image

beautiful daybreak ...	rain arriving with the first bikers
welcoming the Imana Wild Ride to Manzamnyama Village	Mike and Babalwa with the signboard
cheering for the bikers ...	... in the freezing cold, wet, windy weather!

Shame. It could have been so much fun and a great community event but the weather would not permit it - we literally hit the worst part of the storm. In the afternoon it cleared up a bit and the sun came back out, but by that time the mountain bikers must already have reached Coffee Bay and had a hot shower and cup of coffee themselves.

 

Help us sponsor some Mountain Bikes for Manzamnyama Village!!

Manzamnyama Village lies in a very remote area, and the next bigger shop is about an hours' walk away. If some Mountain Bikes could be sponsored for Mpame Village Projects, we would lend them to the villagers if they need to go somewhere faster than by foot. We would also rent them out to tourists to go and explore the area by bike rather than in their 4x4, which would encourage eco-tourism. If you would like to sponsor a bike, please contact us: info@mpame.co.za. Enkosi kakuhle!