Issa leaves home at 6AM, walking several miles to school. At the end of a long school day, he makes the return trip. By the time he gets home, there’s barely time to eat and bathe before bedtime. Issa is one of many children sponsored by Amani who walk long distances back and forth to school every day.

Brad Ashley, an avid cyclist in Toronto, Canada, wanted to change that. For his 50th birthday, Brad made a unique request of friends and family: instead of gifts, make a contribution to the “Bike with Brad” campaign and help provide bicycles to some of the Amani schoolchildren.

As a result of Brad’s thoughtfulness and generosity, Amani was able to purchase ten sturdy red bikes in March. Built to withstand the rough and often muddy roads here, the bikes were distributed to those Amani children with the greatest distance to travel to school. That same week, students and teachers from Crescent School, an Amani Partner School, arrived for the school’s annual volunteer visit with the Amani children. Brad’s son Dustin was a member of this hard-working group and was able to see firsthand the meaningful difference his father’s fund raising made for the Amani kids.

Brad said, “Amani means ‘peace’ in Swahili. I am at peace when I cycle – and I hope to provide ‘peace’ and additional opportunities to the children at Amani through this initiative.”

Many thanks to Brad and all the other compassionate individuals who make it possible for children in Tanzania to have a home, go to school, and even sometimes, to have a shiny red bicycle!

For other creative fundraising ideas as well information about Amani’s Partner School Program, visit http://amanikids.org.