Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ivory Coast: Peace Corps Ivory Coast : Web Links for Ivory Coast RPCVs: Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 1:22 pm: Edit Post

Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.



Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

BIKE-A-THON

# What is the Bike Tour for Women?

Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's second "Bike Tour for Women" is a sixteen day event designed to encourage the improvement of health and education for women in both rural and urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

Peace Corps volunteers as well as Ivorian nationals will bike across the country from Oungolodougou in the North to Daloa in the South stopping in 16 volunteer villages to raise awareness about the importance of educating girls, and to promote women's health. The event will be approximately 640 km (400 miles) in length.

# How will the Bike Tour benefit Ivorian women?

Riders of the Bike Tour for Women will stop each night in villages along the route to conduct "Celebrate Women" events. These events will be customized according to the needs of each village, but are likely to include a mix of theater pieces, essay contests, speeches, and girls sporting matches, and will address such topics as family planning, AIDS, nutrition, breastfeeding/weaning, and the importance of girls' education. All activities will focus on concrete strategies that the local community can use in order to better educate local girls, and promote improved health for community women.

In addition, proceeds from the event will be donated to the Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's Women in Development scholarship fund, which covers the educational costs of secondary school for needy qualified girls.

# Why highlight women's health and education?

In Cote d'Ivoire, as in much of the developing world, women play a critical role in economic production, family support, health care, and the overall development of the country. They are the at the heart of family and village life; they are the food growers and producers, the first line of health care givers, the providers of water, and the primary educators of children.

Accordingly, a family's well-being is directly correlated with the health and education of its women. When women are well-educated and in good health the entire family thrives. However, when the women are poorly-educated or too sick to fulfill their roles the family suffers.

In Cote d'Ivoire, there remain many challenges to women's good health and education. According to national surveys conducted by the Ivorian Ministry of Education between 1991-92 and 1995-96, the percentage of girls attending primary school increased only slightly, while the percentage of girls attending the first level of secondary school actually decreased. In 1995-96, girls made up 42.3% of the primary student body, yet they accounted for only 34% of students attending the first level of secondary school and only 30% of those attending the second level. Statistics show that only one out of every four students receiving a higher education is a woman. The severity of these statistics vary from region to region; in some school districts as few as one third of the girls old enough to attend primary school actually attend.

The health of a woman and her family is often directly linked to her educational level, and health problems can pose a disempowering obstacle to women's development. A girl's plans for the future are often interrupted by an unwanted pregnancy, and a woman's business may fail if she's often too ill to maintain it. Many severe health problems women face can be prevented, or mitigated, with proper education. Women who are well-informed lead healthier lives, which in turn affects the health of the entire family and its potential for development.

# How will the tour be executed?

The Bike Tour for Women will begin January 13, 2001 in Ouangolodougou, a city near the Burkina Faso border. The riders will then continue for 15 days, stopping in an anticipated 16 volunteer villages, and end in Daloa, the country's third largest city, on January 28, 2001. The average caravan size of the Bike Tour is 20 riders, a team of Peace Corps Volunteers and their Ivorian national counterparts.

Volunteer villages hosting riders and holding Celebrate Women events include: Nambounkaha, Lafapokaha, Sinematiali, Sohou, Dassoungbo and Dagba in the Korhogo region; Faraba, Sarahala,Tomono, and Kongasso in the Mankono region; Bogolo (Segula region); and in the Daloa area, Bazra-Natis, Zorofla, and Bahofla.

# How can I support the Bike Tour for Women?

You can help contribute to the success of the Bike Tour in a number of ways. First, you can make a tax-deductible financial donation (in U.S. dollars) to our WID Scholarship fund, thereby supporting a young Ivorian girl's education, and ultimately her future.

You can also help to spread the word about this event. Please tell your friends, co-workers, classmates, and media about Peace Corps Cote d'Ivoire's Bike Tour for Women. By doing so, you'll not only increase the number of people supporting our effort, but you'll also help increase awareness about women's health and education in the developing world.

Contributions to the WID scholarship project may be sent to the following address:

Peace Corps Partnership Program, WID Côte d'Ivoire
1111 20th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20526

Checks should be made payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program. Donors should write "WID Scholarship Côte d'Ivoire" in the memo portion of the check. One hundred percent of the donation goes towards the scholarship and all donations are tax deductible.



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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ivory Coast; Special Interests - Bicylces

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