Bidii Yetu 2023 INCLUSIVE CYCLING

The Botswana Council for the Disabled has been approached by Bidii Yetu, an American Non-Governmental Organization whose mission is to raise awareness on disability rights, disability awareness and advocate for sports, and workforce capacity building for individuals with disabilities to participate in their campaign as they pass through Botswana.

The 2023 Bidii Yetu epic will see cyclists with and without disabilities riding from Swakopmund (Namibia) to Maputo (Mozambique), a journey that will take them 8 weeks, with 11 days being spent in Botswana from May 25 to June 4, 2023, cycling from Mamuno Border (Charleshill) to Ramatlabama Border Post. The Botswana lap will cover close to 700km, and we will have four segments: Charleshill to Ghanzi, Ghanzi-Kang, Kang-Jwaneng and Jwaneng to Ramatlabama Border Post, something that resembles a relay format. The first three Batswana cyclists (Champions) will welcome the Bidii Yetu team from Namibia and ride with them to Ghanzi and from Ghanzi to Kang. The another team will take from Kang to Jwaneng and Jwaneng to Ramatlabama border post.

Since the overarching objective of this epic challenge is to show that persons with disabilities are capable of achieving their set targets provided the community provides a supportive environment for them to pursue their dreams, the Bidii Yetu team willl have stop overs in the villages along the road to do motivational talks and make a call for all communities to strive to be inclusive and accommodative to tthe needs of persons with disabilities.