Also this year we organised the Ride 2 Transform Malawi. This was in the first week of June. We organize this together with another missionary organization called Ethnos. From OM I am responsible and Riaan, a colleague and good friend, from the Ethnos. Most things go through OM, so much responsibility came to me. In recent months we have done a lot of planning. But it is also always waiting again how it finally comes. Many things depend on how many participants we have. In April It became clear that we would have a large group with around 20 cyclists, including also 2 families. The 2 families came with their own cars that also went along while cycling. I was going to take our car with me to use also during the R2TM and then also Riaan his car. We need a lot of space to transport all the luggage and food so we doubted if it would be enough.

Riaan and I are about the same age, but he is married and has a son of 9 months. Together with his wife Lindsey, they work as missionaries in Zomba, Malawi. This is also our starting point for the R2TM. Because of family circumstances, they were 2 months in South Africa and the planning was that they would come back 2 days before the start of the event. I would then come earlier to Malawi to arrange the last things and make purchases. Riaan his car had been involved in an accident a few months before, we thought it would be ready again in time. But 2 weeks in advance it became clear that this would not be the case. We started to think of alternatives, whether we could borrow a car from someone else or that there was another way to carry the luggage. At that time we had 3 cars: the 2 of the families and my/our car. For these 3 cars there were drivers, but we did not have a 4th driver if we would arrange an extra car.

My departure date to Malawi had already changed a few times, but eventually it became Monday, May 27. The Wednesday before that, Riaan and I had contact and I thought, if we could arrange a trailer, we have enough space and we do not need an extra driver. Riaan thought that was a good idea, but said it was difficult to arrange a trailer in Malawi. And none of the 3 cars had a tow bar. That Thursday I suddenly figured out that Zambia also has a trailer. After a brief consultation with Riaan I informed whether we could use that trailer. This could be done, only paperwork for the trailer had to be arranged (insurance, road tax and road fitness). And I had to put a tow bar underneath our car.

That same Thursday I went looking for a tow bar and after having visited a few places I found someone who could do this for me Friday morning. But it also became clear that the trailer was not in very good condition, but someone from Zambia wanted to work on it (he is also 1 of the participants of the R2TM). Friday morning I went to the car company to have the tow bar put under the car, while my colleague was on the OM base, working on the trailer. After a few hours the tow bar was fixed underneath my car. My colleague called me that the tires were worn so on the way to the base I bought a pair of good 2nd hand tires.

Arriving at the base, my colleague put the tires underneath and he ensured that everything worked. While I was in the office to arrange all the paperwork. In The office it became clear that not all papers were in place, but after some searching the papers where found. A letter had to be made to use the trailer. But when we looked at the papers better we saw that the trailer was not in the name of the organization but still in the name of someone else who is happily still working for OM. So I went to that person and eventually I had everything I needed. It was almost 2 noon, which Monday I want to leave early in the morning and before time I have to have all the paperwork arranged. When I came to the trailer with the papers, I saw that there was another number plate on the trailer than it was in the paper. I feld very discouraged, I returned to the office and after a few phone calls it turned out that this was the number plate of another OM vehicle. We didn’t know where the other number plate was, someone wanted to look in the storage room, but he wasn’t on the base and I didn’t have time to wait for him. After a phone call we found out that we could easily make another number plate in Kabwe. We had prayed and I drove to the city with the trailer. After a few minutes I had a different number plate on the trailer. After this I went for the insurance, this took a little longer but after an hour this was also all arranged. It was 4 hours in the afternoon and I still had to settle the road tax and road fitness, luckily this happens both at the same office. Just after 4 I arrived there on a Friday afternoon. Luckily, they still let me in and everything was set in motion. When checking for the fitness, the trailer was barely looked at. It all went very fast and around 5 am I had this done too. The trailer was now ready to go back on the road. Had no papers yet to get the car and trailer across the border, but I could do this on Monday or Tuesday in the city close to the border where I would stay overnight.

We had a big group here from Kabwe who took part in the R2TM and since I had a trailer, everyone brought me stuff to take with. Also, I had to drop off 3 people in Chipata, the town close to the border about 800km from Kabwe. With 5 bikes in the back of the car (our car is quite spacious) and the trailer unloaded we took off. We were overloaded and had to pick up 2 more boxes with books on the way. There was no space for this, so we opened the boxes and placed the books in all the small spaces we had left. Just before we arrived in Chipata the brakes for the car didn’t feel so good anymore. We continued carefully, but the next day I didn’t want to continue like that so that Tuesday in Chipata someone repaired the brakes and I arranged the papers to cross the border. This took a bit of time but around half 1 everything was arranged and I drove to the border, now I was alone. At the border many forms had to be filled and it took a while before I was crossing the border. It was after 3 when I was finished at the border, I bought some food, filled the tank and got a Sim card. It became clear that I would arrive late at OM Malawi. But also didn’t really have an alternative, so just continued driving. On the way it became dark and it is not really pleasant to drive. There are still pedestrians and cyclists on the road without light and holes in the road that you hardly can see. Half past 8 I arrived at OM where they received me well and after eating and a (local) shower I went to sleep.

The next day (Wednesday) I wanted to go to Zomba, our starting point. But first had to meet with OM Malawi. This all went very smoothly and in the afternoon, I went to Zomba, this is about an hour and a half drive from OM. The guys that Riaan worked with received me there and we went ahead with the preparations. That Thursday, Riaan was supposed to come back, but he sent me a message that his flight was cancelled and that they would arrive on Friday. The airport is in the town of Blantyre, about 70km from Zomba. But we still had to go to Blantyre to do the shopping and to get the cycling shirts (the logos still needed to be printed on them) and pick up some bicycle parts. That Thursday, the 2 families arrived in Zomba and they set up their tents in the garden. Then that Friday afternoon, together with a local guy working with Riaan, I went back to Blantyre to pick up Riaan and his family. Their flight went into 2 parts and they had to change plane in the capital of Malawi. But arrived there it turned out that the 2nd flight was also cancelled and that they would only arrive the next day. He also said he had already a few days the flu. I realized that it could be difficult for him to participate in the R2TM. Without Riaan and the family we went back to Zomba, where more people had arrived. That Saturday came the rest of the participants of which 3 per plane spread throughout the day. Luckily there were a few others willing to pick them up. Riaan had arranged other transport and arrived in the morning at his house where we made camp. He said that that he was not going to make it, I saw it coming. But even though I could understand it, it was a huge disappointment. Not only because now the whole responsibility came down on me, but also because we are good friends and I enjoy working with him. We complement each other very well in the leadership.

This was basically all preparing for the R2TM. Now it was Saturday night and we started to give a briefing of what would happen. We had 17 cyclists from 7 different countries. 3 support persons and 7 children. Our goal was to cycle to Nkhotakota, where Islam entered Malawi. That Sunday morning we made ourselves ready for departure. 1 of the participants, Mike, had to arrange urgent paperwork and also could not join. He has participated 2 times before and helped us over the years with different things. I also looked forward to having him again with the cyclists, he has been working for 40 years and a lot of experience in missions and many stories to share. To be honest, I didn’t feld like going anymore on Sunday morning, but I grabbed myself together and we started. Luckily the first day was not that far, but we had to get used to it as a group. But soon we were well on the road and we were talking to people on the way and we had given a few audio Bibles to people. The first night we were staying at a campsite where we already arrived around the noon. This was very good for the first day.

The days we grew as a group, had good conversations among ourselves and with people we met. Along the way we stayed at missionaries and churches. It is very encouraging to hear their stories and see how they live. 1 day we drove mainly over sand paths, which was a bigger challenge for the cars than for us as cyclists. We had to wait a lot on the cars. After a few days a number of participants got sick, seems that there was something wrong with the food or the water. Luckily we had a short ride and a backwind that day. Without extra stopping we cycled to our destination, which was a lodge on Lake Malawi. We were supposed to camp, but the lodge was empty and they gave us all the rooms for the same price as camping. This was a very big blessing to us. We could just relax and the sick among us went to bed while the others were enjoying the view over the lake. This was halfway through the week. After this we continued in the direction of Nkhotakota. We stayed at 2 churches and also Mike had his paperwork arranged and cycled with us for the last 2 days.

   

That Saturday we arrive exhausted in Nkhotakota. 2 participants, who were also not feeling well, were determined to cycle all the way and they managed. The last night we stayed with another missionary organization. We had made an extensive meal and closed the R2TM 2019. The next day I woke up at 4 o’clock to bring 3 participants to the airport. This lasted longer than planned because on the way back, I drove on a dirt road where I thought it had to be an asphalt road. Nkhotakota was closer to Zambia than Zomba, but we had a lot of stuff and bicycles from Riaan which had to go back. So I decided to bring this back to him. 4 Other participants who also had to go back to Zambia joined me. In The evening we arrived there. Riaan said that I had to rest first before going back to Zambia. This was a very good idea. After 2 days of having done little to nothing, we went back. I had to visit OM Malawi and we visited 1 of the families who stayed at Lake Malawi for a few days. This was also a Dutch family working in Zambia. The place where they stayed is I think one of the most beautiful places of the lake. In the evening we arrived back in Chipata where we stayed overnight and the next day we drove back to Kabwe.

It was a successful event. The participants were very positive and for them it was a very good experience also to see how the people live in Malawi and also to meet the missionaries along the way and hear their stories. For me it was the 4t^h time and from an organizing perspective, there were some points of improvement, but all in all it went well. Every year, everything falls in place, even when Riaan said he couldn’t join. We had just enough drivers for the cars and the trailer was also exactly big enough to carry the luggage. Also there were among the participants a few people who were willing to help with cooking and a few other things. For me, it is always a miracle that everything falls into place!