It was concluded on a high note with R40 000 being raised and Ms Delivery - or rather student midwife Mandi Busson - assisting with the birth of a baby boy who arrived unexpectedly on the last day of the tour.
"The tour was an amazing and inspiring example of what can be achieved when a community pulls together and work towards a common purpose," says Mandi, the driving force behind the tour.
Mandi, a student midwife from the Karatara/Elandskraal area, conceived the tour with three main goals in mind. Firstly, to raise funds for herself to get to the USA in September to write her final midwifery exams and obtain her CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) certification, ma-king her the first person in South Africa to obtain this international qualification.
Secondly, she wants to promote awareness of the difficult conditions that underprivileged pregnant women in rural areas have to contend with during the course of their pregnancies, labours and births. And lastly, she wants to raise funds for the establishment of the Outeniqua Birth and Wellness Centre in an effort to address the needs of women and babies in the rural Elandskraal area.
Mandi had intended to cycle the 250 km route herself, with her friend Oscar Butler, on a borrowed bike called ‘The Gecko’ and was training hard for the event when she dislocated her coccyx during a training session three weeks before the tour was due to start.
Her stoic husband, Alan Fowle, and friends (all Garden Route residents) rose to the occasion and each cycled a day of the planned route in Mandi’s place. The route wound through the back roads from Elandskraal to Wilderness, Buffalo Bay, Knysna, Diepwalle and back to Elandskraal. On day three Mandi walked part of the route herself together with her friend Madi Butler.
The perfect ending
Unfortunately Mandi could not be there to join in cheering the intrepid team across the finish line as she was living up to her Ms Delivery name and assisting at another homegrown home birth. Liesel Alkers and Moog’s baby boy arrived just after midnight on the last day, bringing the Ms Delivery Cycle Tour to a very successful end.
R40 000 raised
Mandi has managed to raise R40 000 and is now able to book her ticket to the USA. She plans to leave on 22 September to attend a neonatal resuscitation course, followed by her practical exam in mid October and then she writes the final written exam on 9 November.
She is still R5000 short to cover the costs of the course and some accommodation. Persons who wish to donate, can do so on the website, www.msdelivery.wordpress.com.
Details of progress relating to the establishment of The Outeniqua Birth and Wellness Centre will be posted as the story unfolds.
"A huge thank you to all who have supported the project thus far," says an elated Mandi.
The riders on day five.
