[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRISPIN MIRAMBO: What they have done through the bike race,
it is really helping their communities.
FANIE KOK: As mountain bikers, we've
got an opportunity to play a very important role
in using what we have, using our passion, for a greater good.
BRETT HARRISON: If you start to get a headache,
I wouldn't be overly concerned.
Drink extra water.
Stage one, we're going up Kili.
So K2N is a mountain bike stage race in Tanzania.
We start at Kilimanjaro.
We end at Lake Natron.
It's four days long, and I started
it to raise funds for our community development work
here.
FANIE KOK: I mean, I'm not a racer at all.
So I was quite apprehensive to take part in a race,
but it has been one of the most memorable experiences
that I've ever had on a bike.
BRETT HARRISON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
All right!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I mean, I think it's one of the best events in the world.
We're going through the rugged backcountry
of northern Tanzania.
The terrain is varied.
The weather, and the climate, the temperature is varied.
The type of riding, the course is varied,
and I think that's what makes it special.
It's something that you can't generally just pop
into Tanzania and go and do.
FANIE KOK: I don't have words.
I don't have words there.
It's magical.
I mean, you're literally riding past giraffe and wildlife.
You're riding past on the side of bomas
with a very deeply rooted culture.
BRETT HARRISON: We're giving people the opportunity
to experience Tanzania culture, specifically
Maasai culture on most of the course, and that includes food.
That includes terrain.
That includes passing by people's homesteads
and seeing how they take their cattle out.
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
FANIE KOK: It will be one of the most unique cycling experience
that you'll ever have in your life.
At the same time, it's also going for a really, really good
cause.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRISPIN MIRAMBO: The type of projects
that we are going to implement is decided by the community
itself.
We go wherever there is a need.
BRETT HARRISON: A lot of our work
revolves around conservation agriculture,
and the idea there is to make the soil more resilient, more
fertile, and to do so in such a way
that it can be used for multiple generations.
You've got a lot of farming where people, they take
everything they can from it, and then, once they've done that,
they move on to a new location.
That's not an option for the farmers we work with.
They have a limited amount of land.
Population density is increasing,
and so that limited amount of land is actually shrinking.
ESTER BENGA: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
BRETT HARRISON: I mean, that is an amazing feeling
to know that you've helped someone increase food
security in their home, but even more than that, in some ways,
you've helped them be joyful about farming,
and she has dignity, and she has respect in her community.
FANIE KOK: I believe there are over 120 tribes in Tanzania,
and we got to spend some time with some of these tribes
and literally see how they live on a day-to-day life
and how the work that Red Know Development and One World
Sustainable Livelihood has not necessarily
changed the way they do things, but has given them
a set of tools to improve what they've already been doing.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NEEMA ELIAS: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
FANIE KOK: It was incredible for me
to see that tradition and culture is still
preserved through some of the practices
that these people learn from the conservation
agricultural training.
Woo.
It's just been an absolute privilege
to experience such a diverse and culturally rich country.
I mean, Tanzania is arguably the center of the universe.