Biking for the Barrios
ABOUT US
Biking for the barrios website
G’day my name is Sam! I am a 23-year-old biomedical sciences graduate who currently does research into a medicine against septic shock (aka blood poisoning). Besides study/work I enjoy sports and traveling. Due to a hiccup in my academic career, I will have a year during which I can’t start my master’s degree and during this year I will raise €150.000 for Feed the Barrios by cycling from Maastricht (Netherlands) to Hong-Kong.
This is Max. He will be joining me after he finishes his masters in operations management and logistics at the Technical University of Eindhoven. We have travelled together several times and is one my oldest friends. More information about us can be found on our site. 
CHARITIES
Both of the charities we are supporting have their roots in Medillin, Colombia. 
FEED THE BARRIOS
Feed the Barrios is a humanitarian project that provides food relief to the most vulnerable communities of Medellín (Colombia). All donated money goes straight to the purchase of food. This is done by separating logistical costs from public donations and cooperation with local food wholesalers.
Once I learnt that I would not be able to start my degree in September the idea of doing something that will make a difference rose quickly. But it was one of my oldest friends Mees Liedekerken who provided me with a purpose for a trip. Mees left for his minor in Medellin in September 2020 and quickly fell in love with the country. When Covid-19 struck the world Mees decided to stay and make a change in the community rather than flee back to the Netherlands. So when I decided that I wanted to raise money for a good cause it was a no-brainer when choosing which good cause it was going to be for.
As said Mees and I go way back. Here is a photo of us having a splash photo back in 2007.
FUNDACÍON CAMINOS
Fundacíon caminos focusses on educating children and having them be physically active. There are multiple projects through which they achieve these goals. Examples of projects are the music-, footballschool and the English lessons offered to children from their area in Medellín.
Once the project started to develop and plans became more serious it bacame clear that it was a bit much for just Mees and Sam to organise every aspect of the journey, raising the money and using the money. Fundacíon caminos is a long partner of Feed the Barrios and is run by a group of Dutch people. These factors made them the perfect partner as their views perfectly align with the plan we have.
THE ROUTE
The route will take us through 12 countries. Starting in the Netherlands the journey will go through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia,
Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and finally China.