Hi, I’m Jonathan Bower. I did it!! To celebrate my forthcoming 40th birthday, I cycled 165 km to New York to raise funds to support a Rwandan preschool. The school was started three years ago by my wife's mother, Susan Niwenshuti, on her land in rural Nyanza; she named it "Amazing Grace Nursery School", and it is officially recognized by the local authorities. She manages and funds the school using donations from close family; it is already proving incredibly valuable for the local community and school places are in high demand - 90 children currently attend.

To support the school, I’m doing a sponsored bike ride from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York's Statue of Liberty View Point to support the school. I rode 165 kilometers to New York for up to 12 hours on August 10, into a headwind on an old 1978 steel road bike, to ask for your support.

Whilst the Government of Rwanda provides primary education, there are still relatively few preschools in the country. Research shows that preschool at ages 3 to 5 has a range of significant long-term developmental benefits for children and helps their mothers to work and earn more.

The school does a huge amount on a small budget—around $300 per month, entirely funded by my in-laws—but the school needs financial support to develop and enrich its offering. Your support would make a huge impact, and will be used to help with the following, according to the greatest need:

I am collecting the funds from GoFundMe as they come in, and distributing them to the preschool directly. Every donation makes a difference. Thank you for your generosity!

EDIT: Thanks to the generosity of the donors so far, we reached the original goal! I’m raising the target to $1,500 so the school can do even more. Let’s keep it going!