Great adventure bears fruit
Motorcyclists beam health message to schoolkids
CLAD in motorbike gear, two British men from the Great Fruit Adventure rode into Addo on a world tour to educate kids and families back home on the importance of fresh food.
Max MacGillivray and Gareth Jones said they had been dismayed to discover that six out of 10 UK children had no idea where the fruit and vegetables they ate came from.
Shocked by the figures, MacGillivray came up with the idea of the trip to help educate UK children and others in Europe to overcome this ignorance.
“There have been various schemes in the UK and Europe to encourage children to eat fresh produce but these have not worked. These programmes do not excite children,” he said.
So, MacGillivray spent three years thinking of a concept and an adventure that would catch children’s imagination.
“Before we left, I did more than 20 school presentations.
“When I arrived at schools on a motorbike to make presentations, talking about Africa and the adventure we were about to go on, the children became very excited. “The feedback was brilliant. “They went back to their parents saying there was a crazy guy who had pitched up at school on a motorbike talking about Africa.”
The result, MacGillivray said, was that the children then asked: “Can we have some citrus, Mommy? Can we have apples, Daddy?” he said.
The pair left England on November 8 and have travelled more than 15 000km so far on their Triumph motorbikes.
Countries visited by the Great Fruit Adventure team include Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Ghana. The duo were then airlifted to Kenya, from where they travelled on their motorbikes to Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, finally arriving in South Africa on January 8.
They expect to finish the trip in Cape Town next week.
“All the way, we have been meeting fresh produce companies, filming and videoing them about how fresh produce is grown and about the fascinating and amazing people who grow fresh produce.”
They have 500 schoolchildren following them on Facebook and through the internet.
“One of the bikes has a tracking device so the children can see where we are and some of the schools have monitors on so they can follow us.
“South Africa has been absolutely amazing,” MacGillivray said.
One thing he had noticed was that there was a problem in Africa because schoolchildren did not realise working in agriculture was a positive occupation and he was trying to educate them, hoping to make a difference.
Jones said the adventure was absolutely wonderful and that they had seen amazing fresh produce along the way.
“We have visited amazing and inspiring producers but also seen the continent and met the people of Africa and they have made our journey a great adventure.
“It has been problem-free but we are not finished yet,” Jones said.
“The weather and mosquitoes have been kind to us.”
MacGillivray and Jones were hosted at Hitgeheim Country Lodge where they had dinner last night with lodge managing director Hannes de Waal and farmers.
Today they will be taken to Sundays River Citrus Company projects, meet former Woman Farmer of the Year Steri Ndyenga and visit schools and creches.