Our very special story

Ride 4 a Woman is a charitable organization set up to empower women socially and economically in the local community of Bwindi, Uganda. The organization supports women struggling with poverty, HIV and domestic violence and single mothers, carrying out many projects with a huge impact into their lives.

Ride 4 a Woman was set up in 2009 by Evelyne Habasa and her husband Denis Rubalema. Evelyne grew up in the local community where the organization is established, and was inspired by her mother since she was very young. Her mother sacrificed a lot to put her eight children through school as she had no money to afford the basics. She owned one dress, a pretty red one, and she washed it every night so she could wear it again the next day. Her red dress was “the talk of the village”. Her frugality and very hard work managed to put all her children through good schools. This is the struggle most women go through every day in this community and what motivated Evelyne to start Ride 4 a Woman.

The organization started by renting bicycles to tourists who like riding. The money collected went directly to support local women struggling with issues associated with poverty, HIV and domestic violence. This is why the name “Ride 4 a Woman” came about: riding to support the women.

In 2011, Evelyne met Patricia, a woman from Australia, who came for Gorilla tracking. Patricia wanted to buy fabrics in Uganda to take back home to do quilting, and Evelyne help her by being her translator. When Patricia went back home, in Australia, she sent pictures of her quilting products to Evelyne. Evelyne loved them and thought that it would be great if the women of Ride 4 a Woman learned to sew. This would allow the organization to make its own handmade products, sell them and get more money to support  more women.

In 2012, the 16 pioneer women of the organization were trained to sew and weave by Patricia and two of her friends. After, these 16 women were the ones who started teaching many more women around the community through the “train the trainer” methodology.

More than 100 women were trained in total, and every day 60 of them work at Ride 4 a Woman center, making the handmade products that are sold in the shop of the organization. Apart from working, these 60 women find in Ride 4 a Woman a space of safety and support, a meal is provided to them and earn a salary that is given to them every two weeks.

Ride 4 a Woman has a total of 300 members, all of them are women from the 11 villages in Bwindi who benefit from the organization.

The organization leads many different projects to empower women and improve people’s lives in the local community: microfinancing their entrepreneurial ideas, sponsoring the education of many children, providing safe water for all the community, installing solar panels in homes without electricity, among others. You can read more about our projects through the top main menu of the website.

Every day we welcome visitors to stay with us, learn from us while doing the activities we offer, shop or simply drop by to see what is going on. If you are visiting Bwindi, come and stay with us in our accommodation and restaurant, and learn about our culture and traditions while supporting our mission. We will be honored to welcome you at home.