This ride for mental healthcare project in Gaza with the PCRF, where 1,200 children were screened and subsequent treatment was provided. Due to the success of the project and the vital need for providing mental care for children in Gaza, we have chosen to support this project for 2017.

Cycling4Gaza aims to raise $2600 in support of the Center for Mind Body Medicine (CMCB) and the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GMHCP) projects in Gaza.

The Projects Aims are as follows:

– To provide free medication to patients who are in need of support
– To hire eight professional psychologists and psychiatrists to provide mental health counseling for children for the duration of one year
– To provide weekly and monthly group counseling for 200 high risk children and 80 mothers to teach them mental health coping skills
– To Support three summer camps in Gaza where counselors run intensive counseling for 200 high risk children to teach them coping skills for dealing with PTSD

Day 1: 24th September 2017

Arrive Madrid International Airport and transfer to the hotel in Avila. This amazing town can be found on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Day 2: 25th September 2017

Avila – Segovia approx. 75km – We begin this very first day with a round tour in the old town of Avila, hopefully escorted by the local cycling club and its founder – the great, former cyclist Carlos Sastre, who won the Tour de France in 2008. The ride from Avila will take us through a landscape surrounded by beautiful mountains. We enter Segovia via its amazing Roman aqueduct. Segovia can also be found on the UNESCO Heritage List.

Day 3: 26th September 2017

Segovia – Mataelpino 65km – We will ascend the mountain of Sierra Madrid. There will be a great climb of almost 800 meters of altitude that will take us over the mountain pass of Navacerrada.

Day 4: 26th September 2017

Mataelpino – Madrid approx 65 km – Today we depart for the finish line – the capital of Madrid. We’ll start biking on a route of about 65 km, along the beautiful lake of Embalse de Manzanares. From here, we follow the cycle lane that takes us along the main road to the city center of Madrid.

The 2014 war on Gaza left thousands of children injured not only physically but also psychologically. Today, approximately 373,000 children in Gaza suffer from emotional and psychological trauma and are in dire need of mental care support and reintegration into society.

The objective of the Gaza Mental Health Project is to assess children’s needs, provide them the service they require and to train social workers on administering screening questionnaires. Over 1,300 children have been screened by 5 field workers to date and their subsequent programs are currently being developed.