05/07/09: Pedal Joe arrives at Lomé, capital of the Togolese Republic

Joe's contact in the Togolese Republic:
+228-8719502

Currently Pedal Joe is in TOGO (since the 3rd of July). He is in much better health, and goes on taking the tablets prescribed for the prevention of malaria. He is still a little tired, not being able to pedal more than a few hours per day. But his forces are coming back…

Zé thanks all those who have prayed for him in this very difficult hour…. he is especially grateful to the CL Past President, Kwame Opoku, without whom, with his decisive and important support, Zé would not be here to tell the tale.

And to all those who have expressed their solidarity during this very difficult moment for him: "To all of you, angels in my path, a heart felt kiss from this Africa which at once fascinates and scares."

Pedal Joe thanks BERG Toys, University Photo and Buynet for their support.

For more information about SigthFirst:

http://www.lionsclubs.org

Friends who have collaborated with the project:

Rosfrios Alimentos * supplements
BERG Toys * pedal go-kart
BERG Toys do Brasil * logistics
Deuter do Brasil * camping material
Foto Universitario * photographic material
Buynet * ISP - Internet Provider
Albergues Privados do Caminho de Santiago * food and lodgings
Caminho do Sol-Brasil * travel products
Fernanda Paz - Mindo Falcão * travel products

"In the last 70 years, the World's population has tripled. The demand for water increased six fold. If the present patterns are not modified, in 2025 four billion people will not have access to water."

"Water: a drop, a life... preserve them. For me... for yourself... for our Planet..." Pedal Joe (Zé do Pedal)

28/06/09: Pedal Joe contracts malaria, on his way to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Zé's contact in Ghana:
+233-542486837

When the Brazilian José Geraldo de Souza Castro, 51, who is making a trip in a pedal go-kart (buit especially for the trip by the dutch company Berg Toys) from Paris to Johannesburg, where he will be present to attend the first World Soccer Cup in the African Continent, in 2010, decided to change the heat of Western Africa for the rain of the coast, he did not imagine the constant tropical rains and gales in his new chosen path. Worse… he did not imagine that he would be bitten by the feared female of the Anopheles mosquito and would become the newest malaria victim!

Pedal Joe run over... by a mosquito!

Since he has reached the coast, via the Ivory Coast, constant rain fills the environmentalist's day. Last Friday, the 19th, a large storm near Accra, the capital of Ghana, left several dead, homeless, and completely destroyed streets.

As soon as he felt the symptoms of malaria last Monday, the 22nd, Zé immediately started the treatment and now is housed in a hotel in the city of Tema where he is just resting. “In truth I do not know at which exact moment I contracted the illness… on Friday I participated in the aid to the victims of the flood in the locality of Malan, so I thought that the pains in the body and the head had their origin in that one drawn out exposition in rain. But when I was walking and felt the body softening, I took 5 steps in the direction of a place to sit down, had a collapse for maybe 5 seconds, and was certain that I had contracted malaria… I looked for medical assistance immediately and I am already slowly recovering. The diagnosis indicated that I was infected with the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal of the four species of agents that cause malaria in man”.

Pedal Joe, member of the Lions Club of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, has been participating in many activities in conjunction with each of the Clubs of the countries that he visits.


In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on the 26th of May, he was received by the members of the Lions Club Calao. In Ghana, on the 8th of June, he joined with the members of the Lions Club “Twin City” of the city of Tacoradi; on the 11th, he was given a reception by the CCLL of the Lions Club Crystal, of the city of Cape Coast. The 12th of June he participated, at the invitation of some members of the Ghanean Lionism, in the inauguration of the “Tema Lions Club Eye Care Center”.

The center, which is located inside the installations of the Hospital (the largest in the country) of the city of Tema (35kms to the east of the country's capital, Accra), was inaugurated by the Internacional President Al Brandel during his official visit to Ghana. Present at the inauguration were the members of all Ghana's Clubs, Ghana's Minister of Health, Dr. Sypa-Adjah Yankey, the Archbishop Justice Akrofi, the Ambassador of South Corea, and other municipal authorities.

In his intervention, the President of the Lions Club of Tema, Clement Torsutse, informed the assembly that “the Eye Care Center is an answer to the appeal of Hellen Keller, in 1925, to the members of the Lions Clubs to methamorphose themselves into Vision Knights, and today, we are happy to deliver to the community the largest and best equipped Eye Care Center in Western Africa, with an approximated cost of 650.000 dollars”. He also took the opportunity to give special thanks to the Ghanean citizen, native of Korea, Kofi Yim, whose contribution of more than 200,000 dollars allowed to endow the center with ultramodern equipment. He followed with an homage to the korean citizen by presenting him with the title of "Honorary Lion".

Invited to speak, Pedal Joe reminded the assembly of the important work that the Lions carry out in the combat against blindness (through the Campaign Sight First) throughout the 4 corners of the World, principally Cataract, Glaucoma and Oncocercosis, which the LCIF has pledged to eradicate in Africa until the year 2020. “The Lions is the largest Non-Governmental Organization in the World, with an outstanding presence in more than 200 countries and regions, with almost 1.5 million members. Each one carrying his own brick for the construction of a better world. It's works like this one that give us the measure that we are on the right path”, emphasized the CL.

“The construction of the Centre, prepared to receive 1500 patients per week, and with the capacity to carry out 30 operations every day, began to “come out of the paper” with 50 dollar donations from each member of the Ghanean Lionism, and with donations from society at large. The Leo Clube showed its nails and donated bags of cement and eye-catching wall clocks that will adorn the premisses, and will perpetuate the presence of our boys”.

The ceremonial was conducted by CaL Mary Nyarko. CaL Baaba Hudson led the Lions' prayer. Welcoming Words were offered by CL President Clement Torsutse. The musical interval was provided by the CCLL Nana Okuampah and Nana Adei Duah Brempong.

On Saturday, the 13th, he participated in an event in Accra, coordinated by the CL Willian Sam, Regional President, of the Leaders' Seminar, and last Wednesday, the 24th, he reached Tema where he assisted at the ceremony of endowement of the new directorship.

Pedal Joe will remain in the city until the 30th, recovering from the 'aggression' of the malaria transmitting mosquito, then he will continue on to Lomé, capital of the Togolese Republic.


Malaria

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 40% of the world's population (around 2,4 billion) coexists with the risk of malaria infection in more than 90 countries – the African continent being at the fore-front, with nearly 300 million affected (which results in 1 million deaths) each year, representing the second most common cause of death in the continent.

Malaria reaches man through the prick of the female of the Anopheles mosquito. Altogether, four types of Plasmodium can cause the disease: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae. Plasmodium vivax, in the last 10 years, has become responsible for the largest number of cases of malaria.

09/05/09: Pedal Joe has completed 8500 kms, half of the planned journey

Pedal Joe´s contact in Ivory Coast:

+223-65850146

While the Brazilian Football Team defends its classification for the World Football Cup of 2010, comfortably, a lonely Brazilian presses on towards South Africa, Country that will host the games. Environmentalist, adventurous photographer, José Geraldo de Souza Castro, Pedal Joe, 51, at every moment demonstrates that, when one has a dream and sufficient courage to make it real, the impossible goal is just there, right around the corner.

His current exploit completes one year. On the 10th of May of last year, a dense fog was covering the sky of the Parisian summer, when a tiny go-kart moved by pedal, built and adapted specially for the trip by the Dutch company BERG Toys, began to pull itself slowly from the giant structure of the Eiffel Tower. Gradually, the initial route was drawn amidst magnificent sceneries until it reached the vast expanses of the Sahara. It was thus: France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and, now, the Ivory Coast. The first stage of 8.500 kilometers ends this Saturday, the 9th, in the city of Bouaké, in the central region of the latter country.

Different from other projects, a mixture of adventure and a call to arms about the destruction of the environment, – “ World Cup Spain 82 ”, “ 'round the world ”, “ From Liberdade to Cristo-Rei ”, “ Old man Chico ”, “ Crossing of Guanabara Bay ” and “ In the Waters of the Tietê ” – the objective now is nobler: to attract the attention of the international community to two of the biggest problems that affect the vision of children around the world, principally in the poorest countries: Cataract and Glaucoma and, in so doing, to get funds for the program Sight First, a campaign of the Lions Clubs International.

The Sight First programme already restored the vision, through cataract surgery and the upgrading of ophthalmological facilities, to hundreds of millions of adults and children. To continue and to expand this initiative, the Lions launched the Campaign Sight First II, in which Pedal Joe takes part, with the objective to raise at least US$ 150 million.

The adventurer himself justifies: " I am always doing campaigns on behalf of the Environment, but I know that around the world there are thousands of children and adolescents who cannot see the colour green as it really is. These persons know a cataract only by the noise of the waters slamming against the rocks and know a bird only for its singing. We can revert this picture. If only each one of us would do a his or her part... It is as easy and as simple as preserving and cleaning our Planet ”.

It is not always a tranquil journey. There is an area controlled by a rebel militia (the cyclist's current whereabouts) and almost totally ignored by the official powers in Ivory Coast itself. But everything can become a classroom for knowledge including the contemplation of a country that does not exist, Western Sahara. Joe recounts his experience in the episode that he called 'the imaginary country':

" When I left Tarfaya, and after doing approximately 20 kilometers up to the city of Ada, the supposed frontier between Morocco and Western Sahara, I did not see any sign or indication of a frontier... no guards, no customs... nothing! Only the black carpet of the asphalt tearing the sand of the desert. It began there, my passage through a country that only exists in the world map and is recognized by the United Nations. After the withdrawal of Spain in 1975, Morocco, together with Mauritania, occupied the whole territory. Contradicting decisions and recognitions of international organisms, Morocco maintains the occupation of Western Sahara through 200.000 (Moroccan) settlers subsidized by the state. On the 22nd of February of 1982, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is admitted officially as a member of the African Union. Progressively, 73 States of the World have recognized it. Up to 1990, there is a long succession of resolutions approved by different international organizations. They all emphasize the right of the people saharaui to self-determination and to independence... But on the ground, nothing changes: on paper, Western Sahara is a great nation... but in fact, it is a Utopia ", concludes Pedal Joe.

Next Monday, begins the second stage of the trip. Gradually, South Africa is looming near and, with her, the certainty for Joe of assisting to FIFA's first Football World Cup on that continent. Only 8.500 kilometers more worth of turns of the pedals.

Francisco Assis de Souza Castro, Journalist (publication authorised by the author)

Some historical background*

Deep blue eyes, thin nose, fine lips, hair always in disarray, an hollywoodian general aspect; thin body, mid stature and clear skin, though tanned by the constant exposure to the sun. All that, added to an uneasy spirit and to a pure soul, always ready to share the problems of his fellow men and women and, why not, of the world. José Geraldo de Souza Castro, Zé do Pedal (Pedal Joe), himself. And that makes him equal, yet different. He inspires surprise and trustworthiness wherever he passes, even if seen for the very first time.

A boy of poor origins, he was born in Guaraciaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on the 15th of July of 1957. Youngest child of four brothers, he lost his father, the self-taught teacher Luiz José Martins de Castro, when he was four months old. Abandoned, the mother, the maid Maria Auxiliadora de Souza Castro, three months after the death of her husband, moved to Viçosa, where, with great sacrifice, started to draw the trajectory of her progeny, transmitting with wisdom the teachings of respect, humility, simplicity, complicity and companionship, basic necessities for the survival of who had not experienced a golden cradle.

No novo domicílio, lavando roupas para estudantes da Universidade Rural do Estado de Minas Gerais (UREMG), hoje, Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), dona Maria começou a preparar os seus filhos para a vida, oferecendo a eles aquilo que lhe fora negado: a educação escolar. Assim, em um ambiente humilde mas de muito carinho, José começou a ensaiar os primeiros passos, sempre procurando fazer algo para ajudar a sua mãe. Quando era inverno, na época bastante rigoroso, os agasalhos eram poucos e, após suportar o frio pelas ruas, havia sempre o aconchego do lar, onde a mãe o esperava, como a todos os irmãos, com uma fogueira acesa na cozinha do pequeno casebre. Acariciados pelos afagos da mãe e o calor do fogo, todos dormiam... José sonhava, ora dormindo ora acordado...

Em certa ocasião, praticamente foi adotado por alguns estudantes da Universidade, a quem prestava pequenos serviços, depois de levar ou trazer a trouxa de roupa que sua mãe lavava. Desta amizade com os alunos, surgiram laços mais fortes, como o caso de Joenes Pelúzio Campos, que ele escolheu para padrinho.

Em época de Natal e Dia das Crianças, José gostava de olhar os presentes na vitrine. Quando chegava em casa, confeccionava os seus próprios: eram bois de chuchu, carretas com rodas de pedaços de cuia e tantos outros. A vantagem era que os presentes da vitrine estragavam e seus donos tinham que comprar outros. Os de José não, estavam no próprio quintal.

Foi assim que passou sua infância: perambulando pelas ruas de Viçosa, em busca de um futuro que insistia em não chegar. Foi engraxate e jornaleiro. Vendeu pastéis aos passageiros dos “trens de ferro” que levavam e traziam gente e notícias. Mas também fez peraltices. Foram estas peraltices que o jogaram nas mãos de comissários de menores que o enviaram primeiro ao Patronato "Escola Agrícola Arthur Bernardes", hoje Centro Tecnológico de Viçosa (CENTEV), no Bairro Silvestre, em sua cidade; depois, para a Escola XV, no Bairro Quintino, no Rio de Janeiro. As autoridades que o enviaram para lá esperavam que ele criasse juízo. Não criou. Se ter juízo é viver escravo de convenções que determinam a passagem da maioria dos seres humanos pela terra, o Zé continua sendo um desajustado.

Ficou por pouco tempo confinado naquela "Casa de Passagem”. Mesmo assim, sofreu todo os abusos da sociedade. Foi privado de muitas coisas na adolescência. Porém, descobriu que existem muitos meios de se derrubar grandes obstáculos e viu que a persistência não é o mais prática, mas de todos, o mais eficiente. Um dia, aproveitando o descuido da segurança, fugiu. Reformatório, pensou, nunca mais. Hoje é um exemplo para os jovens mostrando que nem sempre a “ocasião forma o ladrão”. Teve todas as oportunidades para se tornar um marginal, mas o ensinamento e a persistência pela dignidade o tornaram o grande homem que hoje é "descrito", através destas linhas e de toda a imprensa.

No Rio, depois da experiência de interno como menor infrator, o ciclista encontrou o seu caminho em vários episódios. Dali partiu para uma missão quase impossível por que tinha certeza de que “o possível se consegue em pouco tempo e impossível demora mais um pouco”. Ali, o futuro começou em forma de presente. Como pode uma bicicleta mudar a vida de uma pessoa? Ou ainda, uma parte dela, os pedais, da determinar o destino de um aventureiro, transformando-o em ambientalista como um Dom Quixote em sua luta contra os moinhos de vento? De repente, o mundo, tão grande para os demais mortais, tornou-se pequeno para o Zé do Pedal.

Hoje, dedica-se ao meio ambiente. É secretário geral da Fundação S.O.S Planeta Terra, organização não governamental idealizada pelo ciclista em sua viagem; assessor para o meio ambiente do Distrito LC 12 e do Lions Clube de Viçosa; e embaixador da Ong Apua Várzea das Flores, de Betim/MG. Tem participação em várias organizações mundiais e é solicitado a participar de eventos para conscientizar as pessoas do perigo que corre o Planeta pela falta de água, provocada por desperdícios e poluição dos mananciais.

Sua luta e trabalho com o meio ambiente começou pelo Rio São Francisco, onde José pôde ver, fotografar e relatar com tristeza o modo como o ser humano é incoerente no cuidado com a natureza, atirando despejos e detritos nas águas do rio sem nenhum constragimento e, por outro lado, exigindo que as autoridades tomem providências para a preservação do ecossistema.

Os barranqueiros, como são chamado os moradores ribeirinhos, o receberam com muito carinho e aproveitaram sua voz para pedir ajuda ao rio em agonia pois sua morte trará a destruição de muitos lares. Famílias inteiras já sofrem na pele as conseqüências dos atos desumanos deixados por turistas e moradores das cidades grandes que ficam próximas às margens.

Esta viagem já lhe rendeu exposições em várias cidades do Brasil e do exterior, pos ele também é fotógrafo. Além disso, ministra palestras em escolas conscientizando as crianças quanto ao valor da água e o cuidado a ser tomado para que o futuro não seja marcado por uma seca pior das já existentes no nordeste e alerta sobre a possibilidade de verdadeiras guerras futuras por um simples copo de água.

Ambientalista, aventureiro, fotógrafo, humanista, pedalista, viajante, José ou, simplesmente, Zé. São muitos os substantivos que o apresentam e os adjetivos que o qualificam.

A infância vai-se longe, mas a esperança de que há sempre um lugar para se chegar continua empurrando o aventureiro em busca de novas emoções.

*Extracted from the book: “Pedals of Hope: the adventures of Pedal Joe” (Author: Francisco Assis de Souza Castro)

Pedal Joe thanks BERG Toys, University Photo and Buynet for their support.

For more information about SigthFirst:

http://www.lionsclubs.org

Friends who have collaborated with the project:

Rosfrios Alimentos * supplements
BERG Toys * pedal go-kart
BERG Toys do Brasil * logistics
Deuter do Brasil * camping material
Foto Universitario * photographic material
Buynet * ISP - Internet Provider
Albergues Privados do Caminho de Santiago * food and lodgings
Caminho do Sol-Brasil * travel products
Fernanda Paz - Mindo Falcão * travel products

"In the last 70 years, the World's population has tripled. The demand for water increased six fold. If the present patterns are not modified, in 2025 four billion people will not have access to water."

"Water: a drop, a life... preserve them. For me... for yourself... for our Planet..." Pedal Joe (Zé do Pedal)

8500 kms... and one year on the road!

Zé's contact in Ivory Coast: +223-65850146

"So... within the next 4 days, in the city of Niakaramandougou, I will be completing 8500kms... pedalling half way to South Africa!

The same day of the commemoration, I will have spent 1 year on the road...

From the day I departed from Paris, much asphalt rolled under the small tires of the Go-Kart ... many dreams and joys shared with hundreds of friends who offered smiles and cheers to keep on going...

Difficult would be to mention each one's name here... since I would risk forgetting someone...

Therefore I will only say, from the heart: THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO BECAME PART OF THIS DREAM...

Beijo no coração. (A kiss from the heart.)"

Zé

Pedal Joe gets a write-up in The Times of South Africa !

Read the original article here

12/03/09: Brazilian arrives in Mali bound for the 2010 Football Cup in South Africa

Zé's contact in Mali: +223-65850146

Facing temperatures superior to 42° Celsius, the Brazilian José Geraldo de Souza Castro (Zé do Pedal - a.k.a. Pedal Joe), 51, arrived at Bamako, capital of Mali, in his first leg of the second stage (Dakar-Lagos) of his trip, in a pedal go-kart, prepared specially for the trip by the Dutch company Berg Toys, bound for South Africa, where he intends to attend the Football World Cup in 2010.

Pedal Joe, who left from Paris on the 10th of May 2008 and has already travelled over 8 countries and 8000 kilometers, and intends to arrive in Johannesburg by the 15th of June 2010, was received in this city by the members of the Lions Clube, Bubo Diarra, Cheickna Diawara and Deidia Katara.

The objective of the trip is to focus the attention of the international community on two of the biggest problems that affect vision, especially children's: Cataracts, Glaucoma and on the great world-wide project of the International Lions Club to combat preventable blindness, the campaign Sight First.

The Lions International Club, a non-governmental organisation recognised by the United Nations (and advisory member thereof) started in 1917, due to the social preoccupations of a man from Chicago, MELVIN JONES, and, only three years after its foundation, in 1920, the Association became international when the first club was established in Canada.

The altruism is from the beginning the principal purpose of the Association that counts, at present, with more than 1,4 million members, men and women, who integrate around 46.000 clubs located in more than 200 countries. Thanks to the appeal launched by Helen Keller in 1925 at the International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, in the USA, the Lions Clubs became the champions of the blind and visually impaired, launching in 1990 its extraordinary campaign "Sight First".

In Mali, Lionism was born on the 13th of January 1958 with the creation of the Club Sokala Bamako. It took 34 years in order to see the birth of other Lions Clubs, like the Bamako Melina (essentially feminine), Yeelen Bamaco, Sigui Bamaco, Sikasso Deme, Phoenix Bamaco and Caïlcédrat Bamako. The country has also two Leos Clubs.

As in other countries, the Lions Clubs of Mali carry out large scale actions in the struggle against preventable and reversible blindness and, thanks to the actions of the Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF, acronym in English), more than 5 million dollars were invested in renovation (or construction) of schools and hospital buildings, donation of hospital equipment and the formation of students and specialists. Campaigns of awareness are also carried out, through communitarian radios and construction of latrines in the rural environment.

Other areas of deployment of the Club in Mali include the struggle against diabetes, tuberculosis, esquistossomosis, support for non-seeing persons, lepers and mental patients and the construction of the SOS Children's Village, for children in risk. As regards the environment, another important area of action and concern for the Lions Club International, the Clubs of Mali carry out plantation of trees.

Environment, one more problem for the Africans

MEADOW

Pedal Joe, ambassador for the environment of the ONG APUA Meadow of the Flowers and ex-adviser for the environment of the District DLC12 of the Lions Clube, affirmed that the great preoccupation of the rulers of the countries south of the Sahara (and of the international community) is the encroachment of the Sahara desert towards the south.

With this preoccupation in mind, the president of Senegal, Abdulah Wade, and the first Minister, Cheikh Adjibou Soumaré, urged recently in Dakar the African States to make the Great Green Wall (GMV) a priority project of the continent for the next 10 years. 15 kilometres wide and seven thousand kilometers of long, the Great Wall is going to tie Senegal to Djibouti, passing by 9 other countries - Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, Tchad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritreia, aiming to curb the desertification.

Nevertheless, and regrettably, in the case of Senegal, the desertification begins inside towards the outside. In the last 40 years the extraction of wood for domestic use as fuel practically put an end to the woods and there is not a single reforestation project in the works or any sustainable handling of the few areas where there still exist large trees (which, not so slowly and in vain, are being turned into coal).

INHERITANCE

" The Great Green Wall is going to be an inheritance of the humanity and an inexhaustible fountain of several essential productions to our rural communities up to now weakened by the conditions of existence in the saharo-salian zone ", he declared, adding that the Africans must not let the situation in which they live go on, which generated a degradation of the natural resources of the referenced countries.

If on one hand the forests and woods of Senegal are a preoccupation, the situation of the water for human consumption in Mali is still more worrying. In accordance with a document of the Spanish ONG INTERVIDA, an organization that offers aid to more than 25.000 students of public schools in Ségou and Macina, approximately 65% of the children younger than 15 years old of Mali suffers from diseases linked to water (for example malaria, typhoid fever, conjunctivitis, diarrheas and bilharziosis), a consequence of using non-drinkable water to drink as well as to cook.

In spite of the actions of awareness of the ONG, through the existent communitarian networks of hygiene and sanitation, as well as national and local campaigns of treatment of water, the consumption of non-drinkable water by part of the population of Mali is quite difficult to eradicate because of different factors. On one hand, there are not enough boreholes nor waterworks and the existing points of water are far away from the houses. Another reason for the continuing use of water in unsafe conditions is that cistern water is in many cases contaminated (one of the principal causes of the contamination of the water is the lack of protection of the cisterns) by the human and domestic animals excrements. Also the wells that dried during the dry spell are recuperated without being cleaned beforehand, are turned into a source of illnesses and parasites.

Present in different countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia, giving support to almost five million persons, the ONG works towards the improvement in the accessibility of water in the zone and tries to educate the population to adopt an appropriate behaviour in the use of drinkable water.

Pedal Joe thanks his Lions companions Brito Rocha, Álvaro Drurão, Joaquim Miguel, Julia Lima and Caty Soares, all from Portugal, who are always phoning to provide moral support.

10/02/09: Pedal joe at the Lions' All Africa Forum

The Brazilian José Geraldo de Souza Castro (Pedal Joe), 51, member of the Lions Club of Viçosa, DLC12, APLIONS and CIRCLE, is in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, where he attended, between the 5th and the 7th of February, the 14th All Africa Congress, which had as its central subject: 'WORK: A MIRACLE AGAINST POVERTY', organized for the African Districts and counted with the presence of representatives of all African countries as well as delegates from other continents (Asia, Europe, Americas).


The objective of this conference was to continue to establish bonds, to consolidate the brotherhood and to strengthen the friendship between the African peoples and also to strengthen the paper of the civil society in development.

During the event, there were training workshops for the regional leaderships aiming at preparing the members of the diverse Lions Districts of Africa for managemental functions of the club and in its communities, pursuing the development of knowledge in communications, motivation, group dynamics and team management.


The workshops were directed by the former-president of the Lions Club International, Mahendra Amarasuyia.

The next All Africa conference, will be carried out between the 3rd and the 6th of February, 2010, in the Moroccan city of Marraquech (http://www.allafrica2010.com)

Pedal Joe returns today to Senegal to continue his trip to South Africa.

Lions are known in the whole world for the services they provide for the blind and the partially-sighted. This service was created when Helen Keller challenged Lions to become the knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness, during the International Convention of the association in 1925.

Since then, Lions Clubs, in the whole world, embarked on many fields related to sight in order to, help the blind and to prevent curable blindness. It is being quoted for memory that: the white cane which was designed by Lions Clubs in 1930 to help the blind to move, schools to train dogs guides for the blind are also supported by Lions Clubs.

Through the SightFirst campaign, the Lions:

• Are now recognized as world leaders with regard to the control of sight-related diseases:

• Played a significant role in the removal of cataract as a serious problem of public health in several countries ;

• Raised the awareness of Governments on the importance to support blindness control, and further sensitized the WHO on the importance of ocular corners by doing their best so that this question be recognized as a real threat to public health.

Acting locally but thinking globally, one of the great objectives of the Lions Club it is to eradicate Oncorcescose (river blindness) in South America by the year 2010 and in Africa by 2020. Another goal is to eradicate Tracoma by 2020.

11/01/09: Pedal Joe arrives in Dakar, on his way to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa

Pedal Joe's contact in Senegal: +221-778029819

Eight months after having left Paris in a pedal kart (built and donated for the adventure by the Dutch company Berg Toys - http://www.bergtoys.com), the Brazilian José Geraldo de Souza Castro (Zé do Pedal), 51, arrived at Dakar (capital of Senegal) thus finishing the Paris-Dakar leg of the trip, after having covered 6500 kilometres, which took him exactly 1140 hours.

The Brazilian travelled through France, the French Route of Santiago de Compostela, crossed Portugal from North to South, returned to Spain, crossed Morocco, Eastern Sahara, Mauritania and, finally, Senegal.

During that time, Pedal Joe was homaged in Portugal, received from a group of gypsies a proposal to exchange his kart for a horse (proposal refused), and gave lectures in schools. Being asked by a Senegalese Television journalist if the trip was difficult, Pedal Joe answered: "No… It was child's play… I leave with my toy at seven in the morning, and at the end of the day I have pedalled 30, 40, 50 and, sometimes, up to 100 kilometres".

The most difficult part of the trip so far has been crossing the Sahara Desert. After having crossed the Tropic of Cancer, Pedal Joe found on his path, besides poisonous snakes, scorpions and a burning sun, the frightful terrestrial mines that are spread about in the sands of the desert up to the Morocco-Mauritania border. "It has been a difficult week and very tense… knowing that I could not leave the asphalt for whatever reason; I was at times scared and even somewhat stressed". Fortunately, with the proper circumspection and precautions taken, nothing serious happened.

From now on, other problems await Pedal Joe: the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that already forced 300 thousand people to run away from their own homes, many of them looking for shelter in forests and refugee camps, a situation considered for by the Red Cross as an humanitarian catastrophe. The war in the D.R. of the Congo, which dates back to 1998, worries humanitarian organisations such as the UN, the Red Cross and other groups. The UN keeps in place 17000 soldiers to try and keep the peace. About 2 million people have so far died in this war, without knowing peace… that is still far from being a reality.

To avoid these and other problems, such as the cholera epidemic that devastated Guiné-Bissau since the end of May of last year, Pedal Joe will make small alterations to the script previously elaborated. One of the great concerns in this trip is precisely the tropical illnesses.

From Dakar the cyclist will travel towards Mali, on the way he will pass through the region of Tabacounda, where Oncocercosis (river blindness) is one of the Senegal's biggest eye sight problems. Later, Pedal Joe will go on to Burkina Faso, where he will attend, between the 5th and the 7th of February, in Ouagadougou, the '14th All Africa Conference - Ouagadougou 2009: WORK MIRACLE AGAINST POVERTY'. It will be organized under the High patronage of the highest authorities of the country, covered by several medias, and in presence of representatives of all African and friend countries (ASIA, EUROPE, USA).

The objective of this conference, in addition to profits provided to the country which organizes it, is to further establish bonds between African people, strengthen friendship between the members of African countries, and consolidate African brotherhood and also strengthen the role of the civil society in development.

The Francophone Regional Institute of leadership training is being held from February 3rd to 5th, 2009 at hotel SOFITEL Ouaga 2000 in Ouagadougou, in margin of the 14th Conference of African Lions. This Training Institute aims at preparing African Francophone Lions for managerial duties within the club and the district by developing their competences in the areas of communication, motivation, group dynamics, team management.

On February 4th and 5th, 2009, a SightFirst training workshop will bring together the representatives of all African Districts in order to promote the SightFirst Programme in Africa. On February 5th, 2009, the Meeting of African Leaders and Coordinators of CSFII will be held.

08/12/28: Pedal Joe arrived in the city of Saint Louis, Senegal

Pedal Joe's Contact in Senegal: +221-778029819

Zé do Pedal has already reached the city of Saint Louis, Senegal, 300 km from the capital, Dakar.

Saint Louis, a city laying on the border with Mauritânia, has an approximate population of a million inhabitants. The time is the same as that of Portugal. The temperature is 37º, while in Europe it rains and snows intensely.

Zé will spend the passage of the New of Year in this city.


He wishes Happy Holidays to all his friends and a New Year of Tranquility!

08/11/05: Pedal Joe has completed 5000 Kms and is "pedaling" in the Sahara Desert

Î Click to see larger picture Î

Pedal Joe's Contact in Morocco: +212-55783251

"The Sun that warms the soul is the same that melts the asphalt" (Pedal Joe)

The Brazilian, Jose Geraldo de Souza Castro, Zé do Pedal (Pedal Joe), 51, member of the Lions Club of Viçosa, arrived this morning at Boujdour, in the Sahara, after having covered, in almost 6 months, more than 500 kms of desert and completed 5000 kms of his planned trip through 20 countries of Europe and Africa (a total of more 17.000kms) in a pedal kart, manufactured in Holland by BERG Toys (http://www.bergtoys.com) and especially prepared for the trek, bound for the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, where he will attend the World Football Cup "South Africa 2010".

The mark, that surpasses the two of the previous trips with similar transportation means (2.500kms in Japan, 1985, and 4.300kms in Brazil, 1987, Chui - Brasilia) and represents 30 percent of the total of the planned trip, was reached at 30kms from the city of Boujdour (name given by the Portuguese and which, in Portugal, has the meaning of "the last limit of man and his world". Fernando Pessoa in his unforgettable poem said: "Portuguese sea… It's worth everything if the soul is not modest, who wants to go beyond the Bojador, has to surmount suffering", in a clear allusion to the great navigational feats that gave the Portuguese the conquest of other latitudes: "oh salty sea, how much of your salt are the tears of Portugal!") at kilometer 1559 on national road 1, that connects the city of Tanger to Lagouiria (2476 kilometers), at the border with Mauritania. In that city there is an old Portuguese fortress. Last monday, the 27th, Joe obtained his best performance since he left Paris, on the 10th of May: he covered the 101 kilometers between Tarfaya and Laayoune in 11 hours. The cool weather and a northern wind helped him in that feat.

Pedal Joe informed that, "thanks to the 'winter', the temperature is not very high and the highest so far has been of 41 degrees. At 7 in the morning the Sun warms the soul and at midday melts the asphalt. Fortunately I am travelling in the 'winter' and the sun is not very strong, the average temperature is around 40 degrees and there is often a strong wind, which diminishes the effects of the heat. I was lucky when I arrived at Laayoune, since it rained for two days which was rather refreshing. The alimentation consists of vegetables, fruits and a can of sardines every now and then".

"The trip is happening normally and without mishaps. I am in contact with the Portuguese friends Brito Rocha, Julia Lima, Henrique Veludo and Jorge Albergaria. I am also in permanent contact with members of the United Nations in the region of the Sahara and with the Brazilian Embassy in Rabat through the Vice-consul, Luiz Geraldo Magalhães Moraes who, together with Embaixador Virgílio Moretzsohn de Andrade, contributed to the obtention of the visas for Mauritania and Senegal".

Tomorrow Pedal Joe hits the road again towards Dakhla, 350kms away, where he thinks he will enjoy a small 15 day vacation. "Now I am crossing what could be the more mentally difficult part of the trip: from here to Dakar, in Senegal, lies 1740kms of much sun and sand, however I am satisfied with the way the trip is evolving and for the extraordinary forms of aid and solidarity that I have received throughout, especially in this zone where the sand dunes of the Sahara and the wild sea are the landscape that serves as companion. The gifts of water, fruit and bread, etc., that are offered by the drivers of the trucks that carry fish from the ports of Laayoune and Dakhla, are not few! After six months on the road, I find that it timer to give the body a rest and to try to put the column in it's proper place..."

Pedal Joe has been registering his impressions of the trip in his new blog http://www.zedopedal.skyrock.com where, at least once a month, or when he finds easy access to the Internet, he places some photos and information about the trip: "thus, it will be a little easier for my friends to follow the trip."

Worries about the environment

Pedal Joe lamented the little attention that the authorities give to the environment: "the amount of garbage that I crossed throughout the 2000 kilometers covered here in Morocco, mainly in the desert, is mind boggling. The utter absurdity was when I passed Sidi Akhfinir: the coastal guard is a vast garbage dump. The guards simply throw incessantly all the garbage over the great cliff by the seaside. A good percentage of this garbage is "hanging" in the cracks of the rocks. What happens to fall into the sea has other destinations: Canary Islands, Europe, Americas, South Africa and, what does not "catch a ride" in the open sea maritime currents, ends up on the Moroccan coast. During the cleaning of the streets in the city of Tanger, which was flooded during last week's strong rains, it was possible to observe the tractors removing, next to the silt, tons of garbage coming from the sewers".

The purpose of the trip

The purpose of the trip is to call the attention of the international community about two of the biggest problems that affect children's vision around the world (mainly in the poor countries), Cataract and Glaucoma, as well as spreading the word about the great campaign of the Lions Club International: the SigthFirst program.

A few words about the Lions*

The International Association of Lions Clubs commemorates its 91st anniversary since its foundation, which had as its first president Dr. William P. Woods and as secretary Melvin Jones (Idealizer and Founder), a position he occupied until his death on the 1st of June, 1961. During these 90 years, the entity formed by men and women imbued with a disinterested desire to Serve, disposed to carry through activities directed towards the betterment of our society and to valorization of the human being, has distinguished itself as the largest Non-Governmental Organization in the World, respected and admired by leaders of all Nations.

During the historic convention of the Lions in Dallas, Texas, between the 8th and the 10th of October, 1917, thirty six delegates, representing 22 clubs from nine states, approved the designation "Lions Clubs", the statutes, the regulations, the objectives and the Code of Ethics.

In the next three years, the association became international, with the foundation of the first club in Canada and as the years went by, the international expansion continued with the foundation of new clubs, especially in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Brazil in the decades of the fifties and sixties.

In her speech at the International Convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions Clubs to envolve themselves in the fight for the blind and visually impaired: "Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness?".

With the ambitious SightFirst Program, the Lions International Club has commitments with the young, with work to improve the environment, with the construction of houses for the physically impaired, with spreading awareness concerning diabetes, with programs to prevent serious vision loss and improve eye care services for hundreds of millions of adults and children and, through the Foundation, to offer assistance to the victims of catastrophes in all parts of the world.

The associates form an international network of 1,3 million men and women, distributed throughout 202 countries and regions, working unselfishly to respond to the necessities faced by communities around the world.

In this its 91st year, the Lions reaffirms its commitment to the conservation of vision, through the international program SightFirst and of the World Sight Day, in global partnership with agencies of the United Nations and ophthalmological, philanthropic and professional health organizations. With the collection and recycling of eyeglasses that are distributed to the developing countries, especially in the month of May, which is the month of the Lions' program for eye glass recycling.

The International Association has modernized, with the inclusion of the young (LEOs) and the recognition of the affiliated Leo Clubs, that have much collaborated for the enlargement of the movement that we embrace.

In the amplification of its international activities, the Lions Club has collaborated with the United Nations in the construction of the sections of non-governmental organizations, in 1945, maintains a permanent chair and continues to hold its position as an advisor to the UN.

The month when the Lions commemorates the foundation of the association was chosen for a campaign of affiliation of new associates; every month is important, but it is good to underline the concern of Lions International with the program to increase the number of associates. During the month of October, in Brazil, the Lions will publicise a campaign aiming at the increase of new members whose hearts will be committed to the leonine service.

The Lions Clubs of Brazil have always distinguished themselves and are recognized by the Direction of Lions International as producers of great Lions, great campaigns and of recognised fellowship. Cordiality and friendship is the link between the associates of the Brazilian Clubs. Currently, in the person of CªL Rosane Teresinha J. Vailatti of the Lions Club of Jaraguá of the South-Center - District LD-5, Brazil is represented in the International Direction, and is the first Brazilian woman to occupy an important position within the Lions, elected at the International Convention of Lions Clubs, held last June in Bangkok.

*Luiz Mar Sória/Cal Jacira
Lions Clube de Porto Belo Bombinhas
Costa Esmeralda - Distrito LD - 5 - SC

Lions Club of Viçosa

While the world commemorates the 91 years of the Lions Clubs International, District LC12 commemorates the 41st anniversary of the Lions Club of Viçosa, to which belongs Pedal Joe.

The commemoration was on the 29th of October, with the club holding its festive meeting in the Panorama Restaurant, at which two new associates were admitted. Pedal Joe participated in the meeting by telephone and wished the new members a rewarding and fruitful work in favor of those in need.

08/10/23: Pedal Joe already in the Sahara Desert

Report given by PCC Brito Rocha, after a phone conversation with Joe:

"After passing a day resting in the small and pretty beach of Tan-Tan, Pedal Joe began pedaling again, this time already in the Sahara Desert - very similar to the Desert of Baja California in Mexico, — many stones, very dry and almost without vegetation and the one that exists is scrubby. Temperature is about 38ºC.

He is already 370Km south of Agadir and 600Km north of Dakhla where he will take a boat that the PDG Jorge Albergaria arranged to reach the Capital of Mauritania - Nonakchott - in order to avoid a very dangerous area where conflicts and abductions routinely happen.

His alimentation consists of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and cans of sardine. He has with him a 15 liter jerrycan of water which significantly increases the weight of his pedal kart. He makes coffee by making a fire with pieces of wood that he finds by the side of the road. There is a great deal of wind which makes the pedaling difficult.


He is 70Km north of Sidi-Achsennir, but given the wind he does not expect to reach that town, thinking to spend the night 30Km before, sleeping by the side of the road, which is asphalted and has some movement. It is from this locality that Joe will face the true sand dunes of the Desert until Dakhla.

This is what Joe told me, as always well disposed, happy and satisfied with the population he comes in contact with, people who stop to just talk to him. His kart and harness have the Flag of Brazil and the Lions Emblem well displayed.

Joe sends a Hug from the Heart to all his Companions and Friends of Brazil and Portugal."

08/10/12: Pedal Joe meets the President of the Lions Club International

The environmentalist and Brazilian photographer, José Geraldo de Souza Castro, Pedal Joe, 51, member of the Lions Clube of Viçosa (DLC12) visited this weekend the Moroccan city of Casablanca where he met with the president of the International Lions Clube, Al Brandel, and his wife Maureen Murphy, who are on an official visit to several Districts of the Lions in Africa.

During the meeting, Pedal Joe offered the president a copy of his project "Extreme Worlds" and talked about the importance, principally for the least developed countries, of the program "SightFirst" of the International Lions Club. "The Program SightFirst is a great light at the end of the tunnel. It is the tangible hope of millions of persons, most of them children, who dreamt of one day to be able to see again. And the program SightFirst is managing to realize that dream", said Joe.

After the meeting, Pedal Joe participated, after being invited by the Governor of District 416, Abdelkader Masnauni and by the ex-governor Aicha Detsulli, in the seminar "For a Responsible Leonine Ethic" and the launch of the plan of action of that Moroccan District, at the Faculty of Medicine of Casablanca. During the seminar, the difficulty of creating a proper Cornea Bank in the country was stressed, mainly for cultural reasons.

In her intervention, Maureen Murphy spoke about the experience that the couple had in Kenia, where they visited an Ophthalmology Hospital (built and equipped with allowances from the Program SightFirst) and they asked a patient who recently had had a cornea operation, a mother of 2, what were her feelings after being able to see again. And she answered: "To know my children and to be able to see their smiles".

Al Brandel also talked about the great social commitment of the Lions. He showed figures relating to the investments of the Program SightFirst in the region and of the efforts that the Club is making in combating "river blindness" in Africa, where it is expected to be eradicated during the next few years.

Tomorrow, Pedal Joe takes to the road again... he will face the great Sahara Desert!

08/09/09: Pedal Joe arrives in Morocco

Pedal Joe's contact in Morocco: +212 55783251

The book PEDAIS DA ESPERANÇA (PEDALS OF HOPE), which gives a detailed account of the life and travels of Zé do Pedal (Pedal Joe), is being published and will be launched in December. In case you would like to purchase a copy, please write to: zedopedal@gmail.com. By buying this book, you will be collaborating to the success of Pedal Joe's current project. Thank you so much for your support.

Travelling at an average speed of 6 kilometers per hour, and doing about 50 kilometers per day, in a pedal go-cart, the Brazilian José Geraldo de Souza Castro, alias Zé do Pedal (Pedal Joe), 51, arrived at Rabat, capital of Morocco, bound for Johannesburg, South Africa, where he will assist at the Football World Cup "South Africa 2010".

Pedal Joe reached Tanger on Wednesday, arriving from Spain, after having crossed the strait of Gilbratar, and has already covered 320km. In Rabat he was received by the ex-governor of the Lions, Aicha Detsouli, and by members of the Lions Clube in Rabat, and, this morning, Tuesday, was received in the Brazilian Embassy by the Ambassador, Virgílio Moretzsohn de Andrade, the Vice-deputy, Luiz Geraldo Magalhaes Moraes, and the Counselor, Marcelo Marotta Viegas. In the afternoon he met the mayor of Rabat. Tomorrow, Wednesday, he travels to Mekines, Fez and Marraquech. Later, he will cross the Sahara desert, following the Atlantic coast, bound for Mauritania.

The objective of the trip is mainly to call the attention of the international community about two of the biggest problems that affect the vision of the World's children, especially in the poor countries, Cataract and Glaucoma, and to spread out the word about the great campaign of the Lions International Club: the SigthFirst program.

Since its launching in 1990, these are some of the accomplishments of SightFirst:

• distributed US$ 211 million for 896 projects in 90 countries

• provided 7,3 million cataract surgeries

• hindered the serious loss of vision of 20 million people

• improved the eye sight services for hundreds of millions of people

• constructed or it extended 300 clinical hospitals/sight infirmaries

• modernized 337 sight centers with equipment

• promoted the training of management for 115 installations

• trained 345,000 ophthalmologists, nurses and other ophthalmology professionals, and also local health professionals

• launched the first global initiative to combat infantile blindness in the world, in partnership with the World Health Organization

• the 30 constructed or modernized ophthalmological pediatric centers improved the lives of 71 million children

Control of Onchocerciasis (river blindness) and Trachoma:

SightFirst financed more than 65 million treatments of Onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Africa and Latin America since it formed a partnership with the Carter Center in 1999. The treatments of river blindness have transformed the lives and the communities in 12 countries of Africa and Latin America. In reality, in Latin America, the specialists foresee the eradication of the illness in 2010. The subsidy for the Carter Center is also focused towards trachoma, the main world-wide cause of preventable blindness. SightFirst is controlling trachoma in two million people in three countries.

Project SightFirst Action in China:

Concluded in 2002, Phase I of the program SightFirst Action in China, promoted by LCIF, financed 2.1 million cataract surgeries and established ophthalmological surgical units in 104 agricultural counties that previously had none. Phase II will approach blindness again on a large scale. A subsidy from SightFirst of US$ 15,5 million was complemented with about US$ 200 million by the Chinese government. The goal of Phase II is to carry through at least 2,5 million cataract surgeries, as well as strengthening the infrastructure of the ophthalmological units, creating secondary units in hospitals of 200 underdeveloped counties and provinces, and also in Tibet. To guarantee the continuity of the services of ophthalmological attendance for the vast and poor agricultural population, training courses of paramedics will be created in the occidental and northern provinces.

Pedal Joe will pass through the following countries, during the approximately 700 days that will take the trek, having in the end covered 17.500kms: France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Angola, Namibia, Bostwana and South Africa.