The women are one of only three all-female teams.
The race is not for the fainthearted.
“The Rickshaw Run is easily the least sensible thing to do with your time off. The only certainty is that you will get lost, get stuck and break down,” the organisers admit.
Wild stuff but there’s a serious side to the trip too.
The women are using the race to raise money for and awareness about mental health and wellbeing in New Zealand’s rural communities.
Farmstrong research has shown more than two-thirds of farmers under 35 have been affected by issues such as workload, fatigue, getting time off-farm, isolation/relationships and lack of sleep in the last year.
All three women come from farming backgrounds in Southland and are familiar with its challenges.
Brown works for a farm consultancy in Invercargill.
“I see the pressure farmers face every day to make the right decisions about feed, fertiliser and budgeting. There’s a lot to get right. That’s why rural people have got to look out for one another.
“All of us grew up in farming families in rural areas so we realise the toll that farming’s isolation, stress and unpredictability can take on mental health.
“But people often don’t talk about it.
“And the less people talk about these things the harder it is for anyone having issues to be open. We want to get people talking about this stuff and the race is a great conversation starter. Lots of farmers are already showing their support,” she said.
McKenzie works on a 700-cow dairy farm at Otautau, Southland, with four staff. Life’s busy.
“I love working outside, being with animals and really enjoy calving season but people do get stressed in our industry.
“They can get isolated and so focused on goals they don’t look after themselves – they might not take breaks or eat properly or get enough sleep. It can really snowball until fixing it becomes a big thing.”
Lindsay works in the production side of the industry on dairy plant installations and upgrades in Waikato.
“I grew up around farming and always wanted to work on the processing side, turning raw product into something usable and productive.”
She said the trio chose Farmstrong faster than cows approaching a new swede break for their charity because they like how its resources feature real farmers talking about real issues, such as burnout.
“It’s relatable. It’s what you see every day on-farm and it’s about normalising that. That’s the challenge – to make talking in the pub about stress as normal as talking about the weather. Discussing people’s wellbeing on-farm should be as important as how much rain they’ve had or how the lambing beat is going,” Lindsay said.
“Stress is a lot more common than you think, even among people our age,” Brown said.
“Everyone goes through patches where they’re not doing too well. If you start talking to people in farming about it they relate to you at once. It’s about making it easier for people under the pump to speak up and making sure other people are approachable. If climbing into a tuk-tuk in India helps make that happen then it’s a win-win for us.”
McKenzie said rural communities are very supportive but people need to get off-farm and join in local activities and events.
“That’s why I make an effort to play netball and rugby in winter or go to calving events so I can catch up with people and socialise. It gives you a mood boost and shares the load. Keeping well is about getting off-farm regularly.
“But it doesn’t have to be India in rickshaw. Winton is just as good.”
The Rickshaw Run starts in Jaisalmer on April 14 and ends in Cochin.
MORE:
The women have a Givealittle crowd funding page givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/three-kiwi-lasses-battle-3000km-of-india.
People can follow their daily adventures on Facebook.
