Dear Friends of Bikes for the World:
With global warming making headlines, “green” is the theme this year, whether corporate, governmental, or private. We’re glad to see the world catching up: Bikes for the World was “green” long before it became fashionable.
“Green” is what we are about—what we do and how we do it. We re-use bicycles—the highest form of recycling—and promote environmentally- sound transportation in developing countries. Along the way, we raise awareness of re-use opportunities and cycling as legitimate transportation here at home.
And it’s not just the bikes. We rescue sheets of used plywood, flake board, and cardboard to pack shipments of bicycles. We re-use boxes and plastic bags to pack and ship bike parts and accessories. Through an innovative collaboration with the Montgomery County (MD) Waste Transfer Station, BfW takes useable bikes from the waste stream for shipment, and we bring rusty and broken bikes to metal recycling centers.
When I wrote to you last year, I made predictions for 2007. Here’s how we did, with your support.
Collect and ship more bikes to more partners—We’ve done it. By year’s end, we will have collected and shipped 8,400 bikes, 9% more than last year. This makes BfW the country’s largest bicycle re-use program for 2007. Two new partners were added in Africa, where we have shipped to the Women Prisoners Support Organisation (www.wpsouganda.org) in Kampala, Uganda (see box, this page), and expect to ship by the end of the month to a rural education project in Senegal (see box, next page).
Expand our local and international relationships—We’ve done that, too. More collections in 2007 (93 vs. 76 in 2006), more bike shops serving as drop-off sites and donors (12 vs. 9), and more national and international partners shipping bikes, receiving bikes, or providing technical support. We also directed three containers of bicycles from US-based recycling groups to BfW overseas partners. The Senegal education project is another exciting 2007 accomplishment.
Foster interest in developing bicycle recycling in areas of the country where no programs…exist—We supported collections in North Carolina; had successful collections in Delaware and Pennsylvania; and provided copies of our bike collection guidelines to groups in Boston and Chicago to expand their suburban bike collections. In last year’s letter, I also told you about plans for a new storage site and starting a program for local youth. Mike McMillion has become our second employee, and done an outstanding job as BfW Rockville Youth Project Director, working out of the historic King Farm Homestead. The spacious barn provides storage for local and international programs and a small cottage serves as office and workshop. For the first time, we have a long-term lease to protect the program against disruption by loss of storage.
We have given bikes to 25 local students who earned them through the City of Rockville’s Character Counts Program; Mike trained physical education instructors in bike and pedestrian safety in the Rockville elementary schools; and BfW provided hundreds of hours
of community service opportunities for Maryland teens, preparing bikes for international shipment.
We still need your support. We expect to lose our Northern Virginia storage site to redevelopment in 2008. To move beyond current production levels, we need additional storage space, a third staff member to handle administrative matters, and an office to house staff and volunteers. The transition is costly and can be covered only partially by income from operations.
Our goal is to fully fund the youth project without BfW general operating funds, but that will take time. Currently, the City of Rockville covers one-third of expenses and several small grants have covered another third. The difference has been covered by BfW.
| A Farmer and Her Bike —Carol Babirye’s Story
The Women Prisoners Support Organisation (WPSO) in Kampala, Uganda helps women in prison and upon release to re-enter society and care for their families
My name is Carol Babirye, age 26 years, subsistence farmer, and mother of 5 children. In May 2001, I was arrested for possession of a gun that was hidden in my house by my husband. I was charged with treason, convicted, and sentenced to 7 years in prison.
While serving my sentence, my children were unable to go to school, and I could do nothing for them. Nor could I do much for myself; in prison, there are few opportunities to improve yourself. I had no job qualification to fall back on when my sentence ended. When WPSO called for applications in basic and life skill education for women soon to be released, I immediately applied.
In August 2007, I received my certifi cate in life skill education and learned I would also get a bicycle from Bikes for the World as start-up capital for my business. I grow vegetables and millet for market sale. With my bicycle, I can transport produce to market, access water from far wells, and carry firewood. I can journey to the grinding mills with my millet--otherwise I would be carrying heavy loads on my head, which takes more trips, each taking longer. The bicycle will increase my income so that I can educate my children.
Bicycles for Rural Students
BfW steering committee member Nick Griffin and Village Bicycle Project director David Peckham went to Senegal to assess the feasibility of providing bicycles to the “Projet d’Appui de l’Enseignement Moyen” (PAEM), a project funded by the US government to strengthen girls’ access to secondary education. Griffin and Peckam visited village schools and spoke to teachers, students, and Peace Corps volunteers to find out why students--especially girls–drop out and how bikes could help them to stay.
Income-generating work and household chores often take priority as students get older, and traditional values make it particularly hard for girls to continue in school. Kids in Senegal may walk up to 10 km to primary school each day, and even farther to secondary schools, often in 110° heat.
BfW can’t change the temperatures, economic realities, or traditional values of sub-Saharan Africa, but a bike can make it faster and easier to cover those kilometers. We’re going ahead with a pilot initiative--putting 400 bikes under young boys and girls, many of whom have never ridden a bike! We’ll ship the bikes before the end of 2007.
The bikes (and training) will go to 8 schools. Headmasters (see Djouine Headmaster Edward Seck, pictured right, with his deputy) will consult with teachers, Peace Corps volunteers, and PAEM representatives to decide who gets the first bikes. The Djouine school has 527 students, so many more bikes could follow if the pilot phase is successful. Interest, aptitude and confidence in riding a bike; distance from school; academic achievement; and age will be taken into account. Girls who live outside the village will get at least half of the bikes and at least 5 local teachers and administrators will receive bikes in exchange for helping with the program.
 Headmaster Edward Seck (on right) looks forward to the arrival of bicycles from Bikes for the World
This is the only the second BfW project in direct support of an exclusively educational mission, and the first with an explicit focus on girls’ education. It’s exciting and challenging. New partners, new countries, new languages! Bonne année à tous!
Please consider us in your end-of-year holiday giving, and keep helping us to collect bikes, load containers, mentor kids, and continue growing the program in 2008. Sincerely,
Keith Oberg
Director, Bikes for the World
3108 North 17th St.
Arlington, VA 22201-5202
Phone: 703.525.0931
www.bikesfortheworld.org
Email: info at bikesfortheworld dot org |
