2 Wheels, 1 Bike

260 BIKES
800 TOOLS
360 PARTICIPANTS
13 ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS
3 VILLAGES
2 WEEKS
1 INCREDIBLY COOL PROGRAM

Bikes for the World has been working with the long established Village Bicycle Project (VBP) in Ghana, and now Sierra Leone, since we began shipping bikes in 2005.  Since then, we have donated 13,101 bikes to the project. One of our containers shipped late last year just arrived in Accra, Ghana and another is on the way right now. Since 2005 we have donated 28 containers to VBP-Ghana and another 3 to VBP-Sierra Leone.

Once bikes come into VBP's central warehouse location in Accra they are offloaded and reloaded onto trucks that will deliver them to remote villages throughout Ghana. VBP does more than just deliver used bikes, they offer beginner and advanced workshops to new and old bike owners in rural Africa.

This past February they loaded 260 bikes to be delivered among three villages in Ghana's Brong-Ahafo Region, about a day's drive from the warehouse in Accra. Bodaa, Biama, and Asiri all received bikes and training through VBP during this trip.

In Bodaa, 60 people participated in the one-day workshop offered by VBP. Because of their enrollment in the program, participants were able to purchase a bicycle at a significantly discounted price.

In Biama, 40 bikes went to a mix of farmers, teachers, and students. VBP trainers turned each one of these new owners into a mini-repairer, showing them basic bike maintenance and simple repair, like how to remove and replace a front tire and repair a puncture to the tube.

Evelyn Amoah

In the more populated area of Asiri, VBP distributed 160 bikes to new owners. These owners received their bikes along with this one day training class. They were also taught how to ride a bike if they didn't already know. Many young girls do not know how to ride, making this aspect of the workshop essential.VBP knows the importance of empowering a woman with a bike, like new owner Evelyn Amoah who will use her new bike to help transport goods to market from the family farm.

VBP also offers a more in depth advanced mechanics class as part of this rural outreach. Each student learns the more complex skills involved in bike mechanics from a VBP trainer. They are then able to purchase discounted bike tools that will enable them to help maintain the bikes in the community. Some participants in the advanced mechanic class in Bodaa actually received their bikes through the VBP one-day four years ago. Check back tomorrow for more on the mechanics trained in this project...

Where Is Your Old Bike?

NOVA Meet Up group loading at Springfield in March

Did you donate a bike at REI last spring in Virginia? There is a good chance we can tell you exactly where it went! Donors often ask where their bikes are going when they drop them off with us, but we can rarely pinpoint it at that particular moment. If you continue to follow our progress, however, you might just find out...OR better yet even see your bike!

Team in Ghana who unloaded the container

Back in March we loaded a container bound for the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana. We were cleaning out our Springfield trailers and the NOVA Meet Up group (photo above) came out to help us finish the load.

Two months later the container was in Accra being unloaded by the crew to the left. The Ghana team is Moro, Abokyi, Jason, Sammy and Tofic with local retailer Adi, outside the new warehouse. This was the day before our container arrived...the first one to be unloaded into the brand new warehouse.

Earlier the same week the Village Bicycle Project moved what was left in the old warehouse to their new permanent one in Accra. From their facebook page:

After relocating bicycles in Ghana for 13 years, and working out of multiple lockups and storage units, we finally signed the deed on our own warehouse space. Centralizing our distribution means we're going to be better prepared and much quicker at responding to applications.

A huge thank you! to all our supporters who helped make this happen! Today we moved 200 bikes from one of our importers and worked long into the night. We're all pretty exhausted...

Then came the container from Bikes for the World Springfield, Virginia.

Once again, here's the recap:
March 15, 2013- You uncovered your unused bike in your garage to donate Saturday

March 16, 2013- Your old bike was donated at REI in Fairfax Virginia

March 18, 2013- After being loaded onto a shipping container earlier that weekend your old bike was transported to the Port of Baltimore where it would leave on its sea journey to Africa

May 16, 2013 Village Bicycle Project finished moving their warehouse contents into a new facility in Accra Ghana

May 20, 2013 The Ghana team seen above was gearing up for our container the next day

May 21, 2013 Bikes for the World container was unloaded into the new warehouse in Ghana

May 25, 2013 Some of those bikes were transported to Ghana's Upper east region for a training program

June 17, 2013 Bikes sold to participants in the program for $5.00 USD (update on blog coming soon)

You gotta love facebook. We are getting real time updates from some of our partners. Don't believe me? You can watch the whole container being unloaded right here (you might even see YOUR bike):

Dispatch 36: Container Unloading from Ash Dumford on Vimeo.

NORM!

Norm Jacob, Kevin Dolan, and Keith Oberg

Cheers! We had a donor give us TEN brand NEW Kona Africa bikes around Christmastime last year and we want everyone to know his name. So when you wander into Race Pace Bicycles in Columbia this season we want you to yell, "Norm" like you just walked into that famous bar in Boston.

This isn't the first time Norm Jacob donated a fleet of new bicycles to Bikes for the World. A few years back he bought quite a few one speed Kona Africa Bikes that we shipped to Uganda.

Then late last year, we got word from Race Pace that he was at it again! This time he bought 10 3-speed Africa Bikes that were included in our latest shipment to Kenya.

But we wanted to know more about our "Secret Santa" so we went up to Race Pace to meet him in person. Turns out Norm is a part time mechanic there.

Norm shared with us how that happened, "I used to be in public service. I'd just like to do something completely different. And this is completely different."

When Norm retired he was looking around for something to do (besides ride his bike) and an employee at Race Pace suggested he take their Parks Tool course. After he finished up the guy approached him and offered him a job.

"I thought, let's give this a shot. That was seven or eight years ago."

That would be about right. Norm told us the reason he originally took the job at Race Pace was because he had heard about Bikes for the World and he wanted to get involved with the organization. "I got to thinking that was a pretty good thing to do," says Norm. So he wanted to hone his skills to help BfW.

"We often had to wrestle, literally, with them in the back 'til they got picked up." He is talking about our bike donations that come in through Race Pace. All Race Pace locations serve as an intake point for us. In fact, before opening their new shop, they even let us park a trailer at their Ellicott City location.

 When Norm found out we ship the bikes overseas 'as is' to help generate employment there, he decided to make an even bigger impact. So he decided to use an employee discount to buy new bikes to donate.

New bike donation from Donald Mahley

"I certainly hope I'm not the only one who's donated new bikes," Norm humbly questioned.

And after poking around the warehouse, we managed to find this brand new Trek (left) that came in through Spokes Etc., also around the holidays.

All of these new bikes were recently loaded by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, who came out to Lorton for a service project. This shipment will be sent to BfW partner Wheels of Africa in Kenya.

Several regular volunteers as well as some from Fairfax Volunteers for Change came out during the two-day load to help us process many bikes that came in from area bike shops.

After a year-end holiday sales offer, Spokes Etc, our largest local bike retailer partner, added another 50 or more bikes to our supply. Many of these bikes were included in this 522 bike shipment (quite a few of them 'like new'). We are confident that our Kenyan partner will LOVE this container.

Spares and Repairs

Ever wonder what happens to that container of bikes we load maybe at King Farm or Lorton?  You may have seen a lot of pictures of kids on bikes, bikes being used for work and school, bikes in shops supporting other non profit organizations overseas....but what about the actual containers?

Every single thing we ship overseas gets reused. It may be the bike, the OSB board we stack the bikes on, the rubber tubes and tires we use to level the rows, or YES, even the container itself.

Bikes for the World's partner Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) has roots in Namibia and South Africa. BfW supports both programs.

BEN empowers local entrepreneurs with shipments of used bicycles and parts from organizations such as Bikes for the World and Working Bikes for example.

BEN not only supplies remote areas of Africa with bikes but also trains new bike mechanics, and offer business and computer classes to ensure new bike businesses flourish even in those remote areas of Africa.

This is what they call a Bicycle Empowerment Centre. Straight from the BEN website:

Through a partnership with a volunteer network, Bicycles for Humanity, BEN Namibia developed a new bicycle distribution model, the Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC). A BEC is a shipping container loaded with around 300 bicycles, spare parts and tools. BECs are delivered to the community based organisations that BEN Namibia works with and are run as bicycle workshops.

Each BEC uses its income from initial bicycle sales and servicing to ensure that it will be able to operate in the future, paying mechanics' wages, buying new spare parts, and covering the costs of resupply of bicycles. A portion of the bicycles are given to outreach volunteers or other beneficiaries like children walking to school, while a share of profits are used to fund community social initiatives.

 This isn't a 'set it and forget it' operation. BEN is a continual resource for these shop owners and mechanics. If a tricky derailleur comes in the shop, a mechanic, such as Mr. Bean (photo left), might go to the BEN training center to tap the knowledge of BEN's lead mechanic.

And the money raised through these bike shops isn't just a For Profit effort. Much of the proceeds go back into the shop to buy parts and bikes, but they also fund new entrepreneurial projects such as a concrete business that was started from BEC funds. 

Profits also support other non-profit efforts throughout Africa. The Tsumeb Bike shop supports the Tsumeb Hope Centre which feeds between 100-200 children daily.

Cycle 4 Life BEC in Mariental brings money in to feed children in the local Catholic AIDS Action orphan support programme.

As you can see a donated bike from a Northern Virginia garage can change more than just one life overseas. When we say your donations are changing entire communities, we mean it!

Wheels of Africa: BfW heads to Kenya



First BfW container donated to WoA

Wheels of Africa received its first container of bicycles from Bikes for the World in May, a second a few weeks ago and we are loading a third this weekend! This builds on their first shipment in December 2011 from Montana based non-profit Wheels of Change.

Wheels of Africa (WoA) got started in October 2008. Back then it was more of a club for people to get together to ride for pleasure. It has since evolved into a bike advocacy group  and much more. Now it sells and rents bikes, trains mechanics and donates bikes to selected local groups.

You've heard us talk about the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN), another BfW partner, here on the blog a lot lately and this is no exception. BEN Namibia mechanics went to Nairobi to train budding WoA mechanics.

New bike beneficiary in Kenya

 While most WoA bikes are sold, many are donated.  Bramwel Simiyu from Arrow Web Hospital for AIDS patients in Nairobi, picked up 12 WoA donated bicycles to be used by health workers who visit patients at home. Another 13 were given to Kijiji cha Upendo, a program in Kibera, a slum area nestled against Nairobi proper. These bikes will be the start of training for some young mechanics and bike sales. Eco Tourism Kenya received 10 bikes for working class staff members to kick start their bike rental enterprise.

Hellen Gelband with Bramwel Simiyu and WoA's Prisca Oluoch

BfW Board Member Hellen Gelband has been over to see the program in person and help get BfW's partnership with WoA rolling. She brought us some of the above findings and hopes to bring home more stories of how your donated bikes are bringing dreams to remote pockets of Africa. We hope to hear more stories from her journeys as our bikes change lives two wheels at a time.

You can read more about Wheels of Africa by simply following our blog or joining us on facebook!