Covering a lot of Ground

More students. More bikes. This month marks another turnover of bikes for Bikes for the Philippines.

The latest group of students pedaling their way to class is from Lourdes High School on the island of Bohol, Philippines where the project first began in 2011.

Since that time, Bikes for the Philippines (BfP) has expanded to over a dozen school districts on all three island groups of the Philippines, with even more new schools slated for 2017.

Since BfP joined forces with the Department of Education, the Bikes for Education program really gained momentum. With DepEd behind the effort to bring bikes to students, the all-volunteer team behind BfP could barely keep up.

All donated bikes coming from Bikes for the World are inventoried and repaired by a dedicated team of volunteers in the main warehouse in Manila.  From there bikes are transported to schools up and down the island chain. What originally began on Bohol is now spreading across the nation.

While this is ultimately what the organization hoped for, the expansion brings plenty of challenges...all of which BfP is up for and figuring out. The growing impact is also strengthening the program as well as making better use of the shipments coming from BfW.

With the new school additions, came new terrain, making more of the bikes donated from the US useful to the program. Previously only mountain bikes were being used in some of the more mountainous areas. BfP has also expanded to include all ages of riders.

This past two years, BfP expanded to its first elementary school (Sto. Nino Baloc Elementary School) making use of smaller bikes. The first urban school (Regional Lead School for the Arts in Angono) started using road bikes for beneficiaries.

Moving the program to Luzon brought a lot of attention to the Bikes for Education program. Media coverage and visits to the more accessible schools introduced this successful idea to more supporters and corporate partners.

BfP is now partnered with DepEd to support their popular Pedals and Paddles Program to help students with difficult commutes to school. They have also found support through sponsors such as Metrobank, San Miguel, and Mitsubishi.

But boots on the ground, continues to impede progress. It's tough to keep so many schools rolling with so many miles and bodies of water in between. Like many of our other rural projects, BfP also struggles with the simple task of communication. Internet connectivity among the schools varies greatly throughout the Philippines. Each school budget also varies and possibly affects the quality and amount of equipment necessary to report back to BfP.

Barry is a teacher and bike coordinator

In an effort to combat this issue, BfP now requires each school district participating in the program to identify a bike coordinator who will be reporting back to BfP. The coordinators will be making sure the program is implemented properly, students receive the required training, and the overall success of the program continues to be measured.

As we saw in our African programs focused on volunteer health workers, motivation among volunteers needs to be addressed and efforts rewarded to ensure the success of the model. BfP is now working on incentives to inspire these volunteers.

The proper implementation of the program is very reliant on the reports of these bike coordinators. Bikes are issued to hand selected beneficiaries who struggle financially and live a great distance from school.

Support of the program within the school itself is essential but difficult to monitor from afar. BfP is now looking to ensure continued success of the program by training and supporting these bike coordinators at every school enrolled in the Pedals and Paddles Program.

Rodelyn Learns to Ride

The region of San Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines is picturesque and fertile; home to many orchids, coconut groves, lanzones, and rambutan.

It's a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Makati and Manila. Nestled between three mountain ranges, its cool climate makes it favored among tourists and features lush landscapes.

In addition to tourism, the main economic activity among locals is farming.

Rodelyn in center in blue

Last year, our Philippine partner Bikes for the Philippines provided bikes to several young students living in this region. Sto. Nino Baloc Elementary School was the first ever beneficiary elementary school in our Bikes for Education project.

Many of our projects in the Philippines focus on bringing students who dropped out of school back into the education system or keeping those in danger of not graduating enrolled in school. This time we hoped our bikes would help bridge the gap between elementary school and high school, a time when many students are forced to choose between their families and education.

Rodelyn's brother (in red) also learns about bikes

Florence Rementilla is a teacher at Sto. Nino Baloc in San Pablo and she was involved in our pilot bike program in the school. With only four teachers and a student population of over 160 kids Florence certainly has her hands full during the school day.

"A lot of people say nobody gets rich from teaching. But wealth is not always on the material things. When your students appreciate you and they eventually become successful, that's my definition of wealth.

"The best part of being a teacher is seeing my former students, some from 20 years ago, and they are now doctors and engineers. Some of them now have their own cars!"

Rodelyn Glorioso (left)

Perhaps one of those students will be Rodelyn Glorioso who just graduated sixth grade. Rodelyn and her younger brother were recently featured in a documentary on the bike project in her school.  Her parents are very proud of her and hope to see her continue her education through high school.

The Glorioso parents are modest livestock farmers neither of whom graduated school. Often times in families where parents didn't graduate, the emphasis on education is compromised when time is tight. Not so in this family.
The Gloriosos are focused on school and hoping for something more for their children.

In the documentary you can see Rodelyn riding and caring for her borrowed bicycle, which knocked her school commute time down to 30 minutes, leaving her more time to care for her younger brother and help around the house. Bikes often ease the pressures of time consuming commutes among families struggling to make ends meet and who rely on help from their kids around the house.

Bikes for the Philippines provided training to students of Sto. Nino Baloc Elementary last fall. They learned how to safely ride their bikes and do minor repairs. They participated in community rides and took pride in cleaning their bikes after a long ride.

Kids washing and greasing their bikes after a ride

Many of the beneficiaries' families are farmers and some of their riding is 'off-road'. Bikes for the Philippines puts emphasis on handling skills, especially balance for those new learners. They are also shown the basics about brakes, changing a flat and oiling the moving parts of a bike.

These skills will prove to be life long and help in many ways in years to come. Whether it be in farm machinery care and maintenance,  transporting goods to market, or simply balancing life and responsibility, a bicycle is a strong guiding factor in any student's life.

Honoring the Life and Love of James McMullen

The Regional Lead School for the Arts (RLSAA) is living up to its name in the Philippines. This is one of the first high schools introduced into the education system in the Philippines. Previously, schools only went to grade 10 with students graduating at age 15 or 16. As expanded high schools are introduced, students now have the opportunity to complete two more years of high school and graduate at age 18.

Second group of bike beneficiaries at RSLAA

Bikes for the Philippines began a pilot project at RLSAA last year. They approached half a dozen "Out of School Youth" who had originally graduated from the old school system. In an effort to bring them back to school to finish those added two years of high school, they offered them a bicycle to use to commute to class.

With the container Bikes for the World shipped last year, BfP was able to expand the number of beneficiaries at RLSAA.

Bike beneficiaries use bikes to complete art assignments

The addition of RLSAA to the Bikes for the Education program has brought increased media attention to this effort to bring bikes to students and the importance of continued education throughout the country. Because Filipinos cannot legally work until they are 18, the added two years of high school keeps them engaged and invested in their education until they can begin careers after graduation.

This school's proximity to Manila has brought great media attention to this effort, generating excitement and enthusiasm in the program. Because this is an election year in the Philippines, this focus on education is coming at an important time.

Having beneficiaries close to the BfP warehouse also brings added, and much welcome, help to the process of bringing in donated bikes from the United States and getting them ready for use by students.

Diego is a bike beneficiary at RSLAA

Diego is a student at RLSAA and a bike beneficiary. He is 17 and on target to graduate in 2017. Diego knows the importance of a good education, both parents are college graduates.

 He is well rooted in the arts. His mother is a pre-school teacher and also teaches music. His dad is a puppeteer who makes his own puppets. Diego hopes to follow his parents' footsteps and his love of the arts by studying graphic arts in school. He hopes to open his own business after graduation.

Diego uses his bike to get to and from school and also to travel to an off site studio to continue his studies. He is also able to help look after his younger brother now that he can travel faster between assignments.

James McMullen served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines

Bikes for the World named the 2015 container donated to Bikes for the Philippines arriving in July in honor of the late James McMullen who passed away in May 2015. McMullen was an avid cyclist and popular teacher in DC. He also served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines in the 70s.

His widow Betty Scott chose Bikes for the World, specifically our education project in the Philippines, as the honorary beneficiary of donations honoring her husband's life and passion.

Because of Scott's background as a music educator and her current role as the Director of Strathmore's Artist in Residence program, BfP chose to honor this generous gift in part through their efforts at RSLAA, a school focused on the arts. McMullen was also a talented photographer who brought that love into his school and to his students through a photography club that he oversaw while teaching at McKinley Tech.

Donations received in memory of James McMullen will help fund two additional shipments of bikes to our Bikes for Education Project over the next year. Each container will hold over 500 bikes and be directed to help students attend school in the Philippines.

How Do They Do That?!

Students from RLSAA unload container from BfW

In July of 2015, Bikes for the World shipped its third container of bikes to our education project with Bikes for the Philippines. This brought our total number of bikes donated to the program to 1,500. It also allowed Bikes for the Philippines to expand their effort into several new schools.

One of those new schools was the Regional Lead School for the Arts in Angono Rizal (RLSAA).  A pilot effort began early last year with seven students who all graduated last May, just when our container set sail for the Philippines.

After the container arrived in Luzon and cleared customs, our bikes were transported to the warehouse in Manila where volunteers would soon start refurbishing them to introduce into the Bikes for Education project.  Because RLSAA is located nearby, students met the truck and helped unload the bikes from Virginia USA.

Operating a bike program in a country made up of thousands of tiny islands is no small feat. If only we could clone Executive Director Joel Uichico! How many times have we said that same thing here at home regarding our own Executive Director Keith Oberg!?!

Cristy, Elvie, and Eunice

BfP is doing the next best thing. As they expand and add schools on all three main island groups, Luzon, Visayas, and soon Mindanao, Joel relies on the help from dedicated volunteers and passionate teachers and principals within the schools themselves to keep this program going.

Elvie Jabonilla (seen here between two beneficiaries who have graduated and gone on to college) is the principal at Fatima National High School in Bohol. She helped establish our first school project in Baclayon National High School, also in Bohol, in 2011, before moving on to Fatima where she is now overseeing the Bikes for Education project there.

Through these enthusiastic educators who are on the ground and working daily with students, Bikes for the Philippines is able to operate and serve hundreds of students over thousands of miles.

Volunteers in Manila warehouse

Volunteers who teach, mentor, and ride with students are also a critical part of keeping this program so successful. These mentors live in the same towns as the students while some also travel to other islands to participate in community rides with the kids.

The hub of activity remains in Manila and one reason for that is the large group of volunteers available there to help prepare the bikes for the program. Once the bikes are ready BfP then faces the challenge of transporting the bikes to the remote schools on other islands. Another network of volunteers helps make that transport possible.

Carlton Styron

Visits to the schools throughout the year are important to ensure the bikes are still working properly and the kids are staying safe on the roads. Carlton Styron (seen here to the right) has visited Bohol many times to help wrench bikes and train students in maintenance and care of their bikes.

Many schools are set up so that the older students are trained first so they can help mentor the younger ones coming up through the program. Graduating beneficiaries have also helped wrench bikes and initiate new schools into the program.

Bikes for the Philippines has identified over a dozen schools throughout the country and over 1,000 students who will be receiving bikes through the program this year. The program is designed to help keep kids enrolled in school until graduation and relies on fundraising in the United States to pay for the shipping container costs. Read more about a generous donation last year that is helping deliver the necessary bikes to these students.

Powered By Students For Students

Earth Day 2015 marked our third container loading for our Bikes for Education program in the Philippines. Over 400 bikes were loaded to be donated to our partner Bikes for the Philippines (BfP) who will be refurbishing the bikes and shipping them to Bohol.

Students at Fatima National High School in Cortes, Bohol have been chosen as beneficiaries and will undergo extensive training in bike handling skills, safety and basic bike maintenance. The bikes donated by Bikes for the World will help these students get to school more efficiently, saving them time, money, and energy.

This container of bikes was almost entirely collected, prepped, and loaded by students in Maryland, Virgina, and DC.

Rallied together by the Rotary Club of Carroll Creek (RCCC), a number of Frederick County schools joined forces to collect and prep 305 bikes at the annual RCCC bike collection in Frederick this April.

Many thanks to the Visitation Academy, Hood College Rotaract, Frederick Community College, and Mount Saint Mary's University Enactus Club.

Several other schools worked with BfW to help collect and prep bikes that were donated to Bikes for the Philippines. In Virginia, Irving Middle School and Springfield High School students worked side by side to contribute bikes to this effort.

A senior at the Friends School of Baltimore organized and managed a collection in connection with Earth Day activities at her school.

Our student volunteers were motivated to find as many bikes as they could, inspired by the stories of student beneficiaries at Baclayon HS, Pagnitoan HS, Lusaran, and the Regional Lead School for the the Arts, the newest school partner of BfP.

Jack Morris, from Boy Scout troop 666, completed his Eagle project with BfW collecting bikes that were some of the first rolled into the container for the Philippines. Jack, at 13, is one of the youngest scouts we've ever partnered with on an Eagle project.

In his project paperwork Jack stated, "I will continue to stay at my collection until my goal of 50 bikes is met." Thankfully Jack wasn't standing out there until midnight and in fact shattered his goal collecting 105 bikes during his collection.

Nathan Gurley of troop 1539 also completed his Eagle project the same weekend collecting over 50 bikes, some included in this Philippines shipment.

Continuing with the scout theme, Girl Scout Troop 1999, working toward their Bronze Award, helped us in the warehouse as we unloaded all the bikes coming in from these collections. They also help prep bikes that we received from local bike shops who partner with us to collect bikes from their customers who are upgrading their bikes.

Stone Ridge's Social Action crew helped pack the bikes into the container on Earth Day. Throughout the school year this crew worked on several loadings and worked to strip parts from marginal bikes that weren't worth shipping overseas. The parts are incredibly valuable to mechanics working on our bikes. Many of these parts were also included in this latest container.

It is worth noting, our last container donated to Bikes for the Philippines was also packed by the Stone Ridge Social Action crew.

Last, but certainly not least, college students across the country who are part of the FreeBike Project help fund this shipment.

Through this program, college students receive a free bike to use during the school year. The program was started in California and now stretches coast to coast with hundreds of bikes in their fleet.

FreeBike Project supports Bikes for the Philippines by donating money that helps deliver these bikes from our warehouse in Arlington VA half way around the world to rural school districts in the Philippines.

Kick Off Bike Month In Style

"Bikes for the World is proud to partner for a third year with DICK'S Sporting Goods, the nation's preeminent sporting goods retailer, to help Americans acquire a new bike, and ride more, while putting their old bike to good use, transforming lives around the world. Our third year national partnership with DICK'S Sporting Goods confirms both parties' joint commitment to building a cycling culture worldwide," said Keith Oberg, Director Bikes for the World.

From Sunday, May 4 to Saturday May 10, consumers will have the opportunity to support the initiative by bringing in their used bike to a local DICK'S Sporting Goods store. Through Bikes for the World, the bikes donated during this period will be repurposed and distributed to lower income communities in the U.S. and around the world. Individuals who participate in the trade-in will also receive a discount toward a new bike purchase.

"We are excited to continue our third annual partnership with Bikes for the World, furthering our company's mission to provide more people access to suitable athletic equipment," said Lauren Hobart, Chief Marketing Officer of DICK'S Sporting Goods. "Together, with Bikes for the World, we're hoping to expand the footprint of this philanthropic program and continue to give back to communities in need."

Oberg continues, "as a result of last year's collaboration, we expanded our deliveries of suitable used bicycles to lower-income communities by almost 50%, enhancing many more livelihoods through better transportation and generating skilled employment in bicycle repair and maintenance."

Last year, Bikes for the World donated over 13,500 bikes globally to a dozen partners worldwide. Beneficiaries such as Dankay (right) learn to ride through BfW partners such as Village Bicycle Project in Sierra Leone. Dankay is an 8 year old orphan and her donated bike gives her hope and encouragement to continue her education and to believe in herself.

Courtesy Bikes Not Bombs

Ability Bikes Cooperative is a new Bikes for the World partner operating in Ghana. Thanks to the partnership with DICK'S Sporting Goods we were able to ship our first container to this group established in 2008.

Ability Bikes Cooperative is a worker-owned bike shop based in Koforidua, Ghana. It is owned and operated by physically challenged people, like Miriam (left) who were afflicted by polio. Ability Bikes imports, refurbishes, and sells our donated bikes at affordable prices to working people who need them.

This year Bikes for the World expects to send a third container of 500 bikes to Bikes for the Philippines to help expand the bikes for education program in the Philippines. Just last month a second school district was added to the program in Maribojoc on the island of Bohol. Maribojoc was devastated after the 2013 earthquake. As they rebuild, the bike program continues to provide hope to the students enrolled in the program.

Jake Palijado (right) was one of the first bike beneficiaries in the program. He graduates this year from Baclayon National High School and will then join Bikes for the Philippines to help maintain bikes for the program in Maribojoc as well as to serve as a mentor to new beneficiaries.

The bikes collected through DICK'S Sporting Goods will allow us to send another container of bikes to the Philippines to keep more students from dropping out due to transportation, financial, and time burdens on the family.

Bikes for the World partners with non-profit agencies in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. To date Bikes for the World has donated bicycles to 21 non-profit community development organizations in 17 countries. Find the full list on our website as well as a number of success stories from our beneficiaries.

Bohol Beneficiary Update

Bikes for the Philippines (BfP) is expanding its Bikes for Education project to include a second school district, in Maribojoc, on the island of Bohol. After about a six month delay the training of the beneficiaries will begin next week.

In November 2012, Bikes for the World sent a second container of donated bikes to Manila to support adding this second school district, Pagnituan National High School. The pilot effort, in neighboring Baclayon, has been a huge success. When the program started in 2011-2012 the drop out rate for Baclayon was 4.5%; today that rate is 1.67%. Nationally the rate for the 2011-2012 school year was 7.8%.

Our donated bikes were met in Manila by a large volunteer network mobilized by Bikes for the Philippines. The central warehouse allows bikes to be refurbished by these volunteers before they are shipped to the smaller island of Bohol.

In September 2013, the Philippine Navy delivered 190 refurbished bicycles and spare parts to two projects, a smaller school effort on the island of Cebu and the larger school district, Pagnituan National High School in Bohol. The Bohol bikes were to be stored in Baclayon at Peacock Garden Resort where the bikes were secure and under cover, but not completely out of the weather pattern soon to come.

On October 15, 2013, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the region, rocking Maribojoc which was situated right on top of the North Bohol Fault Line, where the earthquake originated. Access to Maribojoc was immediately cut off from the capital when the main bridge leading into the village collapsed. Supplies would be ferried into town by tiny shipping boats.

All schools in the district suffered tremendous structural damage. Outdoor classrooms were set up under makeshift tents and villagers were living in shelters or compromised structures. Three weeks later the Super Typhoon Haiyan hit. The eye of the storm swung north of Bohol, devastating the island of Leyte. Much of Bohol's water and electric were generated from this island and wiped out in the typhoon.

With the kids unable to attend school and the community shaken from two major natural disasters back to back, it was clear the bike program would need to be suspended for the time being. BfP shifted efforts to rebuilding Maribojoc and began delivering things like rice and books to the struggling community.

April 2014. Currently, BfP  is poised to begin training beneficiaries  first thing next month (April). After spending some time in the elements, our bikes sitting at Peacock Gardens could use a little TLC maintenance, which will be completed by two students beneficiaries from our pilot program in Baclayon.

Jake Palijado

The Mayor of Maribojoc and the Department of Education worked together to designate two classrooms in Pagnituan that will serve as a warehouse and makeshift repair shop. Once they graduate next month, Jake Palijado and Hermongenes Pocot will assess and repair the bikes to be loaned to the next round of beneficiaries in Maribojoc. These two graduates will also serve as mentors and role models to the new beneficiaries in Pagnituan.

Meanwhile, Bikes for the Philippines is already looking at where the next container of bikes will be placed. Marikina, a school district on the island of Luzon (where Manila is located) and another on the island of Cebu are currently being evaluated. Storage, volunteer hands, and transportation continue to be a consideration especially given the complications that arose in Bohol during the latest round of storms, not to mention the ship transport and the exposure to salt water and sea air the bikes experienced.

The Power of a Girl and Her Bike

Bikes in Honduras

This weekend a new film by Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour opens in the DC area. Wadjda tells the story of a girl of the same name who wants to buy a bicycle to race a boy in town.

Problem is girls don't ride bikes and they don't intermix with boys...not in Saudi Arabia. That goes for women too, but here we have a female filmmaker shooting the first full length film in a country that doesn't even have movie theaters. If that's not a persistent woman pursuing a dream we don't know what is!

In a recent interview with Haifaa Al Mansour she speaks of growing up in Saudi Arabia and feeling invisible. She was simply trying to find a voice and in doing so gave one to Wadjda, an 11 year old girl who just wants to ride a bike. But it's never just about the bike.

Sierra Leone courtesy Village Bicycle Project

Obstacles facing women and young girls is something we hear a lot from our partners overseas. In fact, many of our partners make it a priority to empower women specifically.

Village Bicycle Project (VBP) in Ghana and Sierra Leone target girls in their riding clinics and mechanic classes. When they first started working with girls they noticed that when they gave them bicycles the boys would steal the bikes from them.

To overcome this road block VBP first gave boys bikes and simply taught the girls how to ride. That way they could borrow their brothers bikes and continue honing the skill.

Another solution was the establishment of the Learn 2 Ride Bicycle Library in Sierra Leone. It works a lot like a regular library, loaning bikes to girls for the semester so they can get to and from school. VBP is then responsible for the maintenance of the bikes. They found that if the bikes were on loan, the male family members did not take over the bike.

Adamsay with loaned bike courtesy VBP

The big downside of the library model? VBP Director Dave Peckham expressed concern that unfortunately when the girls go on to college they are no longer riding bicycles.

Meg Watson, also of VBP, pointed out, "I can't feel too bad about this, as it means the girls we invested in are in college!!"

Bikes for the Philippines also loans bikes to students to help them stay in school, but upon graduation they earn the bike outright. They also had several girls complete the program and go on to college. No word on whether they took their bikes to school with them.

Zoila courtesy ChildFund

 Bikes for the World's newest partner in Mozambique is ChildFund International. ChildFund works in 31 countries and exists to help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children have the capacity to improve their lives and the opportunity to become young adults, parents and leaders who bring lasting change in their communities.

Many of their priorities are also focused on women and girls. They are empowering women through savings and loans and small businesses initiatives and by providing life skills for youth, particularly women.

“I advise my sisters and brothers that we have to think of our future. We can do many good things, but sometimes we think of marriage as a first option, but it is not the most important because we are still very young.” -Zoila, 15 

Hirabai Courtesy Jake Lyell Productions

Young girls have the added hardship of social expectations that keep them in the homes caring for younger siblings and contributing to house chores. Walking long distances over rural roads also brings danger and insecurity forcing many girls to drop out of school.

ChildFund's Dream Bikes program is bring bikes to students like Hirabai (far right) in India. In India we hear very similar stories to those coming from our education project in Bohol, Philippines.

Courtesy Jake Lyell Production

Many students live 3km or more from school and struggle to arrive on time every day. If they are late they are kept out of the morning classes, missing many lessons.

Many of these same obstacles exist for girls around the world. In Mozambique, ChildFund points to evidence that states girls whose families have a bicycle and use it for chores have 32% higher probability of staying in school than girls in rural areas who do not have a bicycle.

Bikes for the World sent an initial shipment to ChildFund Mozambique just this week. Bikes collected at recent collections with Ann Jackson and Friends, Pedal Pushers, and Falls Church Recycling, in addition to bikes we received this summer from DICK'S Sporting Goods were included in the shipment of 500 bikes.

Here, Outreach Coordinator Yvette Hess hands a bike to Daniel Richard of the Pentagon Area Junior Petty Officers Association. The bike was donated by Margaret McEvoy of NW DC and is now on it's way to Mozambique.

In addition to the Sailors who helped finish the load we were joined by a corporate team building group from IBM who loaded over half the container the day before. We hope to hear great things coming from this project (and possibly more countries!) from ChildFund in the near future. Please follow our progress (and theirs) on Facebook.

How Can I Help?

What's the connection between Lincoln, Nebraska and Baclayon National High School in Bohol, Philippines? The answer is next month's Featured Volunteer!

Meet Carlton Styron. Back in December of 2012 Carlton sent us an email:

Hello, My Name is Carlton Styron and I reside in Lincoln, Nebraska. As I will be moving soon to the Philippines, I had the notion to find a worthy and helpful cause to participate in while there, and found your website. I am a huge bike lover and mechanic. Do you need help with anything in the Philippines?

 It was that simple question in nothing more than an introductory email to Bikes for the World that got the wheel turning. We put Carlton in touch with Bikes for the Philippines Director Joel Uichico who was at that moment awaiting the arrival of a second container of bikes from Bikes for the World.

Once bikes arrive in Manila, Joel faces the daunting task of not just unloading five hundred plus bikes, but reassembling and fixing almost all of them. Donated bikes are discarded for a reason, most often, they need repaired. Here's where Carlton comes in.

Recently, a dedicated crew of Pinoy volunteers gathered together to turn these bikes from Bikes for the World back into valuable, usable bikes that will help keep kids in school in remote areas of the Philippines. These bikes were donated by individuals in the Northern Virginia area as well as from the national retail chain DICK'S Sporting Goods.

Carlton was one of the many volunteers who assessed and fixed  the bikes that would be donated to the students in Bohol and Cebu. He quickly noticed the need for spare parts, new and used, when trying to give these old bikes a new life. 

"First we go through all the bikes, set the handle bars, install the pedals and do minor repairs. An assessment is taken of each bike to know of any other problems, then the more experienced mechanics take care of the rest. It works smooth as silk," Carlton Styron

This blue bike you see him with here came to us through a special donor from New Jersey who goes by the name Plong-Plong. Plong is originally from the neighboring town where our bikes were first donated. He knows the terrain well that these students navigate just to get to school. He contacted Bikes for the World desperately wanting to help. The handful of bikes he donated are among this shipment being sent to the second school district in Bohol.

Recently Carlton had the opportunity to travel to the island of Bohol and meet the kids he was helping in that warehouse in Manila. Putting a face to a frame really puts this kind of work in perspective.

Leila Ungab is one of the new beneficiaries in the Bikes for the Philippines education program. Carlton is the mechanic who revived her donated bike that will help get her to and from school quickly and safely.

While in Baclayon, Carlton met with the teachers behind the success of this program. He saw first-hand how valuable these bikes are to the student residents who need them to get to school on time. He also got share some of his bike knowledge with the young budding mechanics. All students who receive a bike are required to know certain maintenance techniques to keep the bike in good standing.

Carlton Styron is an individual example of the global reach of this program. Carlton's wife was from the Philippines and he wanted to experience Philippine life. He also loved bikes and wanted to give something back during his stay. He reached out to Bikes for the World to make a difference in his new home in the Philippines before he even left Nebraska. We introduced him to the perfect meld: Bikes for the Philippines.

When Carlton began with this organization what he found  was a well organized program with an amazing leader. "Joel is the perfect person to head this up. He has a big heart for the children," Carlton recently reported to us via email. What he also found, was a rewarding volunteer experience that was making a difference in a community half a world away from his previous home.

You can help support this Bikes for Education initiative by supporting Bikes for the World right here at home. You can donate a bike, your time, or financially to help bring a bike to someone who will use it to make a positive impact on his or her life. Bike accessories and new and used parts are a big part of what keeps this program sustainable. Your donation will help us provide used bikes, training, or tools to mechanics in need. DONATE TODAY.

Students Gear Up For College

Graduates of Baclayon National High School

Congratulations to the first batch of beneficiaries to graduate from Baclayon National High School. Bikes for the Philippines was established to help keep students who live a great distance from school from dropping out by supplying them with transportation to school. Every single fourth year student loaned a bike last year through this program earned it by graduating high school!

Cristy Joy Razo and Eunice Faith Pude

Not only did all the 'seniors' graduate, but two students in the bike program just left for college the weekend of May 25-26 2013. Through the Passerelles numériques(PN) program two of our bike beneficiaries were awarded scholarships to attend the University of San Carlos in Cebu.

Cristy Joy Razo and Eunice Faith Pude, seen here with BNHS Principal Elvira Jabonillo, were both awarded a PN scholarship to attend university and earn a degree in IT. Room, board, and tuition will all be paid for by PN.

Through education, Passerelles numériques enables the most underprivileged young people to access employment in the promising sector of computer technology and break the cycle of poverty within their families.

Cristy Joy Razo

Bikes for the World was founded by Keith Oberg in 2005 after he saw first hand the effects the lack of transportation had on countless families and an entire community. Whether it be for school, work, or heath care, making bikes available to underprivileged people was a high priority.

 Enter Joel Uichico, founder of Bikes for the Philippines. He also saw a need to bring bicycles to the Philippines to not only keep adolescents enrolled in school, but also to bring to them a better way of life. So Oberg and Uichico eventually joined forces to bring to these students affordable (FREE!) bicycles in hopes of keeping them in school, giving them the means to a better education, and giving them hope for the future.

Bikes for the World simply delivered a container of bicycles to a project. It was the educators in the system that delivered an amazing program. And the students just plain delivered. They took an interest in the program, respected the initiative, and gave us exactly the results we were looking for.

Eunice Pude

Eunice Pude received this Magna through the Bikes for Philippines Bikes for Education program early in 2011 in the pilot program introduced in her high school in Baclayon. Students were chosen for the program in part due to their distance from the high school, which officials were noticing played an important part in why the drop out rate was so significant.

Eunice, in fact, probably lived the furthest from the school at 7km, making her round trip commute over 8 miles a day! Despite the rocky terrain and steep hills she had to climb, she mastered the bike and was able to save a ton of time riding to school instead of walking.

Eunice and Cristy Joy...with Joe in the background

Teachers reported students having more energy in class, were better prepared, arrived on time, and stayed more alert throughout the day after receiving their bikes. Some of the quieter students even gained more confidence once they entered the bike program.

Congratulations again to Eunice Pude, Cristy Joy Razo, and all the bike beneficiaries in the Philippines education program. The second project in a neighboring community of Maribojoc is about to launch with bikes already delivered by Bikes for the World. We hope Cristy and Eunice serve as role models to all the students and show them there is room to dream for a bigger future. Many of these students have never left the island of Bohol. Cristy and Eunice are currently in Cebu with the rest of the 2016 class orienting themselves to a new lifestyle, new friends, and brand new plans for their futures.And we hope they decided to take their bikes!

Courtesy PN and Marie Serreau