Giving Life To Your Old Bike

The last edition of our three part series on our beneficiaries in Kenya will focus on mechanics. Wheels of Africa teamed up with BfW partner BEN Namibia (BENN) to borrow their very successful BEC (Bicycle Empowerment Centre) model to set up shops that are accessible to everyone.

When bikes arrive in the container, they are in various stages of disrepair. They may merely need the pedals reattached, they will likely need a derailleur adjustment, but they might require a lot more maintenance, which is why they were donated in the first place.

In order for a bike organization to be sustainable and ultimately be chosen as a Bikes for the World partner, there has to be a plan in place for not only repairing the bicycles donated by us, but a method for maintaining them in the future.

BENN's BEC model is ideal because it trains and employs skilled local talent to become successful bike shop owners and mechanics. It also makes use of the bikes and parts donated by groups like Bikes for the World.

BEC owner Michael Otieno

BENN sent their most skilled mechanics to Kenya to help Wheels of Africa get this program started. Michael Otieno was trained in the Wheels of Africa program modeled after the original BECs of Namibia.

Mike receives bikes and spare parts through WOA. He will not only reassemble your old bikes but he will make sure they keep running for years to come. He also underwent specific entrepreneurial business training through the program to ensure his bike shop business remains successful.

Ousman Okoth

Ousman Okoth is a recent 'graduate' of the program and just established his own BEC. Both Mike and Ousman are training other youths to be mechanics and as well as successful BEC owners.

The BECs are situated in the suburbs of Nairobi. They are able to reach more remote villagers who are in need of affordable transportation to get to and from the city center for work, school, or health services. Mike and Ousman will not only get bikes into deserving hands but make sure those bikes keep working. They have apprenticeships that will help turn more Kenyans into skilled mechanics serving the communities where they live.

Bikes for the World is making an effort to increase the amount of spare parts we collect so that we are able to increase the value of our bike shipments by adding parts into every bit of space possible.

Recent partnerships with DC's Capital Bikeshare and NY's Citi Bike have brought cases of used parts, tubes, and tires into our warehouse that are in turn being shipped to support remote bike shops around the world.

MLK WEEK of Service

Bikes for the World honored Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a series of community service events across the area. Taking advantage of our warmer warehouse in Arlington, this year we loaded in Virginia rather than our normal location at King Farm in Rockville.

This loading event took place on Saturday January 18th and Monday January 20th. We loaded over 400 bikes along with tons of parts, mostly from DC's Capital Bikeshare program. The container is heading to Panama's Goodwill program where trained mechanics will refurbish the donated bikes and sell them in the storefront. Money from the program supports the bike project as well as the program training disabled individuals in areas such as welding and metal working.

Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship

Joining us on this two day event were volunteers from NOVA's Meetup Group, the students at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, and members of the Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship.

A variety of activities marked this MLK Day opportunity. Volunteers focused on organizing the warehouse, sorting parts, processing bikes, taking in bikes, and loading the container for Panama.

CHO bike donation

The Community for Helping Others (CHO) in Fairfax arrived mid-day Saturday with a truck full of donated bikes. CHO joins forces with BfW partner shop Bikes@Vienna to collect bikes every winter to donate to local charities.

Dan Larkins, Director of CHO, collects and fixes bikes every year for beneficiaries in Fairfax that are hand picked by the county as in need of assistance. Larkins hand delivered the surplus to BfW this past weekend. And we have to mention the expert parking job by his driver as he squeezed their truck around our trailer to get to the dock.

Greg Houston Senior VP External Affairs Meridian

On Monday BfW participated in the Meridian International Center's first annual "Warm up DC" Event. Meridian hosted a series of simultaneous events to maximize the outpouring of volunteerism for the benefit of Martha's Table in DC with donated food and clothing for the disadvantaged.

Bikes for the World also benefited, not only from an unseasonably warm day, but from the donation of over 30 bikes from two locations. We were aided in this effort with labor from volunteers from George Washington University, DC Bike Party, Kasper's Cargos, and Burgundy Farm students who were hard at work processing donated bikes at our warehouse.

BfW would like to express special gratitude to Malina Keutel of Meridian for all of her hard work and outreach in support of this successful event.

Endorphin Fitness, Richmond VA

Boots, of Kasper's Cargos, has been working with BfW for several months helping us transport bikes to our warehouses. In fact, just last week, he delivered some of the bikes collected January 11th in Richmond at Endorphin Fitness.

Despite a cold, rainy collection day, Endorphin Fitness collected about 100 bikes for BfW, kicking off the 2014 season in style. This was a first time collection effort for Endorphin Fitness.

Some of the bikes coming from Richmond were included on the Panama trailer loaded during our MLK Day service event. The remaining bikes from Endorphin Fitness and the ones from Meridian will be loaded in February and donated to our Costa Rica partner, FINCA.

Collaborated with John Burg, BfW Board of Directors and Program Committee Chairman