Women are the Hub of the Community

Bikes for the World partner Village Bicycle Project joined forces with Re~Cycle and The Bicycle Factory to celebrate International Women's Day in a unique and yet ordinary way. Put simply, they do what they do best, delivered bikes to remote villages in Ghana. This latest shipment helped empower many new female bike owners.

Village Bicycle Project (VBP) has been focused on getting bikes into the hands of women and young girls for several years now. To quote VBP, "the truth is, women run Ghana; they run the home, the compound, the neighborhood, the community, and so on..."

Many of our partners overseas have recognized the power of women within a family and community. Whether they are running errands, increasing product to market, or serving as the family school bus, women are using the bicycle to change their world for the better.

VBP kicked off February with a special delivery of bikes to the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District. Actually, this was a shipment of brand new bikes to the students of Otwebediadua School through Cadbury's Bicycle Factory project. VBP taught these students how to ride and care for their new bikes.

In all 20  new bikes were delivered to the school. VBP introduced bikes to 15 students, 11 of them had never been on a bike before. VBP trainers, through their Learn2Ride program, taught these students basic riding skills as well as showing them how to care for their new bikes.

Asamoah Dorcas

In Ghana, women such as Asamoah Dorcas, may use a bicycle to help transport goods to market. Asamoah had been head loading heavy loads, which can cause spine damage. The bicycle will allow her to carry even heavier loads safely and in less time.

Evelyn Amoah is from Offuman in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. She owns a shop as well as helping on the family farm. The bike she received through the Re~Cycle/VPB effort will help transport crops from the farm to the town market, 5km away. "I will use my bike to take crops to the market," says Evelyn. Her daughters will also use the bike to get to school.

A bicycle donated overseas is often shared between family members and sometimes throughout a village. Because many women in these communities do not know how to ride a bicycle, the Learn2Ride program initiated by VPB is critical to empowering these women to better serve their families and create a better way of life.

Paying It Forward

TERRIFIC awardees with the Mayor of Rockville

Congratulations to all the Rockville students who earned bikes this year through the City of Rockville's TERRIFIC program. Any student in Rockville has the opportunity to complete a series of tasks that in turn earns them a refurbished bicycle through Bikes for the World. The students are awarded a certificate, get their pictures taken with Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, and finally come out to King Farm to pick out new bikes.

Jordan Alpay poses with his new bike

Bikes for the World has been participating in the project for a few years now. The bikes are refurbished by our mechanic Nick Colombo and come from the huge stash donated at King Farm, where we have one of our main storage areas.

Participants complete six or more good deeds such as reading a book to someone who can't read themselves, trash clean up, sitting with an elderly person...one student even stuck up for a student who was being bullied.

Selected kids then come out and get to test ride a nice selection of bikes before choosing one to take home. Students who earned a bike also received a helmet, courtesy of Montgomery Fire and Rescue.

Ashley Thommana donated her old bike

Any student is eligible to participate and they can come back and try again next year...kids do outgrow their bikes pretty quickly, which parents know can be expensive.

The cool thing about this program is it introduces the students to Bikes for the World and the importance of taking care of your bike so you can donate it back to help another kid possibly learn how to ride or get to school.

And that's just what Ashley Thommana did. When she came to pick out a new bike, she brought her old one with her and donated it to Bikes for the World!

Chaula Butterworth's daughters have all participated in the program and she notes the life lessons involved with every aspect of earning the bike:

"This is our third year participating in your program and the girls have enjoyed it immensely. They take pride in doing the tasks necessary for earning the bikes, in getting recognized by the Mayor and council, and in donating one of our current bikes to a child at school who doesn't have a bike. They have learned the joy that comes from sharing something special (their bikes) with someone who can't afford such a luxury." Chaula Butterworth

Gabrielle Nadler donated her earned bike

Gabrielle Nadler, who just turned 10, Happy Birthday Gabrielle! got a new bike for her last birthday, but she still wanted to participate in the program. She has donated toys and clothes to charity before and she thought it would be a great idea to donate a bike. I like this girl's thinking! Her mom Marcie confirmed that if she was selected to receive a bike that she could donate it to someone else in the program:

"Gabrielle liked this idea and went full speed ahead completing all the tasks that needed to be completed. This has truly been a great life lesson for her in learning that it is better to give than to receive. She loved the fact that she was presented with a certificate from the mayor, but is very happy and proud that another child will have a new bike this spring." Marcie Nadler

A Different Kind of Charity Ride

Yvette Hess with FreeBike co-founder Johan Bender

Bikes for the World has a new partner in Southern California. It's a unique partner for BfW since it's sort of a bike rental company for college students. But not really. First of all, it's FREE. And these students aren't your average bike riders.

The FreeBike Project offers free wheels to students, traveling 'billboards' for local businesses, and a 'vehicle' for change to students abroad. Let me break that down.

The pilot project began on the campus of the University of Southern California. Co-founders Johan Bender and Kim Sanderhoff thought up this unique bike leasing project that pairs students with businesses. Students get the use of a bike for the semester and businesses get seen around town, on facebook, twitter, pinterest...you're getting the idea.

Here's the bike. Looks a bit like it might have come from the streets of Copenhagen? Well, they do know bikes there. And Bender and Sanderhoff have Denmark roots and designed the bike themselves.

Each bike comes with a marketing placard in the main triangle of the bike. Businesses who sign on with FreeBike Project may get 3 or 300 bikes depending on their size. (They don't have any 300 sized clients...yet). The marketing campaign lasts the entire semester where the bike may be seen in person on campus, cruising nearby streets, or in student fired social media blasts.

Seen on USC campus with Johan and Kim

Students sign up, pay a 'holding fee' or 'security deposit', and get a bike to use all semester. The guys offer free maintenance and tons of incentives for posting the coolest pictures with the bikes.

It gives students a pair of wheels to get around campus and a unique way of supporting their favorite businesses. It also gives them a creative outlet to explore and define the future of online marketing...to a desired demographic the 18-25 age range. It's a great idea, right?

But wait! There's MORE. At the end of the semester they return the bike, get their money back, AND in turn send a bike to our Bikes for the Philippines project. That's exactly right, each FreeBike rider represents a new student rider in Bohol. How cool is that? Students love it, on both sides of the globe.

The FreeBike Project donates the cost of shipping one bike to Bikes for the World earmarked for Bikes for the Philippines for every single rider they have. At the end of this semester, that was 90 riders. And the riders (and businesses) take pride in the (little) effort it took to provide this ride to a student overseas, giving him or her the means to stay enrolled in school and graduate. Ride to class...change a life. That was easy.

Bikes For Education

SHERWIN and RON NARBAY

For Ron and Sherwin a bicycle could be the difference between graduating and not finishing school at all. In fact, many students in Baclayon, a remote community on the island of Bohol Philippines, travel many miles every day just to get to and from school. With only one high school in the village, students are often forced to travel more miles once they move up in school. This burdens not only the student but the entire family as less time can be devoted to necessary household chores.

The road to the Narbay's

Ron and Sherwin leave their house at 5am every morning in hopes of arriving to school on time after walking the two hour commute. The rough roads of Baclayon are long and rocky. After the rain, the roads become dangerously slippery. Some students do not even have shoes and most cannot afford transportation IF it even approaches their homes.

Both Ron and Sherwin have fallen on the slippery terrain after running in an attempt to make it to school on time. Students are not allowed to enter the classroom if they are late. They must wait until the afternoon session, causing them to miss half the school day.

Rowena Narbay, mother of Sherwin and Ron

The boys admit it would be easier many days to just not go to school. But they also know that the small sacrifices are worth the end result. Their parents did not finish school and struggle to find work to make ends meet. When Sherwin asked his mom for a bicycle to make the trip to school easier, she reluctantly had to tell him they could not afford it.

After a long day at school and a two hour commute home, students are exhausted and often racing daylight. Sometimes they don't even have enough time to finish their homework after completing the household chores at night. Teachers have also found students tired and distracted in the classrooms.

Since Bikes for the Philippines partnered with Bikes for the World students who live over 3km from school became eligible to receive a loaned bicycle through the program. Students who had once dropped out completely came back to school through this program and at least one of them has graduated back into the mainstream education system. Teachers tell stories of students who are more focused and on time for school. Parents are proud to have their children enrolled and thriving in school. There's plenty of time of chores and homework and most importantly, hope for the future.

Ron and Sherwin tell their story to Ako Ang Simula, a local television program:
(with English subtitles)