From: Fundacion Fidesma
Date: November 27, 2024 at 4:49:37 PM EST
To: David Schweidenback
Don David, muchos saludos departe los compañeros de Fidesma.
Ya realizamos la revision de bicicletas y su inventario, y estamos agradecidos por mandarnos las Maquinas de cocer. Gracias por las pelotas, por las llaves, por otros accesorios o repuestos, mas los plwod. que siempre lo necesitamos.
Todo esta muy bien, las Bicicletas estam bonitas, y estamos iniciando las primeras ventas y entregas de bicicletas.
Espermos enviarle mas fotos y las historias de como se utillizan aqui las bicis.
Atentamente,
Margarita Caté de Catú and the entire FIDESMA ECOLOBICI team
Chimaltenango, Guatemala
From: Fundacion Fidesma
Subject: Ya recibimos las bicis en Fidesma
Date: November 22, 2024 at 2:24:13 PM EST
To: David Schweidenback
Hola, Don David, le informamos que ya tenemos las bicicletas en Fidesma, despues de un largo tramite, en la Aduana Guatemala.
Siempre es una experiencia, diferente, cada vez que las recibimos.
De todo tipo de problemas nos presenta el Puerto en Guatemala, dicen que ya no pueden acelerar tramites porque hay mucho BArcos, y muchos contenedores, tambien que nos toco pagar almacenaje porque nos pasamos de los dias permitidos, en el puerto, pagamos mas dinero, y luego que habia dias de asueto en Guatemala, tambien que los dias sabados y domingos no hacen tramites, y asi muchos problemas nos dan ellos.
Muchas gracias David, por las bicis, estan muy bonitas, y gracias por las Maqinas de cocer. Enviaremos fotos de lo que se a hecho aqui,
Atentamente
Margarita CAte
y todo el equipo de compañeros de Fidesma ECOLOBICI.
Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
We’ve finally received the bicycles at Fidesma, after a long process at Guatemalan Customs. Every container is a different adventure.
The port in Guatemala always gives us all sorts of problems. They say they can’t expedite the paperwork because there are too many ships and containers. We also had to pay extra storage fees because we exceeded the allowed days at the port. Then there were holidays in Guatemala, and they don’t process paperwork on Saturdays and Sundays, and so on. They give us many problems.
Thank you very much, David, for the bikes. They are very beautiful, and thank you for the sewing machines as well.
Sincerely, Margarita Caté de Catú and the entire FIDESMA ECOLOBICI team Chimaltenango, Guatemala
We’ve finished checking the bikes and doing the inventory. And thanks so much for sending the sewing machines. We really appreciate the soccer balls, bike tools, spare parts, and especially the plywood — it’s always handy.
Everything looks great. The bikes are beautiful, and we’ve already started selling and delivering them.
We’ll be sure to send you more pictures and tell you all about how the bikes are being used here.
Sincerely, Margarita Caté de Catú and the entire FIDESMA ECOLOBICI team Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Over the past 10 years, many young people have entered the sport of cycling from different places in Guatemala because of our bicycles. They began training on local roads, and over time they were encouraged to participate in competitions. These included different categories, for both men and women, using different types of bicycles. Our quality bikes enabled these young people to compete in events all over Guatemala.
In 2022 the Guatemalan National Cycling Competition passed through our home town of San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango. One of the cyclists from the Guatemalan national team is from Itzapa. The bicycle is a symbol of sport, of competition, and of teamwork. It is of great benefit to the children and youth of our towns.
Bicycles in Schools
Also for more than 10 years we have delivered bicycles to teachers in different communities in Chimaltenango, where children win bicycles by holding a raffle or a competition. Many children who have won bicycles use them to go to school, to run family errands, or just to play sports.
Bicycles for Transportation
Many men and women have bought bicycles from our FIDESMA ECOLOBICI bike shop. The bikes are used by women who take their market goods home, by young people who go to work in the urban area of Chimaltenango, and by men who use their bikes to commute to the farms and factories where they work. Using bicycles for transportation saves money they would otherwise spend on bus fares.
Sewing Machines
Sewing machines have always been a very important contribution from Pedals for Progress / Sewing Peace. Each year more than 20 women have benefited from a sewing machine. Women use their sewing machines mainly in their clothing stores. They repair clothing for other people, they make new garments for sale, and they repair clothing for their own families.
Our Resellers
Because of the pandemic, people from around the country were looking for new business opportunities. In parts of Guatemala that we do not get to, some of these people decided to become resellers of our bicycles. They buy loads of our bikes and resell them in their communities for a profit.
We want to inform you that we have the bikes at the FIDESMA Foundation. Because of problems at the shipping companies, we had some trouble getting the container out of the port. The companies resolved their problems and we finally got the container. We have unpacked it. Here is the inventory:
Description
Quantity
Bicycles: mountain, BMX,
touring, and road bikes
455
Parts
23 bags:
helmets,
wheels, saddles,
tires, tubes,
pedals, baskets,
pumps, and various
other spare parts
Sewing machines
15
Plywood
9
We are now working to clean, lubricate, and repair the bikes. And we are working on the other activities we must do to make them ready to sell. The bikes will be ready to display in our shop in plenty of time for Christmas. Everything will be fine.
We at FIDESMA thank you for this shipment. We are sure that the people – adults, youths, and children – will be very grateful when we deliver the bicycles to their communities and they can use their bikes for work, sports, exercise, and travel, even travel to places far from home. Everyone thinks that it is a great benefit to be able to use a bicycle.
Margarita Caté de Catú and Colleagues
FIDESMA
December 2022
[Editor’s note: Our longest-running partnership is with FIDESMA, in Guatemala, where we’ve shipped more than 12,000 bikes since 1999. Their most recent container arrived in December 2021: Guatemala #22. Below is an update on their ongoing projects.]
Social Projects, 2019 to 2022
Support for the Disabled: wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and orthopedic beds.
Job Training: courses in baking, textiles, crafts, Guatemalan and international cuisine.
Women’s Support Groups: citizen participation workshops, rights of women, and care of the family and children.
Education and Schools: donation of computers, improvement of preschool and primary-school classrooms.
Environmental Education: Community and school programs on garbage management, pollution, and drinking water.
Bicycle Project: Ecolobici-FIDESMA: We are hoping to move our bicycle project to a new location that is larger than our current space and more accessible to our customers who come from other regions of Guatemala. We are looking for a place near the main Inter-American highway, a plot of land larger than our current location. The new complex would house our bicycle shop, repair shop, and storage for spare parts and accessories. It would include a parking lot. And it would include a store that sells groceries and other everyday necessities.
All these projects are due to the support of national and international institutions such as Pedals for Progress, and to the profits we earn in the FIDESMA bicycle project, Ecolobici.
[We just got this thank you note from Guatemala and would like to share it. We’re so happy it’s spring; let’s collect bikes!]
Dear DAVID SCHWEIDENBACK,
Respectful friend, we are very happy to hear from you. I am happy that you have already gotten your vaccine. Here in Guatemala we will get only four thousand for now. Maybe we will be vaccinated next year. It’s a long way to go before we open the champagne.
We want to thank you with all our heart for sending the bicycles that you collected in 2020 despite the pandemic. Because of the turn that the world took, bikes are in more popular than ever. Companies are going bankrupt because of Covid-19, and in the last few months FIDESMA has seen greater demand for our bikes. It gives us a lot of satisfaction to see our children, women, and men customers so happy with their bicycles after such a long wait.
As you know, we put aside $2.50 from each bike sale to support the most needy people in our community. We usually use this money to support various local needs, especially education. But because of the pandemic and the increased poverty it’s caused, we’re buying food for 410 families.
I want to send you our thanks and some photos of our customers, our bike shop, and the arrival of the P4P container in our community of San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
We have been in a relationship with Pedals for Progress for more than 20 years, providing a transportation alternative and at the same time protecting the environment. Many hugs from the Fundación FIDESMA team for the P4P team, Don David, and his gracious wife, Dina, who welcomed us into her home on our visit a few years ago.
From: Fundacion Fidesma
Subject: We received the container
Date: February 10, 2021 at 10:45:57 PM EST
Hello Dear David,
Many greetings.
Today we got the bicycles. The process was better than before: it was faster in customs and we have avoided fines. We appreciate your support, the entire Itzapa community and all of Guatemala — people from all over the country come to get bikes.
We are counting the bikes, sewing machines, and accessories. After we’re done we will send you the numbers and more photos.
Thank you sincerely,
Margaret Caté and the whole FIDESMA team
[Our partner of longest standing is FIDESMA, located in San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Since 1999 we have shipped them more than 10,000 bikes.]
Don Alejandro Ramírez takes bikes to Sacatepéquez and Antigua Guatemala
Besides local people who buy bikes for work, school, errands, or sports, we also have people who travel many kilometers to buy bikes at our ECOLOBICI-FIDESMA store. They buy bikes for their families or to distribute or resell the bikes in their communities to have the same economic impact as we do locally.
Don Félix Ochoa takes bikes to western Guatemala.
Several of these people buy 6 or more bicycles, so we give them a discount. They help us reach families who have no way to get to our store or who live in places too expensive for us to travel to.
We have customers who arrive at our store every 3 or 4 months, sometimes to pick up orders that they have already made, sometimes to look for bikes on hand that they like.
Here are some examples:
From Quetzaltenango, a distance of 150 kilometers, there is a person who comes to our store and buys many bikes.
From Cobán, Alta Verapaz, which is 200 kilometers away, a person travels here two or three times a year and carries away many bicycles in his vehicle.
From San Marcos, 300 kilometers away on the border with Mexico, a customer arrives once or twice a year and buys many bicycles.
From Sololá, which is 100 kilometers away, we have a person who comes several times a year to buy many bicycles.
Don Macario takes bikes to Chimaltenango.
All this means that there are many non-local people who benefit from our bicycles: for business, pleasure, and many other everyday activities.
In these times of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the bicycle has been widely used because there is no other transport. Many people are able to buy a bicycle, but there are still many who have not been able to buy one. So we still need more bicycles to help us solve the problems of transportation in Guatemala.
