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bicycles, Ghana, InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

Adongo the Bicycle Mechanic

Summer 2017 InGear


Adongo is a young energetic man who resides in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Life after secondary school was very vexatious. There were not enough funds for Adongo to continue school. Since time obviously waits for no man, he decided to use his time profitably. After much deliberation, he finally resolved to learn a trade.

Consequentially, he moved to the capital of the country, Accra, where he learned carpentry. Along the line, Adongo realized carpentry was not in his best interest. He resolved to find something else to do on the side; he met this man who was into bicycle repairs. Adongo then thought it wise to align himself with the bicycle repairer.

About a year and a half into bicycle repairs, he became a proficient bicycle mechanic. He handled both major and minor repairs with utmost case.

Adongo later decided to change his domicile. He went back to his roots.

He is now a big-time bicycle mechanic, with about five apprentices. He buys bicycles and gives those that are not in very good shape a decent overhaul.


Adongo is now a competent bike mechanic cum sales executive. He is able to cater for his family and other needs. Through this business has he put up a three-bedroom house in his home town. He is living comfortably with his wife and two children.

All thanks go to WEBike.

bicycles, Collectors, Sewing Partners

15 Years of P4P Collections, An Appreciative Retrospective

by Jackie Johnson, Granby CT
Fall 2016 InStitch

I wrote an article for the Spring 2011 InGear that began as follows:

I was prompted to call Pedals for Progress in September of 2002 after I read a small article in Hope Magazine (long since out of business). The article told the story of Dave Schweidenback launching Pedals for Progress following his experience in the Peace Corps and referenced the 57,000 bicycles that had, at that point, been shipped to partners in sixteen countries.

So, to take you back in time a bit, it was a year beyond 9/11 and our nation was on the verge of war in the fall of 2002. I was feeling a burning need to do something positive and meaningful, ideally involving my husband and two children who were then ten and twelve. The article was so inspiring that I immediately called P4P and said I wanted to organize a collection. Despite my being further from High Bridge (in northwestern Connecticut) than any previous collection, the response was positive and I was encouraged to organize a spring collection. I ultimately spoke with Dave and explained that I really didn’t want to wait until spring. He was reluctantly convinced and our first Pedals for Progress collection was held at Holcomb Farm, an arts and environmental center, in Granby, CT, on December 7, 2002. A very chilly 42 bikes were collected and processed that day by an enthusiastic group of volunteers who have shown up every year since.

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Five years from the time of that first article, we just held our 15th collection, with a grand total of over 2,000 bikes and more than 100 sewing machines collected to date. While making a difference for individuals and communities in the developing world has always been at the heart of our 15 years of collecting, there has been an unexpected benefit in the community created here at home. Many donors are moved by the opportunity to build a bridge from our small Connecticut town and to touch lives abroad and offer to help spread the word about future collections. Our dedicated group of volunteers has grown to include a long list of folks who have shared email addresses and offer to post flyers and share through social media each year. Stories shared by donors, like that of the bike of a lost and beloved daughter, the sewing machine from a mother or grandmother, have created meaningful moments and stories that have fed and inspired our group of volunteers.

This year, we welcomed two new volunteers who took the lead in coordinating the Granby collection. Kate and Rachel are high school students and National Honor Society Members at the local high school. They eagerly publicized the event and brought in a new group of student volunteers. Kate and Rachel plan to use this year’s experience to mentor two students from the class behind theirs, continuing to grow a committed community of young people.

Being part of the P4P community for 15 years has been a privilege and great source of joy. We here in Granby look forward to gearing up for many more!

Kyrgyzstan, Peace Corps, Sewing Partners

Kyrgyzstan, a land beyond

by David Schweidenback
Fall 2016 InStitch

In preparing for this newsletter I tried to reach out to a number of programs from a number of years ago trying to get some feedback as to the longevity of the sewing machines we ship. Programs are always excited when they receive a shipment but my goal was to ask how they would feel about it six or eight years later. Did it really help? The main problem in this attempt was finding some degree of connectivity. People change email addresses and in many of the places we work people are not looking at their email every day; in fact they might not even have email.

In 2008 with the aid of a Peace Corps volunteer named Roberto Hernandez, Pedals for Progress shipped 25 sewing machines to Cholopon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. I know Roberto is back in the United States, and I’m pretty sure he’s in Los Angeles, but do you have any idea how many people named Roberto Hernandez there are in Los Angeles and the surrounding area? This type of research is fraught with dead ends.

Then one day not too long ago an email appeared from Nurila Choloponkulova from SOS Kinderhof, which ran the program in 2008. She certainly remembers the program. It was designed to bring in women who needed to learn a skill, teach them to sew and then return them to their villages to practice their new talents. Nurila understood what I was looking for but these ladies left to go home with their sewing machines eight years ago.

With a bit of searching and traveling around, Nurila was able to find eight women who still owned the sewing machine and had been using them every day to earn a living since 2008! I was astounded; at least a third of the sewing machines were still functioning after eight years! And quite possibly many more; she just hasn’t yet found them.

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And the final result of my searching is the incredible story of Jipargul.

Jipargul is a mother of six children. Her husband passed away, leaving her with the responsibility to care and provide for their children. Because of the time needed to care for six children, she had not been able to find steady employment, making it difficult for their basic needs to be met. She could not find any help in her small village in the mountains, so she came to the Family Strengthening Program (FSP) to receive training and support.

Through FSP, she enrolled in sewing classes where she learned how to professionally produce and alter clothing, traditional Kyrgyz mats/blankets and souvenirs. After completing her courses, she was one of the only villagers in her area to know how to perform this important work. So she went from being an unemployed struggling mother to a successful business owner providing for the needs of her community.

Without the donated sewing machines from Sewing Peace, none of this would have been possible. Not only did these machines allow for the Family Strengthening Project to offer courses, but extra machines were given to beneficiaries like Jipargul so that they could work at home while raising their children.

With the success of her business, Jipargul was able to move out of her two-room apartment to a larger house. The generous donations from Sewing Peace have changed the lives of Jipargul and her family, and ultimately the community that she is serving stitch by stitch.

Postscript: with connection to SOS Kinderhof reestablished, and the continuing generous support of our donors, it was just a natural instinct to make another shipment of sewing machines. On July 18, 2016, an additional 30 sewing machines arrived in Cholopon-Ata to further promote the Family Strengthening Program of SOS Children Village Cholpon-Ata. This is an expensive program, as everything going to Kyrgyzstan must be sent airfreight, but with such a record of success, how can we not continue the program. This second shipment will be distributed in the Issyk-Kul region.

bicycles, Collectors

Turning Waste into Opportunities

by Liz Sweedy
Fall 2016 InGear

The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MCMUA) has hosted a used bike and sewing machine collection for 14 consecutive years since 2003. The Pedals for Progress collection program aligns with the MCMUA’s overall vision to reduce waste, reuse items, and build a culture for sustainability. In those 14 years, the MCMUA has collected over 3,676 bikes and 26 sewing machines through the programs run in conjunction with Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace.

Some people may be turned off by the idea of working in the solid waste field. Trash, you ask? Yes, trash, litter (which is different from trash), recyclables, hazardous waste, and vegetative waste. A world of waste that is so wildly interesting, there is never a dull moment! I have worked for the MCMUA for over 20 years in the recycling division and I have learned a lot about the behavior of people and our obsession with throwing things ‘away’. Most people do not think about where their waste ends up, or how much energy, natural resources, pollutants and fossil fuels were used or created in the process of making these items and what it takes to properly dispose of them.

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The solid waste hierarchy lists waste reduction at the very top. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created a hierarchy which ranks various waste management strategies from most to least environmentally preferred. The hierarchy places emphasis on reducing, reusing, and recycling as key to sustainable materials management. It is important to purchase only items we really need. The second listing is reuse! It means to use again or more than once, give something a new purpose. Because we are a throw-away society it is difficult to get some people to understand the concept of reuse. Most of us want instant gratification by purchasing the latest, the biggest, the shiniest, the absolute BEST there is to buy, and quickly get rid of items that no longer suit our needs, wants or whims.

Thismorriscountyrecyclingsep2016after brings me to the lowly used bike standing on the curb, out for trash collection. It has a flat tire and a few scratches on the rear fender. It is not the prized possession it used to be when it was brand new. To the untrained eye it is a meager shadow of its former glory. Don’t judge this discarded bike that is out for trash. With a little elbow grease and a new tire this gem will become the new transportation for a student who currently walks 6 miles in order to get to school! It will provide the liberty and luxury to ride to school in less time than walking, and perhaps provide a ride to a passenger so he or she can avoid the long walk as well. Pedals for Progress, with the assistance of their partner agencies, delivers the chance of a lifetime to those who need it most. Some people don’t have any means of transportation and this opportunity can make such a positive impact on their lives.

bicycles, Guatemala

A Guatemala Success Story

Fall 2016 InGear

We regularly feature stories of our partners’ customers whose lives have been improved by a bicycle. Here’s a different kind of story: the story of a former employee of our good friends at FIDESMA, our partner in Guatemala, who hired a hard-working young man five years ago and supported him in a series of jobs of ever greater responsibility.

Byron Rodrigo Can Fernandez began working at FIDESMA at age 20. He rode a bike to work every day.

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He helped at the bike shop, starting with simple repairs and maintenance and learning more and more with time: assembling, disassembling, and refurbishing bikes – all aspects of bike mechanics.

Eventually he was appointed manager of the shop, in charge of accounts and billing as well as sales and repairs.

Byron promoted bicycles through the use of social media, posters, and advertising. He promoted bikes for reasons that P4P and its partners have emphasized since the beginning: bikes provide cheap, reliable, non-polluting, efficient transportation and exercise. On a bike, you can go farther and faster than on foot, to work or to school.

Byron201601guatbyronsellingbikeschimaltenango remembers how happy children were to be able to buy a bike with their own savings, how some of the riders became superb athletes in part because of their training on their bikes, how families were able to save money on transportation because they used bikes instead of taxis or buses.

Besides its bicycle operations, FIDESMA runs several other programs. In one of them, Byron taught computer skills to both students and teachers who had little or no previous experience with computers. He also helped with tech support for social projects, worked with rural communities, worked on medical outreach, and helped with job training for youth and the disabled.

Besides his work with FIDESMA, Byron continued his education in several different fields, earning credentials in industrial security, computer and industrial art, first aid, and natural and alternative medicine.

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Finally, Byron attended the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, the state university of Guatemala, and in 2015 received his law degree, a most unusual and impressive accomplishment for someone from his modest circumstances. Among his areas of university study were criminal investigation, poll tax law, finance law, and protection of childhood and adolescence.

His current job is based on his law school education and is far removed from the world of bicycles. He now works for the municipality in the office of the mayor, conducting civil marriages, helping local residents negotiate government programs, and helping with municipal paperwork.

Thanks to FIDESMA for giving Byron a start in its bike shop and other programs, congratulations to Byron for his accomplishments so far, and good luck to him in a most promising future!

Albania

Success is Not Just Measured in Wheels and Pedals

by Patricia Hamill
Fall 2015 InGear

Our long-time readers know by now that we are especially pleased when we report on having joined with new partners or on the expansion of existing programs. The day-to-day operations and successes are, of course, very important to us and all of our volunteers’ efforts are important to note; but, sometimes something happens that just makes us say “Wow.” This is one of those moments.

We work on website and newsletter content throughout out the year, regularly communicating with our partners and receiving updates on individuals and communities who have put the bicycles and sewing machines to use for access to employment or for starting businesses. Very often, we are thankful to post stories of families with young children that can now go to school and be properly dressed in new uniforms, and our members have read about young men and women who now have access to employment in relatively distant locations without having to leave home permanently or for many days. They have tools to make commuting and business ownership easier. This time, we have news of work for people in more advanced years, and this work is an offshoot of the initial bicycle partnership. In other words, our members’, partners’, and volunteers’ dedicated attention has helped to create a new employment opportunity for people in Albania and, hopefully soon, many other countries.

The good word came from Ened Mato, the director of Ecovolis, a bike rental and sharing business. As readers may recall, this program is located in Tirana, Albania, and has been doing quite well. Ened just filled us in on recent events and below is his message (translated and edited, but as true to the original as possible):

The story takes place in the city of Pogradec. Lately we have had many girls coming to buy bicycles and many of them asked for baskets to go on them. Since we didn’t have any, we had to go to some other shop to buy the baskets and then install them so the girls would be happier with the bikes. We saw the demand for these baskets increasing and we thought that we could help to increase someone’s income by hiring them to make baskets for us. Through some contacts we had, we gave this idea to a lovely group of 5 women: Margarita Lacka, Medulie Laze, Zhaneta Murrizi, Sevasti Vako and Entela Merka. All are well above 50 years of age and interested in continuing to work or to gain work and, since they were very eager to take on the job, we thought to try having 50 baskets made and sold.

Baskets #2

The life in the village is difficult, and whoever visits these areas knows that each family is barely getting by economically. Most families have 2 or more children, so any alternative for income that becomes available to them is received with gratitude and motivation. Each day these devoted women have to take care of their many home duties and care for their animals and plants and they still find time to work upon the baskets. Every time we have visited them we are greeted by warm smiles and hugs.

Each basket is made with a cost of 650 lek (approximately $5) and at the shop they are sold for 800 lek (approximately $6.20). We try to keep the price to a minimum in order to stimulate this initiative as a social one and not as a “for profit”.

For the initial investment, a monetary sum from the bike sales was gathered and was given to them. Each day this small group creates up to 3 baskets and, for the next batches, we are working together to have more designs. Each basket comes with a pair of small leather straps for mounting. These straps come from the reuse of old leather clothes (jackets, trousers and belts). We are also trying to make the baskets even more attractive by preparing colorful ribbons around them to match the bike color. These ribbons are also made from old clothes.

We currently work with baskets mounted on the front of the bike, but we really want to have more alternatives to offer (even the double basket mounted on the back rack). We are planning to work with batches of 100 baskets and accompanying straps and ribbons. There is a growing interest from girls in Tirana for pedaling, and, if this initiative can make it more attractive to them, we will continue coming up with more like this one.

I hope this story makes you as happy as it made us.

Best wishes,
Ened Mato
Ecovolis Director

bicycles, Fiji, Sewing Partners

Letter from Fiji

Bula Vinaka, Greetings from Fiji

Between 1993 and 2002 we were lucky enough to receive six shipments totaling 1012 bicycles from Pedals for Progress. We were very successful reaching at-risk youth, teaching them basic mechanics and instilling in them a love for cycling.

fijiBikeShopP4PshirtIMG_0015 Due to a variety of reasons both personal and political I was not able to keep the program going. Now I hope to reinvigorate the program for the benefit of all Fijians and have petitioned Pedals for Progress for our sixth shipment of bicycles.

The beautiful Fiji Islands are well known for their unique tropical scenery, tasty food, and eco-friendly life-style, but Fiji is still a developing country. Systems and life-style aren’t diverse compared to other countries.

To help establish a solid foundation I would like to introduce cycling as a major event.

The program I would like to highlight mainly targets unemployed youth and settlers in rural areas. As an example, consider our sugar cane farmers. Many travel quite a distance to their work fields, working long hours and earning a gross salary of $100 U.S. a week.

fijiBikeShop2youthSAM_2925As a volunteer, I live day by day and cover expenses with my own earnings. I do not receive government grants nor have any major sponsors, but due to my love of cycling, I do my best to maintain the bikes. I conduct workshops on topics such as the importance of healthy living, safety and fitness, reasons for cycling, rules of the road, and cycling skills and techniques. I have average turnouts and a good number of trainees and cyclists but do not have enough equipment.

We have very dedicated youths who hold great pride in this sport, but cannot afford bicycles. Receiving another container will give some employment to the youth who are studying mechanics by rebuilding the bikes for the general population, fulfill the needs of the youth who wish to compete on bicycles and also grant mobility to many workers who need basic transportation. Now that Pedals for Progress also ships sewing machines, this would give valuable work opportunities to even more people. It is my ardent hope that the people of the United States will once more aid me in helping my fellow countrymen by donating bicycles and sewing machines so that I can receive a container this autumn.

Vinaka Vakalevu
Percival Epeli Navolo

Sewing Partners

Looking for a few good volunteers

You know Pedals for Progress (www.p4p.org) because we have had great success recycling used American bicycles from the greater New York City / Philadelphia area. In fact we have collected and shipped more than 150,000 bikes to developing nations to spur economic growth. What you might not know is we have a sideline which we hope will become almost as important. We have shipped over 4000 sewing machines!

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While a bicycle will get an individual to work, to school, to play and generally improve their life, a sewing machine is a job in a box. The personal elimination of poverty requires employment. P4P has long had in its mission to create economic opportunity. The bicycle is not a handout; you still have to pedal to make it successful. Likewise a good portable sewing machine gives certain individuals the ability to immediately earn income.

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We have a very specific plan for collecting bicycles—one-day, three-hour events—and we do collect many sewing machines at our bicycle collections. But we need an alternative cost-effective way to more successfully harvest the sewing machines sitting in closets and to do it year round.

P4P would like to assemble a cadre of people who could serve as local collection points in an ongoing collection of sewing machines. If we could find some volunteers who could save up to 20 sewing machines in the corner of their garage, it’s then cost-effective to send out the truck to pick them up. I tell our partners overseas that P4P is item-rich cash-poor and it is true. In many ways we work as a trucking company and need to be mindful of all of the transportation costs from the time we get a sewing machine from the donor until it is delivered to a recipient overseas.

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Our bicycle collections are limited to just the months during the spring and fall. Once we have a large number of sewing machine collection points we will be able to be fully operational 12 months of year. P4P will still collect bicycles only six months a year in the same way we have in the past, but if we run sewing machine collections independently of bike collections we hope to get to 1000 sewing machines per year starting in 2017, which would be a threefold increase in sewing machine production.

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We will also need more tinkerers, to help clean up and refurbish the machines as they come in. If you have a little space and are willing to help please contact Dave at dschweidenback@gmail.com or 908-638-8893. 

Uncategorized

Environmental Laureates’ Call for a CO2 Emissions Tax

March 13, 2015

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Floods, storms, droughts, wild weather fluctuations and the associated economic destabilisation plague the world. Polar ice shields are melting and the sea is rising. Severe heat waves, freshwater exhaustion, local air pollution and the dramatic loss of biodiversity are reaching alarming levels.
Current policies on the burning of coal, oil and gas are making it harder and harder to reach the international goal of limiting global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, let alone the 1.5°C target called for by the least developed countries and small island states, whose very survival is threatened by climate change.

Economic policies in nearly all countries are increasing, not reducing CO2 emissions – the main culprit behind global warming. Fighting climate change and achieving economic growth are too often regarded as an either-or choice.

At the Paris climate summit in December 2015, 194 countries will meet to adopt a new climate change agreement. Countries are being asked to come forward with their own ambitions and plans for curbing carbon emissions.

Pricing carbon is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions and at the same time to catalyse the economic paradigm shift the world needs to survive. The carbon price stimulates clean technology and market innovation, boosting new, low-carbon drivers of sustainable economies.

Taxing carbon emissions creates the incentives to encourage decision-makers at all levels of society to reduce CO2 through less use of fossil fuels, more renewable energy, and increased energy savings.

The carbon tax could start relatively low to ease in the transition (e.g. $5/t CO2) and be ramped up annually (e.g. $1/t CO2) to maximise effectiveness.

Carbon taxes have major advantages over CO2 trading schemes. They are easy to administer,can be made predictable and are less vulnerable to cheating and loopholes.

Revenues should partially be used to finance the international Green Climate Fund to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change and maintain healthy ecosystems. We, winners of the world’s environmental prizes attending the 4th International Convention of Environmental Laureates, call on governments to introduce a tax on CO2 emissions and to phase out fossil-fuel and nuclear subsidies to help put humankind on track to avert catastrophic climate change.

EEF version of this document (PDF)