All posts by Michael Sabrio

bicycles, Ghana, Sewing Partners

Country Update: Ghana

by Joseph Matar
Fall 2013 InGear

Pedals for Progress seeks to stimulate the economy of developing countries through its work. This would be impossible without the cooperation and tireless efforts of its partners throughout the world. One such partner is Wright Enterprises, a company that imports consumer goods to Ghana. Working in conjunction with P4P, Wright Enterprises founded WEBike, an organization that, for little to no profit, distributes bikes and sewing machines to those in need of them. Here is a selection of stories of Ghanaians whose lives have benefited from the work of P4P and WEBike.

fall2013ghanaUsifu1. Usifu is a student teacher in the small town of Walewale in the Northern Region of Ghana. A limited staff at his school means that Usifu must perform multiple duties. First and foremost, he teaches a fourth grade class. Additionally, before morning lessons begin, the students sweep the classrooms and school compound, a job Usifu must be present for to oversee and provide assistance with. There is a distance of 4 kilometers (about 2½ miles) between Usifu’s home and the school. Having to walk made it difficult for him to arrive before the start of classes to complete his duties in time. Furthermore, traveling by foot daily would leave him exhausted, not to mention would cut into the time Usifu, like any teacher, needed to prepare for upcoming lessons. Now, thanks to WEBike, Pedals for Progress’ partner in Ghana, Usifu rides a bicycle to and from school each day. This drastically decreases his travel time, giving him more of the time and energy he needs to do his job. He can now get to school on the dot and is prepared and focused every day when he enters the classroom.

2. In some Ghanaian villages, it is common practice for citizens to pursue auto mechanic apprenticeships. It is a worthwhile career track for many people as, once they have become proficient in the field, they can bring their talents to the bigger cities where the need for mechanics can translate into a lucrative job. Paa Joe is a young man hoping to procure such a position. An apprentice in the Suhum/Kraboa/Coaltar District in the Eastern Region of Ghana, Paa Joe must traverse a distance of 5 kilometers (or over 3 miles) to get from his residence to where he is learning his future trade. Formerly, his only transportation option was one very early bus that would get him to his apprenticeship before the workday proper began. If he missed this bus, he was forced to walk. Either approach left him exhausted. After receiving a bicycle from WEBike, Paa Joe became able to bike to and from his auto mechanic apprenticeship every day. Functioning on his own schedule, he is now energized in his work and much more hopeful that he will one day be able to move to the city to begin a profitable career.
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3. Yaw Aboah is a gristmill operator in Kasoa, a suburb in the Central Region. Long work hours and a distance of 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) between his house and his workplace meant that Yaw was often forced to sleep at the mill. Obviously, this was far from ideal as an industrial building hardly possesses conditions conducive to a good night’s rest. Worse, however, was that sleeping at work would mean Yaw would typically not see his family for days at a time and, further, often had to spend money on meals away from home. Thanks to the bike he’s received, staying overnight at the gristmill isn’t even something Yaw has to take into consideration. He is able to bike easily to and from work every day, providing him with a more economical lifestyle and, most important of all, giving him back his time with his family.

2013fallghanaNanaYaw4. Nana Yaw teaches a sixth grade class at the LA Middle School in Nsawam, a town in Ghana’s Eastern Region. He lives quite far away in a small village called Ayakwah, on the outskirts of the Nsawam area. Covering this distance daily was a huge issue for Nana, but then he received the gift of a bike from WEBike. He can now go between school and home much faster and with much less effort. He is thankful to WEBike for this, as well as for providing him with the means to perform various errands and to travel around the area with ease.


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5. Coming from a poor background, Ama Attah became a seamstress’ apprentice, hoping to learn and eventually use the skill to improve her family’s financial standing. However, shortly after the completion of her apprenticeship, Ama’s sewing machine was one day accidentally knocked from a table to the ground, damaging it beyond repair. As a result of WEBike’s intervention, Ama received another, working sewing machine. She is overjoyed that she can now put the sewing skills she worked so hard to learn to use and can make money to support herself and her family.


ESI6. Esi is a teenager who lives in a small village in the Nkwanta North District of the Volta Region. She is a student at Nkwanta Senior High School. The school is located so far away from where Esi lives that it would take her two hours to walk there. With the school day beginning at 7AM, Esi had no choice but to be up every morning well before 5 in order to be sure to get to class on time. Furthermore, the road she travels on is frequently a busy one, making her daily trek all the more arduous and slow-going. All of these factors contributed to Esi’s fatigue, which was obviously detrimental to her health, especially at a developmental age. It also made it difficult for her to be attentive during school and hard for her to dedicate energy to schoolwork in and out of class. After receiving her bicycle from WEBike, Esi found she was able to negotiate the distance between school and home within an hour, sometimes even managing it in 45 minutes. She is no longer unnecessarily exhausted and is sure to be on time, prepared, and fully alert in class each day.

7. Efoe Kojo lives in Nkwanta in the Volta Region and works as a harvester. Going to and from the field where he works, he had to walk a distance of 6 kilometers (over 3½ miles) in total daily. He also had to carry with him a canteen of water, his lunch, and the machete with which he does his work. This proved to be a serious problem for Efoe as he would repeatedly, upon reaching the field, find himself too tired to do any harvesting. Now that Efoe has his bicycle from Pedals for Progress and WEBike, he is no longer too exhausted to perform his duties. Not only does his bike transport him to work quickly and easily, but, rather than lug his supplies around himself, he can put everything in the bike’s basket.
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8. The partnership with Pedals for Progress doesn’t just benefit those on the receiving end. Joe is an employee with WEBike, distributing bikes around the Kasoa area in the Central Region of Ghana. Thanks to his involvement with WEBike, the people of the Kasoa area now know to go to Joe for reasonably priced bicycles. The money he is making helps him support his family. He is able to afford his rent and pay for any fees that might arise from his children’s schooling.


2013fallghanaMaameYaa9. In Accra, the capital city of Ghana, there are many boys and girls who, after finishing high school, wish to learn to sew. Maame Yaa is a seamstress who runs an apprenticeship program training young people to be seamstresses and tailors. She would not have been able to offer this education without all of the sewing machines she received from WEBike for the children to train on. With her program as a springboard, many of Maame Yaa’s students are able to become self-employed and Maame herself profits from her business, all thanks to the sewing machines from WEBike and Pedals for Progress.

Nicaragua, Peace Corps, Sewing Partners

Island Co-op Begins to Grow Roots

by Noelle London
Fall 2013 InGear

Last year as I sat at the high school graduation in the rural community of Balgüe, Nicaragua, I counted that a third of the girls in my class were either pregnant at the time or already had a child. I know I am failing to count a few as I was unaware they were mothers and that many other girls failed to make it to graduation day, dropping out previously due to teen pregnancy. Aside from this obvious problem, many other young Nicaraguan women choose to drop out of high school due to the pressure to provide for family needs within the household. Many may feel a need to be at home to complete daily chores like patting tortillas and cooking beans, looking after the men’s needs in the household, or caring for young children. While many urban communities may see a different situation, this is still the reality of a Nicaraguan woman in a rural community.

The island of Ometepe, Nicaragua
The island of Ometepe, Nicaragua

You see, this takes place on Ometepe, an idyllic island where at any point you look up to find two looming volcanoes within a freshwater lake. It’s considered the pearl of Nicaragua. Mark Twain has been known to write of it and a couple years ago it was shortlisted for the seven great wonders of the world. It is essentially a little slice of paradise. But, on the other hand, this paradise falls short of providing many opportunities for youth to plan their futures. Employment opportunities that allow islanders to stay on the island are hard to come by.

With the brightest students, you often see that a “brain drain” syndrome is ever present. Usually if youth come from families with resources they will study in the university in the capital, pick a career that makes it hard to find work on the island, and are forced to stay in the capital to find employment. I was proud to see many of my last year’s high school seniors go on to study advanced careers, but the reality is—how many dentists do you need on a rural island when dental care is still viewed as a luxury? For those that do not or cannot choose higher education, employment is still a challenge. Last year when I asked a young woman what she would do following high school, she told me that she would most likely emigrate to Costa Rica to find work. Many feel that more opportunities lie abroad than in Nicaragua.

Hopefully, as the economy shifts from agriculture to tourism, the diversity will bring more opportunity and islanders will realize the necessity to focus on the training of trades. With tourism, there is a need for some push from government and educational institutions for programs like business education and English training. With sustainable employment opportunities, more islanders will be able to stay closer to home while also allowing tourism to develop in a sustainable manner where the benefit is felt in more island communities.

Girasol Members in Ometepe, Nicaragua
Girasol Members in Ometepe, Nicaragua

A recent donation of six sewing machines by Pedals for Progress has helped to improve the lives of one particular group of women, Girasol Sewing Cooperative. (A girasol is a sunflower in Spanish). This sewing cooperative on the Island of Ometepe was started to provide an opportunity to learn the trade of sewing to improve their personal economic situation as well as that of their families and community. Sewing provides an income-generating activity for the women of the community of Balgüe, where employment opportunities for women are virtually non-existent.

Creating a self-sustaining sewing cooperative on an island can be difficult, as resources like sewing machines and materials still have to be imported by boat. This in turn drives up the prices of basic goods like school uniforms. However, what is beautiful about the Nicaraguan entrepreneurial spirit is that these women can view opportunities when many others view challenges. For Girasol, these challenges bring opportunities as tourism grows, and there is opportunity to break into a market where the majority of souvenirs come from the off-island departments of Masaya or Granada.

In March of 2012, these women were sitting in a classroom as we reviewed what a basic fraction and decimal were, as none of them were able to finish high school due to circumstances beyond their control. At the same time, the women participated in sewing classes led by the designer Kim Farrugia and began laying the foundation for their very own sewing workshop. Currently, in a little over a year, they have begun selling in multiple locations on the island and preparing their first international orders.

Pedals for Progress has continued to lend a helping hand promoting economic development in Nicaragua as well as many other countries around the world. It is notable what a couple hundred cordobas extra a month can do for a women. However, less talked about and equally important is the role of this cooperative in the personal lives of these women. The majority of these women are single mothers and have also never had the opportunity in their lives to earn a peso for themselves. Many still have to ask permission from their spouses to buy basic household necessities like toilet paper. With learning the trade of sewing, these women are allowed to see the potential of their own two hands, develop their creativity in a society that does not always nourish it, and understand the pride that comes from being able to contribute a small income to their families.

With P4P’s donation, the current cooperative will be able to formalize. More importantly, these sunflowers will be able to grow. With the new machines, there are plans to hold a new sewing course and to allow new women to be incorporated into the group as it expands. This means more women within the community are given a reason to get out of the house to go to triweekly meetings reminding them that they are strong, creative, and smart women. This is women’s empowerment, and it would not have been possible without the help of P4P.

Pedals for Progress has improved the quality of life for many Nicaraguans in the department of Rivas, with currently over 22,500 bicycles donated. In addition, P4P’s new partnership with Girasol Sewing Cooperative and donation of sewing machines has helped to lay a foundation for sustainable economic development on the island of Ometepe. Girasol’s transition from a project to a sustainable, independent business would have been difficult without the help of David Schweidenback, his team, and the contributions from Pedals for Progress’s supporters.

Noelle London
Peace Corps Nicaragua
Small Business Development 56
London.noelle@gmail.com

bicycles, Guatemala, Sewing Partners

Country Update: Guatemala

Spring 2013 InGear

Doña Marina lives in the town of San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala in the county of San Antonio. Growing up, Marina’s family was very poor. She was never given the opportunity to attend school as her father died in 1980, leaving her with the responsibility of taking care of both her mother and her handicapped sister.

2013springGuatSewingTo help provide for the family, Marina learned to sew. She started out making aprons and small cushions, each of which sold for the equivalent in American currency of one penny and one-and-a-half pennies respectively. Over time, Marina’s skill improved so that she was capable of sewing blouses, skirts, day dresses, wedding dresses, and women’s pants. For many years, she used the same sewing machine: an extremely old, foot-operated model. This made performing the work integral to her livelihood a laborious and protracted task.

However, in the year 2000, Marina received her first electric sewing machine from Pedals for Progress partner, FIDESMA. This greatly increased the ease with which she could produce garments. Furthermore, as a result of the added speed provided by an electric sewing machine, Marina was able to take on many more jobs. Eventually, in 2012, she made enough money to purchase herself a second sewing machine.

Doña Marina is extremely grateful to Pedals for Progress and FIDESMA for giving her the opportunity to own two electric sewing machines despite her low income. She is now able to work much more rapidly and can produce multiple items of clothing daily. Now, with the extra money she makes, Marina can better support her sister and her elderly mother.

 

Héctor Rolando Sunuc Mututz is a 33-year old Guatemalan who has worked for the Catholic mission, The Apostles of Infinite Love, since he was a child. Born into a poor family, Rolando always needed to make money, forcing him to abandon his education after completing elementary school. With his family having so few resources, The Apostles of Infinite Love took care of and looked after Rolando throughout his childhood. Now, as an adult he is still with the mission and has become one of its key employees.
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Rolando is married and has four children. He and his family live in the town of San Andrés Itzapa, 2km away from the mission. In need of transportation to and from work, Rolando’s only option initially was to hire a motorized tuk-tuk on a daily basis. However, considering his modest income, this was not a practical solution to his transportation problem. So, Rolando turned to FIDESMA, a Pedals for Progress partner that distributes bicycles, supports agricultural extension, and performs other services within the community of the San Andrés Itzapa area.

The bicycle Rolando received from FIDESMA and P4P provides him with his own method of transportation for his daily commute. Furthermore, with the goal of him and his family becoming fully self-sufficient, Rolando has acquired some land on which he grows corn, beans, and various other fruits and vegetables. However, the land is 10km away from his home. He is only able to tend to his garden and keep it flourishing thanks to his bicycle that allows him to make the 20km round trip once every week.

Rolando states that he is very thankful to FIDESMA and Pedals for Progress for their bicycle program. As affordable transportation options in his area are scarce, Rolando would have to walk for hours and hours to accomplish what he can instead do quite rapidly now that he has a bike. Above all, Rolando is just happy to have the ability to get to where he needs to go on his own terms.

Sewing Partners

Incarnations of Unwanted Sewing Machines: From Landfill Candidate to Instrument of Economic Recovery

by Patricia Hamill
Spring 2013 InGear

It’s true. Most high-end products and appliances these days are more expensive to fix than to replace and, though this is an uncomfortable reality, it is one that most Americans have become used to. So, until we can address and rectify this wasteful trend in production, what is one to do with machines destined to be discarded? No one really wants to add to landfills and groundwater pollution even if replacement is the only economical option; but these things can’t be stored in a “cloud” like data.

newtonsewingFor teachers in the Governor Livingston High School (GLHS) in Berkeley Heights, NJ, this problem became a pressing issue. Because of the high cost of labor in the United States, it became necessary to replace the aging sewing machines in the school’s Home Economics class rather than to repair them. It was not, however, an option for the school to simply toss the rejected machines in the garbage. Having heard about P4P’s programs and realizing that sewing machines are part of the organization’s collection focus, GLHS chose to donate rather than dump their 15 sewing machines.

It is not often that a group, school, or organization is able to support economic development in another country while also ensuring that American students get training in needed skills. While this option became a reality for GLHS, there was still the issue of repairing the machines for use once they found a stopping point at P4P. Mark and Martha Hall represent the unseen portion of the process that gets the sewing machines from rejection and collection to distribution. Martha recalls her initial contact with P4P: “I first learned of P4P when my local YMCA did a bicycle collection in 2006. We had the typical basement full of outgrown and unused bicycles. I brought several over to that collection.” When she went to the web site to learn more about P4P’s collections and partners, she learned that sewing machines were also in demand. This got her full attention: “I like the idea that unused sewing machines can be put back to good use in teaching young people how to sew and especially to help women set up independent and productive sewing businesses.”

spring2013elSalvadorSewer1Martha’s interest in sewing developed in her Home Economics class as a child, continued into her activities in the Girl Scouts, and evolved into a passion for creating quilts and quilted art. It took some time, but, in 2011, Martha was able to gather her quilters’ guild members and schedule a sewing-machine collection. With the help of P4P staff member Gary Michel, Martha and her husband Mark oversaw the event, and, thanks to the participation of the guild members and public outreach, 16 sewing machines arrived to await new homes.

Many of our readers are not privy to the work required after we have finished a day’s collecting. P4P is not just a transportation center for bicycles and sewing machines. It is a stop point for evaluation and rehabilitation of the cycles and machines and we take very seriously the importance of providing reliable and lasting goods as well as access to resources for repairing these after they have arrived at our partners’ bases.

It was during the above 2011 collection that a casual conversation led to Mark becoming P4P’s go-to man for the repairs of donated machines. According to Martha, they established an efficient and thorough process with Mark being the overall repairman and Martha being in charge of cleaning the parts and doing the test runs of finished machines. Ultimately all of the machines are cleaned, their gears greased, and all moving parts oiled. Dried out rubber O-rings are replaced so that bobbin winders run smoothly. New needles are a must. Any machines too far gone to be fixed are used for parts. Finally, each machine is tagged and ready for David or Gary to retrieve them for shipping to waiting partners.

The particular machines from the Governor Livingston High School were destined for a group of women living in the barrio Rosario Tablon in the county of Tenancingo, El Salvador, a country where P4P’s partner CESTA has run other environmental programs. Tenancingo (Tenantzincu or the “place of the little valleys”) is located north of San Salvador and is counted as part of an extension of the “department” or region of Cuscatlán, created for the Yaquis and Pipil Indians. The twelve years of armed conflict that began in 1980 and engulfed all of El Salvador severely affected this region, causing this county to have one of the highest rates of poverty in the entire country. Of the approximately 7,488 inhabitants, 1,195 people are located in urban surroundings and 6,293 live in rural environs. CESTA’s mission is to support the creation of a sustainable economy and improved lifestyle for these people.

spring2013elSalvadorSewer2The opportunities for income here are limited and CESTA and the mayor’s office of the town work together to generate more options for people in the rural locations of Rosario Tablon, Pepeto, Corral Viejo, and Rosario Perico. Tenancingo is currently best known for its palm plantations and the production of palm hats, which are braided by hand by the women who live in this area and sold in Cojutepeque as well as in San Salvador. There are other opportunities for income generation like ownership of small commercial stores, various types of agricultural activity such as pig farming, and seasonal work, mechanical repair and security services but, just as with any developing infrastructure, there must be economic growth. When the municipal government realized the potential that the influx of sewing machines held, they requested that CESTA increase the number to about 30 with a plan to create small factories for sewing and dressmaking where many women and young people would be employed.

So it is that the ten sewing machines from the 15 collected in New Jersey arrived fully repaired and ready for work in Rosario Tablon, where the group who received these sewing machines constructed a cultural center in which different sewing skills such as embroidery, dressmaking, and tailoring are practiced. The parts of the unsalvageable 5 machines were incorporated into these 10 or set aside for future repairs. Nothing wasted. The people awaiting the future deliveries of machines may never know that their future employment was influenced by the choice of one American school to incorporate global awareness into its own financial considerations.

If our readers had not before comprehended the impact that a few Americans and their seemingly obsolete possessions have had and will continue to have on international economic development, empowerment of women, and skills acquisition for the young, the above system of collection, repair, and distribution hopefully illuminated the tangible contributions of P4P and its partners to this change. For the many of us who did not know who works behind the scenes ensuring that contributions are truly ready for immediate use and long-term continuity, this revelation offers a new dimension to the image of who it is that steps up and gets involved in our mission.

For more information: P4P CESTA page, CESTA home page (Spanish)

bicycles, Vietnam

Microloans and Bicycles in Vietnam

Spring 2013 InGear

Tran Thi Cam Nhung is a farmer living with her family in the Vinh Long province of southern Vietnam. Nhung and her husband, Nguyen Van Can, have two children, a five-year-old son and a thirteen-year-old daughter. Having little money, Nhung and her family have always had to work hard to make ends meet.

spring2013vietnamWomanOnBikeIn 2009, Nhung joined the microfinance program of the Dariu Foundation, a partner with Pedals for Progress. The Dariu Foundation provides low-income families such as Nhung’s with microloans to assist them in the process of generating savings. The group also offers financial services poorer families would normally not have access to, such as help with fostering basic savings skills, investment advice, and guidance toward making sure money does not go wasted.

Nhung took out several loans for the purpose of investing in her farm, on which she grows rice and various vegetables and raises animals such as pigs and chickens. Her daughter, currently in seventh grade, spends half her days at school and half at home, helping her mother on the farm by tending the crops, feeding the animals, and collecting eggs.

Although Nhung and her family work hard to grow and maintain their farm, they do not have much to work with, only owning a small plot of land. As such, Nhung and her husband Can must work whatever other jobs they are able to find to support the family.

Can works as a mason, taking construction-site positions and working at brick manufacturing plants. Nhung, too, works various labor-intensive positions, some days spending long hours harvesting in rice fields, other days gutting and cleaning fish at local fish processing operations. With the two parents working so much, their daughter must take time off from school to—in addition to working on the farm—help with house chores and pick up and look after her younger brother once he is done with kindergarten for the day.

Unfortunately, a lack of transportation limited Nhung and Can’s ability to find work. They were only able to take jobs at nearby villages within walking distance and found the amount of work available in these places to be sparse. Though the entire family was pitching in, being able to travel no further than their immediately surrounding areas severely hindered whatever potential there might have been for them to create a stable income.

However, in September of 2012, out of hundreds of disadvantaged women, Tran Thi Cam Nhung was chosen to receive a used bicycle jointly donated by Pedals for Progress and the Dariu Foundation. Having the bicycle has since proven to be a great boon to the family’s livelihood, helping them in every facet of their daily routine.

Now Nhung is able to make more money from her farm by transporting eggs, vegetables, chickens, and pork to the local market for sale early every morning. Afterward, her husband will ride the bike to villages farther off where more masonry work is available. The couple’s income has doubled, raising their earnings from $5 to $10 per day on average—a considerable difference for a family of humble means in rural Vietnam. Furthermore, now that the couple can use their bicycle to find work more easily and make money more readily, they can gradually spend less time searching for employment and more time with their children.

This is just one story. Since 2011, the Dariu Foundation has been assisting numerous families throughout Vietnam, thus far distributing over one-thousand used bicycles, all donated by Pedals for Progress.

bicycles, Nicaragua

Country Update: Nicaragua

Spring 2013 InGear

In the early nineties, Pedals for Progress founder and current president, David Schweidenback, met Wilfredo Santana of Ecobici, a low-income bicycle distributor based in Rivas, Nicaragua. Together, they developed the concept of revolving funds in order to sustainably pay for the cost of transporting bicycles from the United States to Nicaragua. In 1992, Jose Dolores Hernandez purchased one of the first bikes shipped to Ecobici by Pedals for Progress.

Jose Dolores
Jose Dolores

The bicycle was a Raleigh 26” mountain Bike and proved to be a highly dependable vehicle for Jose. He, his wife, and his three sons made varied use of the bike for fifteen years. Throughout this period, Jose, a mason and general contractor by trade, made countless trips transporting tools and materials between his home and multiple worksites.

Unfortunately, in 2007, while riding the Raleigh, one of Jose’s sons accidentally landed on it in such a way that he broke the bicycle’s frame. It was therefore that Jose was forced to buy another bicycle. He managed to get another bike of decent, though not quite as good quality as his first one. Regardless, Jose, now 65 and a grandfather of three grandchildren, continues to take great care of his second bike and uses it for work daily. Furthermore, Jose’s son eventually managed to repair the original Raleigh and that bike, originally purchased in 1992, has now become an indispensable tool to another generation. Pedals for Progress’ partnership with Ecobici was the organization’s first, long-lasting major program and is still currently in operation. Since its inception, Pedals for Progress has shipped 52 containers, or over 22,000 bicycles, to the small town of Rivas, Nicaragua with still more to come.

Nicaragua, Sewing Partners

Sewing in Nicaragua

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Juan Carlos and Migdalia Dávila, live in Diriamba, Carazo, Nicaragua, they are both 58 years old and have 1 son who is 11 years old. Until November of 2008 Juan Carlos worked as an office assistant for a private company in Jinotepe. Even though he had a steady job he worked as a tailor at night to make some extra money for his family. Since the help of the sewing machines from Pedals for Progress came 2 years ago, Juan Carlos and his wife Migdalia have been building a small side business so that if Juan Carlos lost his job they would have another source of income. So when he was told that he was no longer needed in his position they were ready. Today Juan Carlos and his family are able to make ends meet with their sewing. They sell dresses, blouses and men’s clothing. They are grateful to Pedals for Progress for the high quality yet affordable machines P4P provides in Nicaragua.

bicycles, Ghana

The Sponge Man

by Patricia Hamill
Winter 2012 InGear

Opoku is a trader who deals in sponges. A lot of sponges if he is lucky. He reaches his potential customers by travelling around and hawking (calling out) his wares. Before Opoku received his bicycle, a usual day saw him transporting the sponges by hanging them around his shoulders, strapping the rest on his back, and heading off to peddle his goods on foot. Individual dry sponges are relatively light, but hauling large numbers attached to your body is a whole different thing. Then add trying to walk with these crowding your limbs. Covering long distances in a timely fashion and keeping up the energy needed to vociferously attract your buyers is not the most reasonable expectation, but Opoku’s family must be fed and he has made use of what he has at his disposal: his body and voice.

The Sponge Man, Opoku, on his daily route
The Sponge Man, Opoku, on his daily route

While there could be worse options, such as no work at all, there is no reason why Opoku and his family should not have every possible opportunity to make their days more profitable and less exhausting. Our partnership with WEBike in Ghana has given Opoku a chance to cover more ground and reach a wider customer base. He might still be crowded by the sponges, but the bike helps distribute the weight and gets him to his destinations with less exertion. Good health and fitness also replace exhaustion. What is extremely important to keep in mind is that Opoku lives in a very busy and often congested area of Ghana called Accra.

Covering long distances is not an unusual part of the life of many of the people we have spotlighted over the years, but the type of commute is to be considered. Some of the people who now use bikes travel long dusty roads, some travel rocky and treacherous hills, others busy streets. Opoku’s work takes him through large towns and neighborhoods where maneuvering on foot with awkward bulk can become incredibly difficult. Now, any reader can attest to the fact that wheels cover more distance than feet, so, with the bicycle, Opoku has the opportunity to reach so many more customers in this consumer-rich region. All he has needed is a way to cover more ground so he could reach a more inland town like Kaneshie and also reach one more in the direction of the coast like Manprobi. With the bike, he can plan more varied daily routes and make a wider sweep of the map.

bicycles, Ghana

On a Bicycle Built for Two

by Patricia Hamill
Winter 2012 InGear

While many of our readers have seen some fun and funky bikes being ridden by their happy new owners, we thought it was interesting to include this photo of a model that we don’t often see around our own towns. Well, yes, if you live by the seaside, it may not be such a novelty, but tandem bikes are not the norm for certain. This great ride was collected by Henry Hansen and the Vineland Rotary Club. Judging from the group of kids around it, you can probably bet it’s a fun distraction as well as practical vehicle. And it is without a doubt a very practical and necessary acquisition for the adults you see riding it. The photo gives the impression of a serene and possibly rural road, but these people are posing in a location that is anything but isolated. Oshee is a suburb in Accra, Ghana. This heavily populated and extremely busy area is where this couple resides. Their commute to work at Awoshie, also a suburb in Accra, is about a 6 kilometer journey (3.73 miles).

Adu and Yaa on their tandem bicycle
Adu and Yaa on their tandem bicycle

Adu, a carpenter, and Yaa, a trader, have to wake up early and board a bus that will take them from Oshee to Awoshie daily. To the American consciousness, this seems a simple and short commute; but, for Adu and Yaa, this is a time-consuming ordeal. They face competition for the overcrowded buses that then must navigate congested roads filled with the surging waves of workers heading in the same direction. The stress resumes for the return home. Riders have to line up and often wait several hours before a bus arrives with available seats or reasonable standing room. Time spent on line and in traffic is taken away from other more productive endeavors.

Now, with the help from P4P’s partner in Ghana, WEBike, the problem is solved. Adu and Yaa no longer need to wake up at dawn to join the bus or line up at night. The tandem bike that they now own can glide them quickly by the stalled lanes of traffic and into Awoshie and change an interminable and expensive four-mile journey into a managable endeavor on their schedule. An added bonus is that the money they save on the bus commute can be used for other necessities.

The benefits of this option for travel extend beyond the advantages to Adu and Yaa. Two fewer people are dependent on fossil fuels and are not contributing to heavy pollution in the area. Two may be a small number, but as many more people gain access to reliable, cheap, and quick modes of travel, there can only be a benefit to the larger population and environment. If they can effect that change while cruising on a rather unusual set of wheels, even better.

bicycles, Nicaragua

Cycling Cowboys

by Patricia Hamill
Winter 2012 InGear

When asked to think about ranches and cowboys, many Americans picture John Wayne charging after rustlers or even James Stewart riding easily along, bell gently ringing as it swings from his saddle horn. Some think about modern ranchers using helicopters to move the herds and blocking off watering holes to force the animals (and local wildlife) to move to new sources of water and grazing. The first is not accurate, the second, disruptive and wasteful. But do we think at all about cowboys outside of North America? In fact, there are choices that ranchers and cowboys in Nicaragua make that are not only forward-looking, but directly related to American industry. No, this is not about where to get your next burger, this is about how the cowboys alleviate a concern that many a cowhand has had to ponder since the business of cattle came about: How do I do my job with the least expense to myself financially and physically?

Javier Venegas working on the ranch
Javier Venegas working on the ranch

The answer, for some, is simple: Use a bicycle. This at first seems unrealistic. The amount of ground to be covered each day and the uneven terrain to navigate together make you think that this is not a good long-term answer. But, it is. And Javier Venegas is one of many who can attest to the practicality and financial pluses of replacing a horse with a bike.

The owners of large farms have regular need of cowboys out with the herds. They need men to move the cattle from pasture to pasture and to protect the cattle from being rustled by thieves and the poor who may think that one or two missing cattle won’t count to the owner. Traditionally, the cowboys rode around on horses all day—and some still do—but not Javier. Javier is a mountain bike rider and, on a daily basis, he herds a hundred head of cattle for the owners of a ranch named Plazuelas.

Work in the countryside begins at 5 a.m. and lasts until noon and, after a rest period, tasks are resumed for the afternoon. Now, not all work on a ranch requires use of a horse; but, even so, the horses can only be on the job for about 40 hours a week.

Just like many of the cowboys in America (in movies and real life) these men own their own horses—they are not provided to them. This means that part of their earnings goes back into feeding their animals, shoeing or trimming their feet, and any vet bills that may be necessary for treating injuries or for maintenance (worming, vaccinations, floating (filing) teeth, etc.). This can cost as much as $50 (U.S.) a week in Nicaragua and this is very expensive for a rural population that is quite poor. The bike, however, is always at the ready and is much cheaper to maintain. In fact, Javier is a bike lover, so he is fortunate to be able to ride his preferred method of transportation and get paid while doing it.

The first thought that came to me while writing this was that it seemed like a lot of extra physical effort would be needed to herd cattle with a bike. Professional trainers and competitive riders will attest that riding a horse is not a passive effort, but if most of the cowboys’ day is spent at the walk, with occasional trotting and cantering, they really don’t get much exercise. According to Javier, the bicycles are not difficult to maneuver and often offer easier access to some terrain than the horse. As well, many of the men prefer the extra exercise on the bikes and view cycling as a chance to become fit on the job. The only job the horse seems to do better than the bikes is move quite fast at sudden notice, but they can only maintain that for so long and this is not a regular need.

Overall, the trend in the Rivas area is toward eliminating the use of horses and purchasing mountain bikes from EcoBici instead. This is a much more cost-efficient decision for the cowboys of Nicaragua and certainly presents a much lighter economic and ecological footprint option than helicopter wrangling or disrupting the local wildlife habitats by blocking watering holes. Yet again, American bicycles have a multifaceted impact on a multitude of lives and lifestyles. Maybe some of our own cattlemen should read this newsletter.