Summer 2011 InGear
This bike shop, located in Koforidua, Ghana, supplies employment for two mechanics and services this community with bike sales and repair facilities. It is one of the many small bike shops supplied by our Ghanaian partner WEBikes. WEBikes distributes P4P bikes to many small entrepreneurs throughout the southern and eastern parts of Ghana. WEBikes has imported 4,800 bikes and 120 sewing machines since 2006. P4P is planning our next shipment to WEBikes in June of 2011.
All posts by Michael Sabrio
Albanian Program Is a Success
by Nina Këruti
Summer 2011 InGear
This spring we are beginning shipments with PASS/Albania #2. We are so pleased for the success of the program in Tirana. PASS received one container of bikes from Pedals for Progress in July 2010. PASS had two goals for the bikes:
- Creation of job opportunities for Roma Families through bike service.
- Establishment of the first public bike service in Tirana.
The first container held 463 used bikes, 242 bundled bicycle parts, and 30 used sewing machines. Since the container arrived in Tirana last July, PASS has achieved the following:
- 150 bikes were sold to the public at modest cost for operational income.
- 100 bikes were donated to Roma Children schools for social activities developed under the project.
- Public Bike Service has adopted 70 bicycles for general public use. The old Amsterdam Yellow Bike Project model was always effective when someone was responsible for maintenance.
- 50 bicycles are frequently used for bike tours.
- There are 30 bicycles that are designated for bike messengers.
In Tirana, PASS opened four First Bike Services, which translates into the creation of 8 jobs with a range of 15–20 bikes per station. Another part of the project was the creation of bike services, which results in the employment of 4 youths working to maintain the bikes.
What is positive and what we have achieved through the use of bikes is creating a community and a bicycle movement in Tirana. Improvements have been done in the infrastructure and many activities are organized in raising awareness for the use of bikes.
| COUNTRY FACTS: ALBANIA POPULATION: 3.1 MILLION GDP PER CAPITA: $4,400 per year LITERACY RATE: 87% |
One Woman and a Sewing Machine
It is often the case that the hardest and most expensive places to reach are where the greatest need exists. P4P works to surmount obstacles—both physical and financial—that stand in the way of isolated regions realizing economic success. Since 2006, we have measured our success in helping Ugandans develop economic independence by noting the increased demand for the delivery of bicycles. Now, through our existing partnership with the Entrepreneurship Institute of Applied and Appropriate Technology (EIAAT), which receives and distributes our shipments, we have included sewing machines along with the bicycles and extended more opportunities to more Ugandans.
Of course, this is not as simple as it sounds. Uganda is among the most expensive places to ship. Getting from here through the Suez Canal to Mombasa Kenya is relatively reasonable, but our vessel, the Maersk Alabama, was recently attacked again by pirates. Trucking containers inland across thousands of miles from Mombasa Kenya to Kampala Uganda on bad roads is much more expensive than maneuvering within pirate-infested shipping lanes. We funded the most recent shipment with grants from the Helen & William Mazer Foundation and the Clif Bar Family Foundation.
The courageous hard working Jane Kigoye is just one example of how the inclusion of sewing machines in these shipments has begun to change lives for the better. Jane had no employment and worked as best she could in her garden for food. Sometimes she could find beans, nuts, and other cereals and she improvised as best she could. Her husband’s job as a motor vehicle mechanic did not bring in enough money to keep their four children from hunger. Jane did have some knowledge about basic tailoring; all she needed was a reliable sewing machine. As is often the case, necessity breeds innovation and she managed to search out and hire a manual sewing machine and a small shop to operate from. When she made some money, she made some inquiries in Kampala about the cost of sewing machines. From there she was directed to the EIAAT by one of the agents who buys bicycles from them. She went to the institute and, after looking at the various electric sewing machines, selected one. They told her that it cost $85 but, after some bargaining, they settled on $80. She only had $40, so she left that as a deposit and had to leave the sewing machine behind, promising to pay $10 from what she made from the tailoring every week.
During this time she was mastering the art of tailoring and the income she was making was used partly for home provisions and partly for her weekly payments on the sewing machine. As her business grew, she was no longer digging in the garden and she was able to hire casual labor to take the manual chores over. All her efforts were on growing her tailoring business and creating a stable life for her children. This may all sound rather charmed, but it was not an easy path that led to full stomachs and financial security. A major setback occurred after only two weeks of payments.
She arrived at the EIAAT almost in tears telling them that the sewing machine she had hired was taken away from her and she did not know what to do. Inevitably, if she lost her tailoring shop, somebody would readily move in and take over her customers. Getting a new place is very expensive. She would need to be able to pay for three to four months’ rent at once, plus the fee for the house “blocker” who finds the place for her. She would also have to furnish the new place and develop new clients.
| COUNTRY FACTS: UGANDA POPULATION: 25 MILLION GDP PER CAPITA: $1,200 per year LITERACY RATE: 70% |
Connecticut Checks In
by Jackie Johnson
Spring 2011 InGear
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. This was a year after the 9/11 attacks and our nation was on the verge of war. I felt a burning need to do something positive and meaningful, ideally involving my husband and two children (who were then 10 and 12 years old). The article so inspired me that I immediately called Pedals for Progress and said I wanted to organize a bike collection in northwestern Connecticut, where I live. Even though Pedals had never held a collection so far from their base in High Bridge, New Jersey, their response was positive.
Because the fall collection season was already underway, I was encouraged to organize my collection the following spring. But I felt I had to act immediately. I ultimately spoke to Dave and explained why I couldn’t 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. An enthusiastic group of volunteers collected and processed a very chilly 42 bikes that day. They are still the core group of volunteers who have shown up every year since.
May of 2011 (yes, we’ve since switched to spring) will mark our 10th annual collection and will bring our count to over 1500 bikes collected. It would never have been possible without our amazing bike-processing guru/crew leader Tony King, Bruce and Bobbi Sullivan, who always remember to bring everything I forget, and the King and Johnson families.
Over the years, we’ve added many new regular volunteers—the Mayock Family, the Desiderato/Raggio Family and groups of students interested in community service. Sometimes people just happen to see what we’re doing and stay on to help. The greatest joy is that a bike collection truly is an inclusive community event. Anyone at any age can take part, and donors and volunteers alike share in the joy of knowing they’re making a difference in the lives of others. And often the stories donors tell us about the “lives” of the donated bikes are amazing!
Frequently these days, when I’m in the Center (a New England term for downtown) of our small town, someone stops me to ask when the next bike collection is. I feel so fortunate to have noticed that article back in 2002. While we’re a few hours away from High Bridge by car and much farther still from many of the places our donated bicycles have gone, Granby, Connecticut, is blessed to have a thriving Pedals for Progress community.
A Recipe for Collecting Bikes in Northern Vermont
by Joanne Heidkamp
Spring 2011 InGear
The relationship between the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (GMRPCV) and Pedals for Progress began in the summer of 1999, when David Schweidenback approached us for a donation to P4P. We donated $100 and also decided to hold Vermont’s first P4P bicycle collection. That first year we collected 88 bikes and drove them down to New Jersey in a rented U-Haul.
Twelve years later, the GMRPCV is still holding annual collections for P4P and, although the number of bikes varies considerably from year to year, our average collection yields 200 bikes and about $1900 for shipping, as well as many sewing machines. In the last three years we’ve added sewing machines to our outreach, and have collected many of those as well.
Here are some of the key elements that help ensure our continuing success: One huge factor is the support of the local FedEx station, which has provided free shipping from Vermont to New Jersey since 2002. The day before our collection, FedEx drops off a semi truck with four empty containers. When the collection is over, FedEx delivers the containers to New Jersey on a space-available basis. The bikes will arrive at the P4P warehouse anywhere from two weeks to two months after they’ve been collected.
Although the GMRPCV has been the main organizer of the collection each year, a number of local groups have come on board to help promote it, and also help process bikes during the four-hour event. Local Motion, a local bike–pedestrian group, has been steadfast in its support. Several regional solid waste districts have also promoted the collections on their websites and through their newsletters. And we’ve had assistance from teen organizations at high schools and congregations, and from a few local Rotary clubs.
Since the original collection, all of our outreach and announcements for the event have stressed the need for a cash donation, which is critical for shipping, along with each bike or sewing machine. Posters at the collection reinforce the idea that a donated bike is useless unless we can raise enough money to get it to our partners in the developing world, and we always remind people that if they don’t have a bike or sewing machine to donate, donating money for shipping is also a good way to get involved.
We have learned that coverage in the local newspapers is essential to getting lots of bikes donated. For a few weeks before each collection, the group sends out lots of press releases, emails, and posts on Facebook. The area’s largest newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, usually runs a photo and caption about the bike collection during the week before the event; and a number of “hometown” papers will run an article if we focus the story on a volunteer who lives in the community. We also mail a postcard to everyone who donated a bike during the collections of the previous two years. Contacting people via various email lists has also become more important with each passing year.
The group gets a big boost every year from a “one man collection” organized by Gene Bianco, who runs an independent chimney cleaning and repair business in Randolph, Vermont, about an hour from Burlington. Bianco heard about the event in 2004, and started to collect bikes and donations in his community. That first year, he arrived with 31 bikes and $310. His efforts have expanded — in 2009 his truck and trailer were loaded with 75 bikes.
Sowing Peace by Sewing Prosperity
Spring 2011 InGear
P4P’s long practice of supplementing our bicycle shipments with sewing machines has been a great success. Where we ship, little opportunity exists for people to find the employment that will enable them to earn a living wage. So sewing machines are a great way for us to make a difference—they are simple to operate and easy to maintain. With access to electricity, their owners can create their own opportunities to generate work.
We’ve been able to distribute over 1,700 of them worldwide to help give thousands of people the opportunity of self- or full-time employment. They used to be just an extra goodie we could slip into our bike shipments, but now we are able to develop stand-alone sewing programs that we are sometimes able to supply by air freight.
Consider this chart: since we began shipping them in 1999 our sewing machine production has seen an overall increase, despite the challenges of the moribund economy. We need your help to keep this life-changing initiative growing. Sow peace by sewing prosperity, donate today.
A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed
by Constantin Bandiu
Fall 2010 InGear
Pelinia is one of the largest villages in northern Moldova, with a population of over eight thousand. The main occupation for villagers is farming, which keeps most residents busy all year round. Consult-Nord was founded in 2005, with the agreement of Pelinia’s citizens, to be a voluntary, independent, self-administrated, non-political organization to undertake projects for the benefit of the population of the Pelinia region as a whole.
Our association’s aims are to organize area youth and improve their socio-economic condition, to develop close relations with local, national, and international NGO partners, and to establish a closer partnership with the local public administration for more efficient community problem solving. We’ve also founded the Alliance of Community Centers of Access to Information and Training (ACCAIT), currently comprising over 100 centers across Moldova. We are able to maintain our activities through nominal fees for our services and by fundraising from external resources.
By 2006 we were able to implement the “Local Economical Development” project. Its major aim is to eradicate local poverty and unemployment by growing Pelinia’s economic sector and developing its infrastructure by organizing the resources of the community and its citizens. In 2008, due to a partnership with Pedals for Progress, the project was able to bring a container of bicycles from the United States. The aim of this initiative was to provide the bicycles at low cost to help Pelinians solve problems such as traveling around and outside the village efficiently, carrying heavy loads to and from their fields, etc.
One of our most exciting projects has been our modern Sewing Workshop. Besides the bicycles, Pedals for Progress sent us 15 sewing machines. Last summer, with the proceeds of selling some of the bicycles and with the help of the Peace Corps in Moldova, we implemented the Sewing Workshop in the village. We prepared a room with five of the sewing machines, one industrial sewing machine, and the necessary furniture. Girls from the village were taught to perform certain sewing operations such as design and making up prototypes because these are most important in dressmaking. They studied the structure of fabrics, how to take measurements, and how to use the machines. Many of the graduates bought the machines at which they learned and now work at sewing garments for themselves, their families, and others.
Today’s economic crisis has affected us in Moldova, too. Nevertheless, we try to overcome this difficulty using patience and imagination. We don’t wait to act, we work everyday to find a way out. For instance, we have lowered the price of our bicycles to be even more affordable for those whose incomes have been reduced and need even more assistance. We’ve worked to place information and even photos on our web page — in this way we’ve expanded the assistance we are able to provide to other parts of Moldova and even into Romania.
At the end of 2009, with the money we got from selling our original shipment, we had funds enough to pay for the transportation of a new container from Pedals for Progress. We have just begun to make the bicycles available to the public, but I have promised to award two prizes for the best pupils of the year 2009–10 — one pupil from the primary school and the second from the gymnasium (note: in Moldova, the primary school serves students ages 6–10, while the gymnasium serves students ages 10–15). And, of course, we are going to reward the most active volunteers in our various programs.
We are thankful to Pedals for Progress and the American people for providing us the chance to solve some of our everyday problems, like helping us move more quickly through the village and its neighborhood and helping us carry heavy loads more easily. Also, I can’t help mentioning the great help given by Peace Corps Volunteer Darren Enterline. He supported us greatly in implementing the Bikes for Everybody project and in opening the Sewing Workshop. Thank you all ever so much for your kindness and generosity. I wish you to be healthy and continue doing such generous charity for those who really need it so much nowadays.
P4P in Ghana: WEBike, OKURASE, Sew for Sisterhood
WEBike
For Pedals for Progress to get our bicycles to the smallest towns at the end of the road where the need for them is greatest, we need to find a local partner organization that has robust distribution potential. While most of our overseas partners are nonprofits, in a few instances we have chosen to work with effective for-profit organizations. Wright Enterprises is one of these.
Wright Enterprises is a for-profit company that imports consumer goods into Ghana. They have organized and maintain a supply chain across a very large swath of the countryside in order to bring all manner of goods to the small merchants who serve the needs of the local populations. Over the years, the merchants they supplied consistently requested bicycles for their customers, but importing bikes never proved cost-effective. After purchasing them abroad, then adding tariff and transportation costs, the final retail price of their bikes was too high for their end customers. The numbers simply didn’t make sense for them.
Then, in 2006, they contacted Pedals for Progress for assistance. Traditionally, we work with non-profit organizations. For a number of reasons, for-profit partners are usually unsuitable, but working with Wright Enterprises offered us a unique opportunity. As a commercial entity, they can get containers in-country easier because they bypass much of the red tape that keeps many non-profit groups from being effective. Most importantly, though, by partnering with them we gain access to many, many small markets we would otherwise not be able to reach.
For their part, Wright Enterprises established WEBike to distribute P4P bikes at little to no profit for themselves. As good businessmen, they realize that by supplying affordable transportation to their customers, those customers are able to earn more money and buy more of their merchandise. They have proven to be an extremely effective partner. While their main facilities are in Ghana’s capital, Accra, their supply networks extend through Accra’s populous suburbs, up the Volta River, and all along the Cape Coast.
Project OKURASE
The purpose of Project OKURASE (Opportunity, Knowledge, Understanding, Renewed Health, Arts-Based, Skills Training and Education) is to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Ghana by helping vulnerable and orphaned children who are impacted by HIV/AIDS in their family and their village. Click here to read the article on OKURASE in the Fall 2009 INGEAR.
Click here for the Project OKURASE facebook page.
Sew for Sisterhood
P4P is collaborating with the GO Fund to help support Sew for Sisterhood in Ghana. This is a true combined effort: the GO Fund supplies the trainers in the field while we supply the hardware. We are already planning our next joint venture in Kenya.
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Letter from Happy Customers in Rivas, Nicaragua
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EcoBicicletas: P4P Partner in Nicaragua
EcoBicicletas (“EcoBici”) is our partner in Nicaragua. EcoBicicletas is located in Rivas, Nicaragua, in the southwestern part of the country between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua. Rivas, where we’ve shipped since 1992, is the oldest of our active programs, and we have sent more bikes to Nicaragua—more than 42,000—than to any other location. EcoBici is owned and managed by the Santana family, good friends as well as respected professional partners.
EcoBici serves low-income residents in the many small towns of the southern Pacific coast region of Nicaragua, where the terrain is flat and rolling, ideal for cyclists. EcoBici’s “profits” from sales finance small-scale rural community development projects selected and implemented by representative community organizations. These have included the construction of health clinics, schools, community potable-water systems, an infant feeding center, and the planting of community wood lots. EcoBici has also donated P4P-supplied sewing machines and baseball equipment to the José María Moncada School, the Susana López Carazo School, the Nandaime Women’s Center, and the Girasol Women’s sewing co-op on Ometepe Island. Pedals for Progress has placed more than 35% of the adult population of Rivas on wheels, and has created a self-supporting local bicycle import, assembly, and repair business.
- Click here to read more about the early days of EcoBici.
- Click here to read more about Karla Santana, the one-woman operation behind EcoBici. She is second from the left in the photo; her son Carlos, who also works at EcoBici, is on the right.