Category Archives: bicycles

bicycles, Nicaragua

A One-Woman Operation

InGear Fall 2005

Scarlet Bello, or Karla as she is more widely known, owns and runs EcoBicicletas in Rivas, Nicaragua. She opened her shop 3 years ago but her relationship with Pedals for Progress goes back at least 10 years. Karla began working with P4P’s partner Grupo Sofonias in Jinotepe, Nicaragua in 1997. Karla was the manager of the bicycle shop. As such she was in charge of everything from inventory, pricing to selling bicycles. Karla was able to create a viable business for Grupo Sofonias while selling quality bicycles to people in need of transportation.

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In addition to being a wife, mother of 2 children and working full time, Karla attended the University in Managua to receive her degree in Accounting. She wanted to get a better understanding of how to run a business from the inside out. She already had the practical know-how of running a business but wanted to get the academic training as well. Due to medical problems in 2002 Karla was unable to continue working for Grupo Sofonias. This is where she becomes an exception to the normal custom in Nicaragua. Once Karla had recovered and was able to work, she and her husband decided to open another bicycle shop in their home town of Rivas. For Karla the bicycle business is her lifeline. She explained to me that “As a woman over the age of 35 in Nicaragua, I am condemned to a life of unemployment in the professional sector, unless I work for myself.” For professional women in Latin American countries this is all too common. The job market caters only to single women under the age of 35.

Karla lives and breathes the bicycle business. She loves every aspect of her work. With her expressive face she explained all of her roles in EcoBicicletas. When a container of bicycles arrives in Rivas from Pedals for Progress, Karla must travel to Rivas (about 30km) daily for 10 days straight. The process of unloading, sorting and pricing the bikes is all overseen by Karla. Once the bikes are ready to sell, Karla keeps the warehouse and what she has sold.

She also prepares the accounting books for review by the company’s accountant. It is very difficult to fake the enthusiasm I saw in her face and the words she used to describe her business. What I most admire about Karla is that she is a business woman who understands market-driven prices and how to keep her operating costs down, but more importantly she is a very compassionate and trusting employer. “I treat my employees as if they are part of my family. I give them a bonus at the end of the year, buy them birthday presents, and even help some pay for their children to go to school. If I show them that I respect them, I will never have any problems in my shop.” Out of her 5 employees, 3 of them are single mothers who would also be subject to the same job market restrictions Karla was subject to when she returned to work after recovering from her medical condition. Since 2002 Karla has been able to sell around 1,500 bikes per year. EcoBicicletas does not even need to advertise their products; the people know when the new bikes arrive in Rivas. Due to her success in Rivas, Karla has opened a second shop in Nandaime, a smaller city than Rivas, but she is able to sell around 50 bikes a month there.

There has been somewhat of a phenomenon in Nandaime with the bicycle repair and parts businesses. They have seen almost twice the amount of customers since EcoBicicletas has come to town. The positive economic effects of EcoBicicletas can be seen in many ways. What does Karla enjoy most about owning EcoBicicletas? “When I see a mother who does not have a lot of money come to my store and she is able to buy a quality bike for her child, one that she knows will last and let her child go to school, that is the best part. To see her expression of pride that she was able to get this bicycle, that is why I do this.” Karla also takes great pride in the sewing machines that she donates to people and organizations in need. She has been to known to give some to the “House of the Woman” in Nandaime, so now they can hold courses at no cost to women who want to learn how to sew. There are several under-funded technical high schools around Rivas that have benefited from the sewing machines as well. This is her way of giving back to her community, her social responsibility.

As an overseas partner of Pedals for Progress, Karla has been able to accomplish many goals that women in most developing countries are not able to do. She is her own boss, trusting employer and teacher. Karla’s story is one of self-empowerment through something as simple as selling bikes. Karla has been able to create an independent life for herself and her family and helped her community by partnering with Pedals for Progress. EcoBicicletas is a definite success story for Pedals for Progress, but this success would not have been possible without Karla’s careful direction and dedication.

bicycles, Vietnam

It’s More Than Luck for this Lottery Ticket Seller

by Nguyen Van Hanh
Winter 2011 InGear

Mr. Tran Van Oanh, 56 years old, was born to a poor family in Vung Liem district, in the Mekong province of Vinh Long, 180 km west of Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to his economic hardship, he was born with a hearing impairment. By the late 1980s, he was married and became the father of two children. During the 1990s, he took on many different kinds of work, including masonry and cutting rice for land owners. Even with this effort and hard labor, he could hardly earn enough to feed his family. By 2000, he became ill and weak and could no longer do hard work, so he took on a job as a lottery ticket seller, a popular job in the poor region of Mekong Delta. Most of the family’s income is still generated from his occupation.

Although unable to hear, he can speak and is very friendly and does relatively well, but it still remains hard for him to afford food and other expenses for the family. Many people do buy lottery tickets from him, sometimes not because of their interest in the game but because of his circumstances. He has to walk from dawn to dusk around 25-30 km in the district to sell the tickets. He can sell around 100 tickets every day and earns around 5 U.S. dollars.

At the end of July 2011, he was granted a bicycle, donated by Pedals for Progress through The Dariu Foundation (TDF) and Vinh Long Friendship Organization, and has used the bicycle for his job since then. The Dariu Foundation is a Swiss non-government organization, operating in Vietnam since 2003 with a focus on poverty reduction and education development through programs of microfinance, scholarships for poor students, building kindergartens, and offering training in computer skills to rural students. Mr. Tran is one among more than 500 poor families in Vinh Long province who are lucky enough to get the donated bicycles from P4P through The Dariu Foundation. This was the first shipment by P4P to Vietnam, and the next one is expected to be shipped this November.

Today, there are more than 15,000 households benefiting from TDF’s microfinance services, served by a portfolio of 2.1 million U.S. dollars. “I am very happy because firstly it is a very nice and good bike. Secondly, it is my dream to have a bike to help my job be much more convenient. And lastly it helps double my sales and income. Previously, I just earned $4.00-$5.00 per day, but now I can gain $10.00 a day,” said Mr. Tran. “I hope I can soon earn and save enough money to pay for my wife’s surgery. Now I can go home early to help my wife with housework and take care of the family,” he added.

bicycles, Ghana, Sewing Partners

Ghana Says “Medaase”

Spring 2010 InGear

Project OKURASE building in Ghana
Project OKURASE building in Ghana

Project OKURASE, in Ghana, recently received their second container from Pedals for Progress, bringing the overall numbers shipped there to over 1,000 bicycles, 100 sewing machines, and even some soccer gear. These shipments have given a welcome boost to the Project’s mission to provide skills-training and formal education to vulnerable children and women, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.

A number of undertakings and partnerships support the Project’s mission. Currently, one of the most dynamic initiatives is providing local women and children with a general education, vital job skills, and the opportunity for entrepreneurship. This is the area in which P4P has been able to most directly assist. With the bicycles received to date, the Project has been able to open two retail bike shops. The larger shop is located in the Dansoman district of Ghana’s capital, Accra, allowing the bikes to be distributed to the mass of people in the city. The second shop is located in the village of Okurase. Here, in addition to the main business of getting bicycles to those in need, interested villagers can learn bike repair and also the financial skills necessary to budget for a life-changing bicycle. The village has received the bicycle program very well.

But Project OKURASE’s name refers to more than just the village in which it is based. It is an acronym for the concepts its co-directors, Dr. Samuel Nkrumah Yeboah and Cynthia Cupit Swenson, PhD, see as the underpinnings of their mission: opportunity. For example, the distribution of bicycles supports this mission by helping farmers spend more time in their fields and less time in transit, by helping vendors bring more goods to market, and also by helping people from far-flung surrounding communities reach the Project’s educational programs.

Students with their final products
Students with their final products

One of the most exciting of these educational programs is Rhion’s Sewing Centre. Established in Okurase upon the arrival of the first shipment of P4P sewing machines, it not only teaches young women needlecraft but also business skills. The Project’s U.S.-based volunteer creative director, Rhion Magee (who is also a creative director for DreamWorks Animation) has helped the Project design and develop marketable products handcrafted from readily-available recyclable materials. One example of what the women make and sell is an attractive and durable marketbag made of repurposed flour and rice bags. This and other products are available globally from the Project’s website.

The women of Rhion’s Sewing Center are also supporting one of Project OKURASE’s most inspiring efforts. In a partnership with a nonprofit group in Los Angeles, they are introducing an international line of children’s clothing. These clothes will be made from Ghanaian fabric, in Los Angeles, by women who are in recovery from difficult life situations. A portion of the proceeds will return to the women of Rhion’s Sewing Centre so they can produce more fabrics, and also make school uniforms for orphans and impoverished children in Ghana.

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Project OKURASE has also used P4P machines in their sewing outreach program. It is simply not possible for every interested woman or child to reach a place like Rhion’s Sewing Centre. So, the Project donates sewing machines to other local partner organizations. One such is the Street Children’s Academy in Accra, which serves hundreds of street children in its day programs. Until they received one of P4P’s sewing machines through Project OKURASE, they had not been able to offer sewing classes. Another donation was made to New Life Orphanage in the Central Region, one of Ghana’s poorest districts. Several of the residents there had expressed a strong interest in learning the seamstress trade, which had hitherto been closed to them for want of training and equipment.

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It is strong partners such as Project OKURASE that make it possible for P4P to do its overseas work. The United States is rich in equipment and resources that developing countries are desperately lacking and, with our supporters’ donations, we are able to collect a considerable amount of it, new and used, for distribution overseas. But it takes local organizations in the destination countries to know how best to share out that equipment and those resources where they will do the most good. In supporting Pedals for Progress, our contributors also support the efforts of our partners, who live in those developing countries and have very real stakes in their economic development.

The people of Project OKURASE wish to give their thanks, or medaase, to Pedals for Progress and our supporters. We at P4P would like to say medaase to you as well. It would not be possible to operate without your continued assistance.

bicycles, Ghana, Sewing Partners

Project OKURASE, Ghana

Fall 2009 InGear

fall2009ghanaOkuraseContainerA member of the Board of Project OKURASE contacted P4P earlier this year specifically looking for the donation of sewing machines. P4P was very interested in the project and wished to be of assistance. Through the good graces of our Ghanaian partner, WEBikes, we were able to get twelve sewing machines delivered to Project OKURASE. While this first donation has initiated the sewing job skills training program, it quickly became evident that the need was much greater.

P4P had fifty sewing machines that we wished to ship to Okurase, which included 3 manual foot pedal machines donated by Furniture Assist, a New Jersey nonprofit which collects used furniture that is donated to disadvantaged families in New Jersey. The standard problem presented itself; the goods were available here, needed there, but how to pay for the transportation costs.

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The cost to airfreight sewing machines is very prohibitive. In fact the cost to ship these fifty machines air freight is not that much less than the cost of shipping a full container of bicycles. This is where Joey Penman, a strong supporter of Project OKURASE, and the Clif Bar Family Foundation, a major supporter of Pedals for Progress, came in. Together they donated enough funding that added to existing Project OKURASE funds made it possible to ship not only the fifty sewing machines, but to allow P4P to place those machines in among a full container of bicycles. Certainly receiving an unexpected 480 bicycles in addition to the 50 sewing machines will greatly change the small village of Okurase, located in the West Akyem district of the eastern region of Ghana.

The four overarching goals of Project OKURASE are to develop:

  1. A family-based model of caring for orphans and vulnerable children.
  2. A model for job and skills training for youth, young adults, and women in the arts and building industry.
  3. A model for family and village-based formal education with special emphasis on female children.
  4. A model for a community of green design or sustainable architecture.

For more information: Project OKURASE Economic Self-Sufficiency

bicycles, Moldova, Peace Corps

The Man Who Fits the Bikes

by Andrei Rusanovschi
Fall 2005 InGear

He started repairing old Soviet bikes in his apartment to earn money for food. He built up his skill of talent and sweat. Bikes have changed his way of life and he changed the way bikes run across Stefan Voda and, ultimately, across Moldova.

Stefan Voda is a small city, situated not far from the Black Sea, and not too far from the capital of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, but far enough to have its unique salt and quietness.

Since ’91, after the fall of Soviet Union, many aspects of Moldova’s infrastructure were ruined, including the roads and public services.

Stefan Voda’s public transport system has never been petted; by anybody. The system has simply never existed. That is why bikes play such an important role in connecting the so-called private sector with the center of the town.

In Stefan Voda the bike shop is in the building of the Maria Biesu School of Arts. Walking down the steps to the shop one senses little by little the smell of rubber. The smell has already became characteristic and is readily associated with bikes — no other place in Stefan Voda has that many and such a big variety of them. Everyone knows “if you want good bikes at good prices, go the store in the basement.”

The bike shop, once a messy and unorganized place, now looks like it found a master. The room that once was too small to house two hundred bikes is now transformed into a neat bike store and a fitting shop, accommodating four hundred plus bikes of different sizes, models and function.fall2005moldovaBikeMechanic

When you enter the shop you see an energetic guy, always busy with fitting the bikes and making the place better. He even makes his own bike stands, inventing modifications, building bikes virtually from nothing. In comparison, it is quite simple to prep bikes in such good condition as those from Pedals for Progress.

To a big extent, it is due to Valeriu that the Moldova #3 project became possible, or at least potentially viable, says Vitalie Rusanovschi, director of Center Rural21, the NGO that administers the project in Moldova.

Valeriu started repairing bikes in his small one-bedroom apartment. “I never thought I would deal with bicycles on the professional level,” says Valeriu. “I just liked riding them when I was little. And, as a kid, I always liked to see what’s inside.”

After the Army I had to choose what direction to take, says Valeriu. I decided to go further with my education and studied automobiles. While studying in Chisinau, fate brought me together with a bike service center. This is when I began to study the subtleties of bike mechanics.

Now he works with Center Rural21, the regional NGO promoting democracy, healthy life style and sustainable development. The Pedals for Progress project is running in Moldova for the third time. The previous two shipments made essential improvements to the public transport infrastructure. It is readily visible when coming to the town.

“I could instantly see that Stefan Voda is now much better equipped with bikes than ever before,” says Mark Skelton, the Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova who was the first to contact Pedals for Progress in 2002, arranging for the first shipment of bikes from the USA. Mark visited Stefan Voda during the second week of August 2005. It had been two years since he finished his duty in Moldova with Peace Corps.

“I am impressed how Valeriu has organized his workplace,” says Mark. “It is neat and well structured, and it seems he improves it every second,” says Mark after a half-day visit to the bike store.

“The best gratitude for me would be the bike I fit to never come back for repair,” says Valeriu. “I will just welcome them at least once a year for maintenance work.”

The Pedals for Progress project proved to be sustainable and a long-lasting relationship, and with Valeriu Soloviov responsible for the fitting process, we will fill Moldova up with reliable, environment-friendly means of transport — bicycles, said Center Rural21 director, Vitalie Rusanovschi.

bicycles, Moldova, Peace Corps

A Second Program Opens in Moldova

by Darren Enterline, Peace Corps Volunteer
Fall 2009 InGear

Few people outside of Europe have ever heard of the Republic of Moldova. What those few usually do know is that the former Soviet Republic has the dubious distinction of consistently being the poorest nation in Europe. While many of the former Soviet-controlled states have thrived as independent democracies, Moldova has never been able to progress out of the political chaos of the early 1990s and the economic crises that followed. In 2008 the United Nations Human Development Report ranked Moldova 113th out of 179 nations, between Mongolia and Vietnam.

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The failure of the Moldovan government to transition from a communist Soviet Republic to an independent capitalist democracy means that much of the population currently lives in poverty. While the capital, Chisinau, and larger cities have recently shown signs of economic recovery, the countryside still suffers greatly. The rural village where Pedals for Progress’s partner organization is located is no exception. Pelinia, never a wealthy village, once supported industries such as brick manufacturing and food canning until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The ensuing privatization of state industries brought an end to those enterprises that couldn’t survive the new market economy. Today, most villagers in Pelinia support themselves by farming the small plots of land given to them after the collective Soviet farms were privatized in 1996. Many depend solely on these plots, approximately 4 to 10 acres, for both their food and income. Oftentimes, these plots are several kilometers outside the village forcing villagers to use valuable time travelling to and from their land. To make matters worse, the roads used to reach the plots are unpaved and deeply rutted, making it slow going for the ancient cars and horse carts that use them.

Because so many people are involved in small-scale, low-income farming, the local government is chronically underfunded and unable to provide even the most basic services. Few houses have running water, making it necessary for many to walk to public wells to retrieve their water. Gas is also only available to a few households and is too expensive for many to use. Those that can’t afford to buy wood or coal must travel outside the village to collect their own wood in order to heat their homes during the winter. Although Pelinia is a large village of over 8000 inhabitants, it is too small to offer public transportation. Villagers must provide their own means to travel to stores, markets and schools on roads that are not much better than the ones outside of the village. Basically, the villagers of Pelinia endure the same difficulties that impoverished people all over the world endure.

fall2009adultBikeWhile these hardships are debilitating, they are not impossible to overcome and Pedals for Progress offers one of the best ways to assist the villagers of Pelinia. Consult-Nord, a local Moldovan NGO established to promote local economic development in Pelinia, saw the potential results that Pedals for Progress’s bicycles could provide and requested to become a partner. Consult-Nord started selling bicycles this winter after receiving a shipment in late December of last year. The good quality, affordable bicycles now available at a shop set up by Consult-Nord offer numerous opportunities to villagers that otherwise would be inaccessible to them. With a bicycle, farmers can efficiently travel to their fields and more easily transport their crops and tools. Villagers can collect water and firewood with less effort. Students can arrive at school with more energy and villagers can independently travel throughout the village. A great example of how bicycles can help the villagers of Pelinia comes from Constant Surcanu. He is a 53-year-old farmer who regularly travels outside the village to work on his land. He bought a bicycle so he can reach his fields with more time to spare and so that he can also visit his relatives living throughout the village. He told us that he especially appreciates his bicycle’s wide, sturdy tires that can handle the demanding village roads. Another satisfied customer is Oleg Cerban. He is a 13-year-old student at the local middle school who bought a mountain bike so he could use it to get to school, to go on errands around the village for his family, and, of course, to visit his friends. These two examples show a few ways how bicycles can help the people of Pelinia. Simply put, bicycles in Pelinia provide what they provide to people all over the developing world, a simple means to independently better their lives.

bicycles, Nicaragua

Johana and the Learning by Tutorial System

by Karla Santana
Spring 2010 InGear

Johana del Carmen Sanchez Gonzalez is 14 years old. She lives in the rural community of El Higuero, Nicargua, some 16 km from the capital Managua, where she lives and works on her parents’ farm. Out of six children, she is the only one still attending school. She graduated from elementary school last year, but could no longer attend public school due to her responsibilities on the farm. However, thanks to Pedals for Progress and The Fabretto Center, she has been able to continue her education. The Fabretto Center is an organization dedicated to helping impoverished children and their families in underserved communities to break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential through programs that promote nutrition, health, education, community, and character development.

Johana on her way to school
Johana on her way to school

For over 50 years they have been partnering with Nicaraguan communities, both urban and rural, to provide hope and a better future for their children. One such program is the Learning by Tutorial System (LTS), which promotes rural development by providing students with the technical training that they will need to improve agricultural practices for their families and their communities.

Essentially, LTS is a vocational high school program with great emphasis placed on the development of technical skills. LTS students are being equipped with the tools and knowledge to implement small-scale agriculturally productive projects to generate increased income. It is designed to meet the constraints of rural life. For example, the use of lightweight workbooks rather than texts lessens the load of students who walk great distances to class. Course topics are relevant to rural concerns, such as animal husbandry for the study of science. Practical teaching occurs through projects like small-plot farming that benefit the local community. Since this will eventually generate new economic opportunities, LTS also helps to reduce the migration of young people from the rural areas to the already over-crowded cities. The effort to keep up with her studies has not been easy for Johana, however.

During harvest season she doesn’t attend class because she has to help on her family’s farm. This means she has to put in that much more time and effort later to catch up on her studies. In addition, she lives eight kilometers from The Fabretto Center, a distance that takes five hours every day to walk there and back. “Even though she has adult responsibilities, at such a young age, she is one of the top students in her class” says Johana’s tutor. Currently in her first year of LTS, she participates in all the Fabretto activities and has showed a lot of interest in her studies. Her ambition is to become educated enough to reach a position in life from which she will able to better the lives of her family and other people in need. Already, she uses her experience in agriculture to not only help teachers with school gardens but also to encourage her classmates to learn more about it. Johana’s is the type of situation in which bicycles from Pedals for Progress can take a hand. Thanks to our donors, we’ve been collecting and shipping bikes to partners in Nicaragua for 19 years, over 32,000 bicycles in total. Despite the distance, Johana wished to persist. It would not have been practical, however, had she not had access to the utility of the wheel. With a bicycle from Pedals for Progress, Johana has been able to continue her studies and keep her dream of helping others alive. “All this time in Fabretto,” she says, “has helped me not only to grow as a human being but also to learn new things and put into practice what I have learned with my parents. I love sharing my knowledge with my classmates. I am currently learning how to use a computer. I really enjoy it.”