By Kushtrim Gojani, GoBike
Summer 2021 Newsletter
The Coronavirus pandemic found Kosovo unprepared, as was the case with most countries of the world. For a considerable part of 2020 the whole country was in lockdown. Following the peak of cases in late 2020 and early 2021, infections have steadily declined since early April 2021. As of late June 2021, there have been 107K Covid-19 cases in Kosovo, and 2255 deaths.
On 28 March 2021 Kosovo received the very first contingent of 24,000 doses of vaccines through COVAX. Up until then, Kosovo was was the only country in Europe without any vaccines. The vaccination of the population has started and is progressing slowly. By the end of this year we hope everyone will have a chance to get vaccinated.
The Impact of the Pandemic on GoBike
Partnering with Pedals for Progress has been crucial to getting the GoBike social enterprise going. Through our partnership we have managed to set up the enterprise, sell bicycles to beneficiaries from all walks of life, organize cycling events, and teach people how to ride a bike. Despite the initial success in 2018 and 2019 with the first container of bicycles, a year and a half later the pandemic forced us to cancel our work completely, as ordered by the Government of Kosovo. We have been closed for the entire 2020 season. Receiving the second container from Pedals for Progress had also to be put on hold.
In October 2020 GoBike teamed up yet again with AYA ‘Pjetër Bogdani’ to organize “Cycling Schools” to teach even more kids in Pristina how to ride a bike. Cycling Schools were quite popular and sought after. One can never have enough of such events, as the demand is high, particularly amongst children.
The Cycling Schools took place in the Dardania elementary school yard in Pristina. They were free of charge. In the past, the motivation of GoBike to organize such activities had been to contribute to the growing of the cycling community of Pristina; help young girls and boys grow independent; provide a cycling experience to the adults who have never experienced cycling before; and reduce carbon emissions into the air by promoting cycling as a more sustainable way of transport. This time, we had an additional reason. Through cycling schools we wanted to work with as many people as possible who have spent a lot of their time indoors without much physical activity, and get them back to bicycles and an active lifestyle —very important for their health and wellbeing.
We hope that normality will be restored soon. At GoBike, we hope to be able to resume our work and receive a new container of bicycles from P4P. This should provide us with sufficient stimulation to pick the work right where we left off.