25 May 2007
U.S. Groups Donate Bicycles To Aid Poor in Other Nations
Better transportation can open up new opportunities
Washington -- A bicycle can change a life in a country where the poorest people have no form of transportation other than walking.
In the past two years, Washington-based Bicycles for the World (BfW) has shipped more than 14,000 bicycles to partner nonprofit agencies in Barbados, Costa Rica, The Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Namibia and Panama. BfW is one of a host of U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that donate bicycles and other goods to community groups in developing countries, where better transportation -- to jobs, schools, health services and markets -- can help people become more productive.
The group’s most recent shipment was to the Shape Lives Foundation in Bolgatanga, Ghana, and a container of bicycles and sewing machines will go out soon to Goodwill Panama, which provides training and employment to people with disabilities.
“Our approach is to use bicycles as tools for development and individual empowerment,” Keith Oberg, director of Bikes of the World, told USINFO.
He said BfW is seeking additional qualified NGOs with which to partner, particularly in Africa.
A bicycle can enhance productivity, Oberg said. For example, Marco Vinicio, a street vendor in San Jose, Costa Rica, was able to buy a high-quality reconditioned bicycle for about $10. Now, Vinicio can carry his cooler on the bike and visit more sites to sell ice cream and fried snacks (frituras). “His sales increased so dramatically that he paid off the bike in only two weeks, and now the additional income goes directly to family needs,” said Oberg.
Vinicio’s bicycle was one of nearly 900 donated new and used bicycles BfW shipped to Fundación Integral Campesina (FINCA), a Costa Rican nonprofit microcredit agency. Several rural groups have purchased bicycles from FINCA to recondition and sell. For example, Superación Femenina (“Female Advancement”), a women’s group in northern Costa Rica that awards microloans to finance income-generating activities, used bike profits to increase its loan portfolio.
In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Bicycles for the World and Working Bikes Cooperative, a Chicago-based NGO, worked with the Sri Lanka Association of Greater Washington to donate more than 1,300 bicycles to Sri Lanka. They were distributed via local Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist networks.
Since BfW’s inception in 2005, hundreds of volunteers have helped collect donated bicycles, prepare them for shipment and load the containers, Olberg told USINFO. Schools, religious organizations, community groups, bike stores, families and individuals have held bike donation drives. For example, a Boy Scout recently collected 125 bikes in a drive hosted by a local retailer as part of his community service project for becoming an Eagle Scout.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Oberg said. “For volunteers, it’s a tangible, hands-on service project. Donors put their old bikes to good use. And on the other end, it’s transportation. So everybody who participates wins in some way.”
BfW particularly wants donations of good-quality mountain bikes that can handle tough terrain, Oberg said. Most donations come from individuals, although retailers and distributors also contribute. BfW asks for a $10 donation per bicycle from bike donors to help with shipping costs.
The remaining shipping costs are paid by partner agencies, although BfW provides assistance in certain cases. BfW encourages groups that receive bicycles to set up self-sustaining bicycle repair operations, which can help pay for shipping costs and also provide jobs and training for local people.
“We are looking for organizations that can visualize a role for the bikes, that see the bikes as furthering their mission,” he said. “We want groups that show some promise of becoming a long-term partner” and that eventually will be able to cover their share of shipping costs.
A bicycle is just one example of a product that can gain a “second chance” in another country. U.S. groups are shipping used eyeglasses, computers, appliances, shoes and clothing, cars and other goods to developing countries, Oberg said. “The question is which things lend themselves to reuse,” he said. “They have to be useful and productive.”
Oberg said bicycle donation programs are on the rise in the United States and other Western countries in part because when people buy new bicycles or clean out their garage, “[they] hate seeing the bikes go to waste.”
“Bikes have sentimental value,” he observed. “What people are giving is more than just an inanimate object.”
Oberg recalled a bicycle collection drive at a church, when a couple brought in their son’s bicycle. They had kept the bicycle for eight years after their son’s death, but “they finally decided that donating the bike was the right thing to do to honor their son.”
BfW is a member of Bicycles for Humanity, a coalition of NGOs from the United States, Canada and England. For more information, see the Bikes for the World and Bicycles for Humanity Web sites.
See also, “United States Is Largest Donor of Foreign Aid, Report Says.”
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
