bikes 4 Africa
This is jole rider’s flagship programme in support of its mission:
to help people to change their lives through education
Many African children live in remote communities, a long way from their nearest school.
Without reliable, affordable, motorised transport the only way these children
can get to school is to walk.
In searing heat, their journey to education on foot is a daily epic mission.
Having a bicycle makes a world of difference for these children, and for their families and communities too.
bikes4Africa reconditions donated bicycles and delivers them from the UK
to African schools, where they enable children to...
• get to school
• arrive at school on time instead of late
• begin the school day alert instead of exhausted
• stay for extra lessons at the end of the school day
• reach higher academic achievement
• arrive home earlier
• help their families more at home
• remain safe by travelling home from school in daylight
Bicycles
We receive donated bicycles, meeting our bikes4Africa Bike Spec criteria, from a range of donors, including individuals, the police, recycling centres and businesses.
With the help of our partners, HM Prison Service, the bikes are refurbished by inmates in prisons around the UK.
We pack the bikes into sea containers, a minimum of 333 in each one, and ship them to Africa.
We delivered our first consignment of bikes to The Gambia, West Africa, in April06.
We now pack a sea container with bikes, books and furniture for schools every 2 months.
Our loadings take place on the last Wednesday of the month.
The last one was on wed30jun10 - our 19th shipment of 363 bikes...
...bringing the number of lives we have changed in Africa, by enabling children to get to school by bike, to almost 6588.
In Africa
When the bikes arrive in The Gambia, our partner organisation, which has
pre-selected the beneficiary schools, oversees their distribution with the assistance of the Gambian Ministry of Education.
Bikes remain school property, with teachers allocating them to the students who need them most.
When a child graduates from school, their bike is re-allocated to another child.
Sustainability
Local Field Engineers and selected school students receive training in
bike maintenance and servicing.
The schools buy some of the spares and consumables needed in-country
and we also provide supplies from the UK.
Our partner organisation monitors the bike fleets and assists the schools with
the maintenance of the bikes.
Costs
Collecting bikes is an important aspect of bikes4Africa, however, its effectiveness and long-term success depends upon jole rider receiving funds as well as bikes.
Delivering bikes and tools to a school in Africa costs £10 per bike.
Our policy is to always ask bike donors to cover this cost for their bike.
If donors give more than £10 a bike, this enables us to help even more
African children to get to school.
Our goal is to:
deliver as many suitable bikes to schools in Africa as we can;
and create a sustainable programme to enable ongoing maintenance of the bikes
by providing tools, skills training and local support.
What You Can Do
There are different ways that you can invest in bikes4Africa.
To find out how you can help us to help young Africans change their lives
through education, click here.
If you have a bike to Invest, with at least £10 for its journey to Africa, then click here.
If you would like to organise a bikes4Africa Day in your business, street
or community, to collect bikes, click here.
|
