[Vision2020] Village Bicycle Project

[Bill London]

Moscow resident Dave Peckham created the Village Bicycle Project to gather castaway
bicycles in the US, ship them to Africa, and train Africans to repair them.  The
project has been very successful, as you can read in the update report below.  If you
want to help with the project, donate a bicycle, or receive further email reports,
please contact the Village Bicycle Project at <villagebikesp@hotmail.com>
BL

Village Bicycle Project Update 2002

    With over two thousand bicycles sent from American basements to Ghana’s streets
and roads, three hundred distributed through direct village workshops, and nearly 1000
bike tools seeded in the market, the Village Bicycle Project has advanced beyond the
start-up phase, and we’re ready to take off our training wheels.

>
> We are now focused on just three programs, those that flourished during
> our first three years. I spent a month in Africa this summer and am pleased
> to dispatch this update.
>
> PROGRAM NEWS:
> 1. Sending bikes
> We shipped three containers of used bikes and parts this year, over 1300
> bikes.  Two were from Bike Works in Seattle (www.scn.org/bikeworks) and the
> third from Bike Not Bombs, (www.bikesnotbombs.org) a Boston group that has
> been sending bikes to Central American countries for nearly twenty years.
>
> Our Ghanaian partners George Aidoo and Samson Ayine manage the customs
> process and cover the shipping costs. In exchange they sell three quarters
> of the bicycles, from a storefront in the capital Accra.  These bikes ease
> shortages, and keep prices affordable.
>
> This program is self-sustaining, and requires no donor funding for operating
> expenses, only the donation of your good used bikes.  Collection sites are
> in Seattle, Boston, and Moscow, Idaho.  We hope to have a center in the San
> Francisco area soon.
>
> 2. Maintenance Workshops
>
> Our maintenance workshops distribute affordable bicycles in rural villages
> and teach the skills needed to maintain them. In exchange for participating
> in the day-long class, attendees get a bike for half-price (maximum $25).
>
> While in Ghana I was able to observe a workshop in the village of Abura.  It
> was a fantastic opportunity to work closely with our Ghana educators on
> fine-tuning the course.  As a result:
>
> - We will no longer teach bearing adjustments, as it’s too technically
> delicate for beginners.  Instead we’ll be spending more time helping riders
> identify loose and tight bearings that will quickly spoil, and urging them
> to take the problem to the local repairer.
>
> - The village repairers will be active players in the long-term upkeep of
> the bikes, so we’re adding some extra time in the program to familiarize
> them more with these European and North American bikes that are becoming
> more common around the country.
>
> - We will no longer limit the workshops to just one village repairer.
>
>         Our workshop hosts are Peace Corps volunteers. As resident outsiders, they
> are well connected to the community yet unencumbered by family pressures and
> favors owed.  We have held ten workshops with the Peace Corps and look
> forward to their continued participation.
>
> George and Samson, who serve as the workshop teachers, both enjoy the
> opportunity to travel, meet new people, teach bike skills, while  earning a
> living wage.
>
> I also paid visits to two villages where we held workshops in 2001.  In
> Volivo, I saw 18 bikes and/or their owners.  I found that more than half of
> the bikes had had breakdowns in the drive train, i.e. the chain, crank, or
> freewheel.  The good news is that the participants were still very
> enthusiastic about the bikes, but I find the level of breakdowns
> unacceptable.  We will need to ensure that the drive trains of our workshop
> bikes are solid, even if this means more work for Ghanaian mechanics, or
> buying new parts in the bike market!
>
> For a long-term solution, we need to consider using new bikes for the
> workshops. This should improve durability and cut problems with
> non-compatibility of replacement parts. The cost of new bicycles is the
> biggest obstacle.
>
> The workshops need lots of financial support.  This is our grassroots
> outreach, touching farmers, teachers, small business owners, health workers,
> rural students. With the bikes they buy from our workshops, these villagers
> can make a living delivering food or water, or spend more time tending their
> farms instead of walking up to 12 miles each way. It’s a helping hand for
> people with the ambition and conviction to take a day to study bike repair
> and invest half the price of bicycle.
>
> The cost of one workshop is $350. This covers: tools for the village
> repairer(s), 50% subsidies for 20 bikes, and the cost of training and
> transportation. Workshop sponsorships are available to individuals,
> organizations, companies, churches, and civic organizations, for a
> donation of $350. Won’t you sponsor a workshop today?
>
> 3. Tools Program
> Our partner-donor ITDP (www.itdp.org) arranged an initial $1000 order from
> Taiwan toolmakers, extending the credit to our Ghana managers, George and
> Samson.  In July I had the pleasure of introducing the tools in neighboring
> countries of Togo and Benin.  Its always fun to watch the faces of curious
> mechanics light up when they discover that, with the right tools, they can
> easily and safely repair rear wheels or replace cranks. I would love to take
> several months on my own to tour West Africa by bike, taking tools around;
> it is enormously gratifying work.
>
> The use of these tools has eased shortages of rear wheels and cranks in
> Ghana’s capital Accra over the last two years. Simply put, more of Ghana’s
> bikes stay on the road, and fewer end in trash heaps.
>
> In order to get tools flowing to bike mechanics on a sustainable basis,
> (i.e. affordable without subsidies), we have to get volumes up.  With larger
> orders shipping and clearing become a smaller part of the total cost.  Most
> mechanics outside of Accra still don’t know about these tools.  With
> donations of $1000 a year, we could gradually expand the reach of the tools
> throughout at least six neighboring countries within three years.
>
> Thanks for keeping up with Village Bicycle Project. Please help us make our
> fourth year our most successful yet.
>
> Thank you all for your interest and support.
>
> Best wishes,
> David Peckham
>
> Project totals through November 29, 2002
> 2,049           bikes sent to Ghana, in 5 shipments
>    27           workshops held
>   338   discounted bikes distributed
>   424           repair trainees
> $3,900          bicycle repair tools test-marketed
>
> Workshop sponsors                  village
> Tri-State Distributors, Moscow ID  Adaklu  June 2002
> Moscow Rotary Club                 Abura   July 2002
> Moscow Food Co-op          Liati     Nov. 25,26 2002
> Friends of Gabon                        upcoming
>