++++++ Hugely Successful Day: Over 300 bikes, 60 frames and forks and lots of essential parts collected November 3, 4th. Read the blog for more details and the check out the photo gallery++++
Bicycles for Humanity, Ridgeview Elementary and Rockridge Secondary Schools in West Vancouver, B.C. are coordinating a collection of used mountain and hybrid bikes that we are going to ship to the TOV Orphanage 400 km North of Windhoek, Namibia. We are looking for donations of used working mountain bikes and hybrids and we are looking for donations of funds to complete the financing of the shipment of the container to Namibia.
Across Africa, there is an immense need for reliable, affordable transportation for children who need to go to school, for the collection of firewood, the bringing of goods to market and the speedy delivery of healthcare to outlying areas - particularly important in an area that has been ravaged by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
A 40 foot shipping container has been generously donated by Delta Container Inc. with partial transportation arranged by American Cartage, Terminal Systems Inc. and Zim Shipping. This will enable us to leave the container in the orphanage where it will be become a "Bicycle Empowerment Centre" - a community run bike shop where bikes will be given to those who most need them, repairs can be carried out and bike mechanics skills can be transferred by our partners in Namibia, the Bicycle Empowerment Network. In this way, skills are transferred and a local source of revenue is created along with an instant community 'hub'.
On November 3 & 4, students from Ridgeview Elementary and Rockridge Secondary Schools in West Vancouver and Bicycles for Humanity volunteers will load donated bikes onto the container which will be shipped out the following week. We want to get 400 bikes donated which is about what fits in a container. We are looking for sturdy mountain and hybrid bikes as the terrain is rough and for bikes that can be ridden by 12 year olds and older.
Through the sale of cards, artwork, posters and direct donations on this site we hope to raise the rest of the money required ($6000). Join us Friday 3 November, from 4 pm to 7 pm and Saturday 4 November, 8 am to 4 pm and lets make a two wheeled world of a difference in people lives! All donors of bike and funds are entered into a draw for a $250 gift certificate at La Bicicletta, Vancouver premier road bike store and signed posters of mountain biking legend Wade Simmons!
More information about Biycles for Humanity can be accessed at www.bicycles-for-humanity.org
More information about our partners in Namibia can be found at: www.benbikes.org.za/namibia/index.htm
We will be following the container and documenting its transformation from steel transporter to two wheeled bike shop with regular updates to our website. Thanks to the generous support of our shipping partners, Delta Container Inc., American Cartage, Terminal Systems Inc., and Zim Shipping we have been able to reduce our budget overall for shipping, the major challenge of a project such as this.