U.S. Groups Donate Bicycles To Aid Poor in Other Nations
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'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.

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.

"Our approach is to use bicycles as tools for development and individual empowerment," Keith Oberg, director of Bikes of the World, told USINFO.

He mentioned Marco Vinicio, a street vendor in San José, Costa Rica, who was able to buy a high-quality reconditioned bicycle for about us$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 2005, 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 Lankans affected by the December 2004 tsunami. The bikes were distributed via local Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist networks.

Hundreds of volunteers help BfW 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."