Category Archives: bicycles

Pedals for Progress and School-based Community Service

by Kelli McMahon
Spring 2012 InGear

As a middle-school teacher, helping twelve- and thirteen-year-olds understand the importance of giving back to their community and their world is just as important as teaching them how to infer meaning from a text, how to organize their writing, or how to solve for x. I am lucky enough to work in a building where community service opportunities are abundant and there seems to be constant flow of fundraising for different causes. When I started teaching here at Tohickon Middle School in Doylestown, PA, eight years ago, I, along with the team of teachers I worked with, wanted to create a community service activity that stood out from all of the other options already in place. We wanted something that would not only help others, but would give our particular team of students a chance to learn something new and important and provide a chance for them to work together to build a strong relationship. One of the teachers on our team had heard of Pedals for Progress and suggested that we hold a bike drive. After a little research into the organization, we decided to give it a try.

Since then, we have held eight bike drives—one each year—and have collected over 800 bicycles and approximately $9,800.

Students preparing a bicycle for the shipping container
Students preparing a bicycle for the shipping container

Along with the knowledge that the lives of over 800 individuals have been improved, the students involved in the bike drive have a great learning experience. Each year, our new team of 7th graders is presented with the task of organizing the bike drive. To do this, the students learn many life skills that cannot be taught in a classroom. First, students must research the countries where the bikes might be sent and attempt to grasp the need present in those countries. In a time of cell phones and computers and iPods, it can be difficult for kids to understand that there are people in the world who consider running water and transportation by motor vehicle luxuries; so, having the students research the countries with which Pedals for Progress partners gives the students a glimpse into how people in other, less fortunate parts of world live. This not only helps the students realize how the bikes will improve the lives of those receiving them, but also helps them understand how fortunate they are.

After researching the countries, the students work together in groups to develop an advertising plan, which includes designing a flyer that they can distribute in their neighborhoods and communities. It would seem that getting people to come to our bike drive each year would get harder and harder, being that it is held in the same town and advertised to the same community each time. One would expect that the flow of used bikes would run dry sooner rather than later. However, with our new crop of seventh graders each year come new ideas and new motivation and they always seem to get the word out about the drive to people who have not been reached before. This has led to our successful run of bike drives. Working in their groups to advertise the bike drive, the students learn the benefits of teamwork. This makes the relationships among our students stronger. Throughout this process the students also gain some insight into how to market an idea, which is a very important and relevant skill to have in today’s world.

Students in front of the Tohickon Middle School Building after their collection
Students in front of the Tohickon Middle School Building
after their collection

Finally, after researching and planning and advertising, comes the day of the bike drive—the day when all of the hard work and effort put forth by the students pays off. Over our eight years holding a drive, we have collected bikes in wind, sun, rain and even a rare October snowstorm. Each time, no matter what the weather, it is a day of teamwork, fun, and memories. The kids enjoy working together to “break down” the bikes to prepare them for shipping and assist the donors with the bikes they are coming to deliver. The people who come to donate are always so grateful to get rid of the bikes that were clogging their garages and that they didn’t know what to do with. This aspect of hosting a Pedals for Progress Bike Drive is such a perfect model for a community service activity.

Everyone wins. The students gain invaluable life lessons and teamwork skills. The people who donate are happy to have found a home for their unwanted, but not unusable, bikes that were taking up much needed space and gathering cobwebs. Most of all, the lives of the individuals who receive the bikes in different parts of the world are forever changed. Getting to work or school, reaching needed medical attention, and accessing water and food sources all become easier for those that the bikes reach. Hosting a Pedals for Progress Bike Drive is the ultimate win-win and we look forward to doing year after year.

Keep on Collecting: 2011 Pedal Wrench of the Year Award Shows Us How To Stay Involved

by Patricia Hamill
Spring 2012 InGear

Liz Sweedy: 2011 Pedal Wrench of the Year Award
Liz Sweedy: 2011 Pedal Wrench of the Year Award

The philanthropic spirit descends upon most of us in various ways and at differing frequencies throughout the year. We may tire of the interruptions of our favorite radio programs and figure our $5 will get the fund drive chatter to end sooner or we may be unable to resist the angelic face of the child at the door shaking the collection jar. But what truly differentiates the sporadically involved donor from the civic minded, community service for the community’s sake organizer? The tireless and ongoing dedication to and enthusiasm for a cause. Liz Sweedy is one of those enthusiastic people. Since 2003, she has been in charge of coordinating the annual Pedals for Progress bicycle collection events for the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MCMUA) in New Jersey.

According to P4P’s 2011 Pedal Wrench of the Year award winner, “My passion for P4P has been in full gear ever since our first bicycle collection event occurred, and that’s for two reasons. First, I’m very happy that unwanted, used bicycles have been spared from spending an eternity in landfills. Second, I’m delighted that these bicycles, which I fondly call ‘precious gems,’ provide assistance and joy to folks whose lives are virtually transformed as a result of having them.”

To date, this municipality has coordinated the collection of literally thousands of bicycles. The members of the MCMUA are not the sole participants in this collection process. The County College of Morris in Randolph donates the use of one of its parking lots for the County’s June collection day. Members of a local Boy Scout troop volunteer by unloading bikes from vehicles and doing some mechanical preparation so the bikes can be shipped. Local newspapers, cable TV programs referencing P4P, or signs advertising the event are what draw bicycle donors who happily include $10.00 along with each bike, understanding that this helps alleviate transportation costs.

This is only one example of groups of people from disparate organizations coming together and coordinating an ongoing, efficiently run bicycle donation event that repeatedly draws enthusiastic participants. The Boy Scouts of America and some Rotary clubs have offered financial assistance for events similar to the one sponsored by the MCMUA and some municipalities receive the $10.00-per-bicycle fee from local service organizations. This makes it possible for people to donate bikes that are occasionally collected from roadsides or illegal dumping sites without having to reach into their own pockets for the accompanying $10. Another option is to apply to a local municipality for a New Jersey Clean Communities Mini-Grant Clean UP Program. These grants tend to be awarded to non-profit organizations that conduct litter cleanups. The non-profits apply the funds from the mini-grant toward the fee for the bicycles that are found and donated.

One would think that it is not so easy to interest people in participating in a cause, much less year after year; but, when local businesses, organizations, and schools cooperate and dedicate their efforts, the results are often staggering. As Sweedy puts it, “In a nutshell, my organizing and executing P4P collection events causes me to experience all sorts of good feelings. Hurrah for P4P—may its wheels continue to turn!” No matter how near or far the recipients of your philanthropy reside, active and continuing participation in your community has long-reaching and lasting benefits for everyone involved.

P4P Collects—and Follows—the 100,000th Bicycle!

by Reykha Bonilla
InGear Fall 2006

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2006 was a remarkable year for Pedals for Progress. We reached two important milestones, our 15th anniversary and our 100,000th bicycle. While we’re proud of our longevity, the second accomplishment symbolizes so many things for Pedals for Progress. It’s the culmination of 15 years of hard work and dedication from Dave Schweidenback, the P4P staff and countless volunteers. It means 100,000 bicycles have been saved from landfills here in the United States, and at least 100,000 Americans have been connected to the larger global community through our work. And most important, 100,000 of the world’s working-poor families now have a better chance to earn a decent living. Our 100,000th bicycle showed up at a collection sponsored by the Somerset Hills Kiwanis on June 24th at the Sunset Inn in Clinton, N.J. On hand to commemorate the occasion and read a proclamation was New Jersey State Senator Leonard Lance, who personally thanked the surprised donor, Bob Uhlendorf of High Bridge, for his noteworthy red 10-speed Rampar.

Once the collection was over and photographs taken, Bob’s old 10-speed was packed into a container with more than 500 other bikes destined for Guatemala and our partner nonprofit organization, FIDESMA (Integrated Foundation for Sustainable Development and the Environment). When the container shipped, I sent FIDESMA a letter identifying the bicycle and explaining why we were tracking it. Then in August I received word that the container, after an eight-week journey, finally arrived. And I flew there to meet it. Guatemala is a breathtaking country with tall green mountains and lush valleys. From the airport we followed the Pan-American Highway, two lanes that wound up and down the mountains. We passed robust and plentiful fields of corn, beans and strawberries. And every few minutes a brightly painted old school bus would honk loudly, pass and leave behind the acrid smell of diesel exhaust. As it cleared, the sweet, ever-present scent of wood smoke returned.

Two hours from Guatemala City, we left the Pan-Am highway, and in so doing, left pavement for paving stones. This was the road from the city of Chimaltenango to San Andres de Iztapa, a rural town of 13,000 at an elevation of 5,400 feet and the home of FIDESMA. A few miles later we were in San Andres, where dogs and chickens ran freely in the streets. Ours was one of the rare cars in town. More people were on bicycles and the ubiquitous red motorcycle taxis from India called Tuk-Tuks. In the distance one of Guatemala’s many active volcanoes peeks over San Andres. There is a vibrant indigenous culture throughout much of Guatemala. Men and women in San Andres still wear colorfully embroidered traditional garb and leather sandals and speak their indigenous languages as well as Spanish. Many of the younger people also wear “American”-style clothes, including jeans. At FIDESMA, three simple block buildings painted bright green, things were bustling. Through FIDESMA, residents in San Andres benefit from the bicycle sales, donations of corn (provided by the U.S. government), micro-loans for farmers and small businesses a free dental clinic and an affordable housing project.

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It seemed nearly everyone in San Andres knew FIDESMA’s director, Margarita Catu, proof of the important role she and FIDESMA play in the community. During my first day there, with FIDESMA’s help I caught up to our 100,000th bike and met its new owner, Mateo Patzan—or “el Chino,” as he’s known around the region. Energetic and full of optimism, Mateo is a small man at 5 feet tall and has the slim body of a champion cyclist, which, I soon learned, he is. After inviting me to his humble two-room home constructed from adobe bricks and plastic sheets and with a corrugated zinc panel for a front door, he introduced me to his family and his many cycling trophies. His face lit up when I asked him about his cycling experiences over the past ten years and how he has managed to do so well with so few resources.

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The proud father of five children, for the past seven years Mateo has also been the champion of Chilmaltenango. Mateo is from a small village outside of San Andres de Iztapa called Los Corrales. With his worn out bike, he not only wins races and competes with the best cyclists in Guatemala, he’s also an inspiration to the people of his town.

Cycling is a very popular sport in Guatemala. Mateo began cycling ten years ago at the age of 21. After becoming frustrated playing soccer, he thought it would be fun to try a more individual sport. During his first race, Mateo placed second. He wasn’t pleased with this result—he wanted to win. Determined to do so, he began working with his cyclist friends to learn how to train properly in order to win his next race. He’s since won many. FIDESMA supports Mateo by providing Gatorade, spare parts and cheers. With this modest sponsorship, he often beats professional racers with much bigger sponsors like Coca-Cola. Mateo explained that jumping to that next level of his sport and securing a big-time sponsor means competing for weeks at a time with no guarantee of a paycheck. While his dream is to get paid for cycling so he can support his family by doing what he loves, as the sole provider, it’s not a risk he’s willing to take.

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Instead, he depends on his job as a security guard. After competing in races as long as 80 Kilometers and sometimes longer, he then returns to his farm to tend the crops with his son, often without having enough food and water. During my visit to Chilmaltenango, Mateo participated in a grueling citywide race in honor of Guatemalan Independence Day. In the final miles he was sitting comfortably in the lead group. But because his 10-year-old Bianchi racing bike no longer performs as well as it once did, a mechanical problem caused him to finish fifth against a field he was sure he could beat. One of the reasons FIDESMA thought the red Rampar would be perfect for Mateo is so he could use it for getting to and from work and for training, sparing his much-used Bianchi from additional wear and tear.

While cycling is Mateo’s primary means of transportation, it’s his passion for his sport that’s such a fitting complement to the story of our 100,000th bike. Bob Uhlendorf’s old red Rampar now belongs to someone for whom cycling is a way of life in a much richer sense than we ever expected. Thank you to FIDESMA and all the people I met on my travels and for the warm welcome I received in Guatemala. This was an experience I will always carry with me.

Long Island Gives Back

by Bette Bass
Summer 2011 InGear

Long Island RPCVs at work on April 16th, 2011
Long Island RPCVs at work on April 16th, 2011

The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Long Island began over 20 years ago as a way to meet and reconnect with other former Peace Corps volunteers, and for the first few years was primarily social. Every year we would set aside a portion of our dues to contribute to a worthy cause. After awhile we decided that we wanted to do more. At that time, one of our members, Kathy Williams Ging, heard about Pedals through an RPCV friend who lived in New Jersey. In October of 2003, due to efforts by Kathy and Charles Bevington, we had our first collection in Hicksville, at a location that was supplied by Brian Richardson. We got to meet Dave and successfully collected 33 bikes. At our annual business meeting later that fall, we decided to make this an annual group effort. After deciding to switch our collections to the spring, we had our next collection in April, 2005. It has become an important part of our group’s activities every year since.

Over the years we’ve supplied 892 bikes and about 10 sewing machines, and enough money to cover the $10 per bike cost, usually with an additional cash donation. Many of us have been involved throughout this journey. Kathy Williams Ging, Linda Restaino Merola, Tom Montalbano, Charles Bevington and I (Bette Bass) have been coordinators through the years. We’ve held collections in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, so that more people can be involved, and we can have a larger pool of potential bikes. We have used parking lots all over Long Island, including Hauppauge Middle School, the Massapequa Public Library, a bank in Huntington, a sailing association in Sayville, a Temple in Port Washington, and a bicycle shop in Rocky Point.

We have partnered with other organizations as well: Hauppauge Middle School, in Hauppauge NY, provided a space and held cookie sales and other fund raisers for two years. Linda Restaino Merola was instrumental in obtaining the space for us. We collected so many bikes at our Huntington bank location that Linda and her husband Lou Merola stored about 30 bikes at their house overnight since they didn’t all fit on the Pedals truck. The Wet Pants Sailing Association Juniors, of Sayville, came out in force one year under Tom Montalbano’s lead—this was probably our most scenic spot, right on the water in Sayville. Last year, as part of their Mitzvah Sunday, we partnered with several Temples in Port Washington. Jerry and Nancy Federlein, both LIRPCV members, coordinated the Mitzvah Sunday. This year, Rocky Point Cycle, in Rocky Point, supplied our space. They also accepted bikes before the collection date. Lyn Dobrin, of Lyn Dobrin Ink, another LIRPCV member, has handled all of our publicity, and we have had numerous newspaper articles, radio announcements, and this year, an appearance on an NBC cable news show with Chuck Scarborough.

Over the years, we have come to regard Pedals as our own. Some of us have purchased our own tools to process bikes. Many of us have made mini collections, driving around the area picking up bikes and donations as we go. Tim Ging, Larry Hohler, Linda and Lou Merola, Tom Montalbano,and Jerry and Nancy Federlein, Bill Reed and Mary Watros have done this almost every year. Jennifer Monahan and Michael Kretschsmann have rented a small truck and brought 10 to 12 bikes and a few sewing machines a year from the East End. This has given us access to even more people and bikes. I (Bette Bass) discovered a real talent for making sure people give their $10 per bike. I enjoy explaining why it’s so important for everyone to donate. My favorite activity is using the photos Pedals sends to show children who are donating a bike just why it’s so important and how much difference it makes to other children. I feel that we’re starting a new generation of caring, giving people. As individuals, Pedals has really struck an emotional chord with each of us. We all, whether we returned 45 years ago or last week, know that transportation is one of the keys to having a better life all over the globe. Most of us were in rural areas where there are very few cars, and buses are a sometime thing. The time and effort put into just getting from one place to another takes a toll on the whole family. The addition of sewing machines to our collections was very welcome—providing someone the means to earn a living is a wonderful gift. The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Long Island is already planning for our next collection in April, 2012.

Happy 20th anniversary to Pedals for Progress, as we celebrate Peace Corps 50th Anniversary as well!!

A One-Woman Operation

InGear Fall 2005

Scarlet Bello, or Karla as she is more widely known, owns and runs EcoBicicletas in Rivas, Nicaragua. She opened her shop 3 years ago but her relationship with Pedals for Progress goes back at least 10 years. Karla began working with P4P’s partner Grupo Sofonias in Jinotepe, Nicaragua in 1997. Karla was the manager of the bicycle shop. As such she was in charge of everything from inventory, pricing to selling bicycles. Karla was able to create a viable business for Grupo Sofonias while selling quality bicycles to people in need of transportation.

fall2005scarletbelloKarlaRivas
In addition to being a wife, mother of 2 children and working full time, Karla attended the University in Managua to receive her degree in Accounting. She wanted to get a better understanding of how to run a business from the inside out. She already had the practical know-how of running a business but wanted to get the academic training as well. Due to medical problems in 2002 Karla was unable to continue working for Grupo Sofonias. This is where she becomes an exception to the normal custom in Nicaragua. Once Karla had recovered and was able to work, she and her husband decided to open another bicycle shop in their home town of Rivas. For Karla the bicycle business is her lifeline. She explained to me that “As a woman over the age of 35 in Nicaragua, I am condemned to a life of unemployment in the professional sector, unless I work for myself.” For professional women in Latin American countries this is all too common. The job market caters only to single women under the age of 35.

Karla lives and breathes the bicycle business. She loves every aspect of her work. With her expressive face she explained all of her roles in EcoBicicletas. When a container of bicycles arrives in Rivas from Pedals for Progress, Karla must travel to Rivas (about 30km) daily for 10 days straight. The process of unloading, sorting and pricing the bikes is all overseen by Karla. Once the bikes are ready to sell, Karla keeps the warehouse and what she has sold.

She also prepares the accounting books for review by the company’s accountant. It is very difficult to fake the enthusiasm I saw in her face and the words she used to describe her business. What I most admire about Karla is that she is a business woman who understands market-driven prices and how to keep her operating costs down, but more importantly she is a very compassionate and trusting employer. “I treat my employees as if they are part of my family. I give them a bonus at the end of the year, buy them birthday presents, and even help some pay for their children to go to school. If I show them that I respect them, I will never have any problems in my shop.” Out of her 5 employees, 3 of them are single mothers who would also be subject to the same job market restrictions Karla was subject to when she returned to work after recovering from her medical condition. Since 2002 Karla has been able to sell around 1,500 bikes per year. EcoBicicletas does not even need to advertise their products; the people know when the new bikes arrive in Rivas. Due to her success in Rivas, Karla has opened a second shop in Nandaime, a smaller city than Rivas, but she is able to sell around 50 bikes a month there.

There has been somewhat of a phenomenon in Nandaime with the bicycle repair and parts businesses. They have seen almost twice the amount of customers since EcoBicicletas has come to town. The positive economic effects of EcoBicicletas can be seen in many ways. What does Karla enjoy most about owning EcoBicicletas? “When I see a mother who does not have a lot of money come to my store and she is able to buy a quality bike for her child, one that she knows will last and let her child go to school, that is the best part. To see her expression of pride that she was able to get this bicycle, that is why I do this.” Karla also takes great pride in the sewing machines that she donates to people and organizations in need. She has been to known to give some to the “House of the Woman” in Nandaime, so now they can hold courses at no cost to women who want to learn how to sew. There are several under-funded technical high schools around Rivas that have benefited from the sewing machines as well. This is her way of giving back to her community, her social responsibility.

As an overseas partner of Pedals for Progress, Karla has been able to accomplish many goals that women in most developing countries are not able to do. She is her own boss, trusting employer and teacher. Karla’s story is one of self-empowerment through something as simple as selling bikes. Karla has been able to create an independent life for herself and her family and helped her community by partnering with Pedals for Progress. EcoBicicletas is a definite success story for Pedals for Progress, but this success would not have been possible without Karla’s careful direction and dedication.

It’s More Than Luck for this Lottery Ticket Seller

by Nguyen Van Hanh
Winter 2011 InGear

Mr. Tran Van Oanh, 56 years old, was born to a poor family in Vung Liem district, in the Mekong province of Vinh Long, 180 km west of Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to his economic hardship, he was born with a hearing impairment. By the late 1980s, he was married and became the father of two children. During the 1990s, he took on many different kinds of work, including masonry and cutting rice for land owners. Even with this effort and hard labor, he could hardly earn enough to feed his family. By 2000, he became ill and weak and could no longer do hard work, so he took on a job as a lottery ticket seller, a popular job in the poor region of Mekong Delta. Most of the family’s income is still generated from his occupation.

Although unable to hear, he can speak and is very friendly and does relatively well, but it still remains hard for him to afford food and other expenses for the family. Many people do buy lottery tickets from him, sometimes not because of their interest in the game but because of his circumstances. He has to walk from dawn to dusk around 25-30 km in the district to sell the tickets. He can sell around 100 tickets every day and earns around 5 U.S. dollars.

At the end of July 2011, he was granted a bicycle, donated by Pedals for Progress through The Dariu Foundation (TDF) and Vinh Long Friendship Organization, and has used the bicycle for his job since then. The Dariu Foundation is a Swiss non-government organization, operating in Vietnam since 2003 with a focus on poverty reduction and education development through programs of microfinance, scholarships for poor students, building kindergartens, and offering training in computer skills to rural students. Mr. Tran is one among more than 500 poor families in Vinh Long province who are lucky enough to get the donated bicycles from P4P through The Dariu Foundation. This was the first shipment by P4P to Vietnam, and the next one is expected to be shipped this November.

Today, there are more than 15,000 households benefiting from TDF’s microfinance services, served by a portfolio of 2.1 million U.S. dollars. “I am very happy because firstly it is a very nice and good bike. Secondly, it is my dream to have a bike to help my job be much more convenient. And lastly it helps double my sales and income. Previously, I just earned $4.00-$5.00 per day, but now I can gain $10.00 a day,” said Mr. Tran. “I hope I can soon earn and save enough money to pay for my wife’s surgery. Now I can go home early to help my wife with housework and take care of the family,” he added.

Ghana Says “Medaase”

Spring 2010 InGear

Project OKURASE building in Ghana
Project OKURASE building in Ghana

Project OKURASE, in Ghana, recently received their second container from Pedals for Progress, bringing the overall numbers shipped there to over 1,000 bicycles, 100 sewing machines, and even some soccer gear. These shipments have given a welcome boost to the Project’s mission to provide skills-training and formal education to vulnerable children and women, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.

A number of undertakings and partnerships support the Project’s mission. Currently, one of the most dynamic initiatives is providing local women and children with a general education, vital job skills, and the opportunity for entrepreneurship. This is the area in which P4P has been able to most directly assist. With the bicycles received to date, the Project has been able to open two retail bike shops. The larger shop is located in the Dansoman district of Ghana’s capital, Accra, allowing the bikes to be distributed to the mass of people in the city. The second shop is located in the village of Okurase. Here, in addition to the main business of getting bicycles to those in need, interested villagers can learn bike repair and also the financial skills necessary to budget for a life-changing bicycle. The village has received the bicycle program very well.

But Project OKURASE’s name refers to more than just the village in which it is based. It is an acronym for the concepts its co-directors, Dr. Samuel Nkrumah Yeboah and Cynthia Cupit Swenson, PhD, see as the underpinnings of their mission: opportunity. For example, the distribution of bicycles supports this mission by helping farmers spend more time in their fields and less time in transit, by helping vendors bring more goods to market, and also by helping people from far-flung surrounding communities reach the Project’s educational programs.

Students with their final products
Students with their final products

One of the most exciting of these educational programs is Rhion’s Sewing Centre. Established in Okurase upon the arrival of the first shipment of P4P sewing machines, it not only teaches young women needlecraft but also business skills. The Project’s U.S.-based volunteer creative director, Rhion Magee (who is also a creative director for DreamWorks Animation) has helped the Project design and develop marketable products handcrafted from readily-available recyclable materials. One example of what the women make and sell is an attractive and durable marketbag made of repurposed flour and rice bags. This and other products are available globally from the Project’s website.

The women of Rhion’s Sewing Center are also supporting one of Project OKURASE’s most inspiring efforts. In a partnership with a nonprofit group in Los Angeles, they are introducing an international line of children’s clothing. These clothes will be made from Ghanaian fabric, in Los Angeles, by women who are in recovery from difficult life situations. A portion of the proceeds will return to the women of Rhion’s Sewing Centre so they can produce more fabrics, and also make school uniforms for orphans and impoverished children in Ghana.

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Project OKURASE has also used P4P machines in their sewing outreach program. It is simply not possible for every interested woman or child to reach a place like Rhion’s Sewing Centre. So, the Project donates sewing machines to other local partner organizations. One such is the Street Children’s Academy in Accra, which serves hundreds of street children in its day programs. Until they received one of P4P’s sewing machines through Project OKURASE, they had not been able to offer sewing classes. Another donation was made to New Life Orphanage in the Central Region, one of Ghana’s poorest districts. Several of the residents there had expressed a strong interest in learning the seamstress trade, which had hitherto been closed to them for want of training and equipment.

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It is strong partners such as Project OKURASE that make it possible for P4P to do its overseas work. The United States is rich in equipment and resources that developing countries are desperately lacking and, with our supporters’ donations, we are able to collect a considerable amount of it, new and used, for distribution overseas. But it takes local organizations in the destination countries to know how best to share out that equipment and those resources where they will do the most good. In supporting Pedals for Progress, our contributors also support the efforts of our partners, who live in those developing countries and have very real stakes in their economic development.

The people of Project OKURASE wish to give their thanks, or medaase, to Pedals for Progress and our supporters. We at P4P would like to say medaase to you as well. It would not be possible to operate without your continued assistance.

Project OKURASE, Ghana

Fall 2009 InGear

fall2009ghanaOkuraseContainerA member of the Board of Project OKURASE contacted P4P earlier this year specifically looking for the donation of sewing machines. P4P was very interested in the project and wished to be of assistance. Through the good graces of our Ghanaian partner, WEBikes, we were able to get twelve sewing machines delivered to Project OKURASE. While this first donation has initiated the sewing job skills training program, it quickly became evident that the need was much greater.

P4P had fifty sewing machines that we wished to ship to Okurase, which included 3 manual foot pedal machines donated by Furniture Assist, a New Jersey nonprofit which collects used furniture that is donated to disadvantaged families in New Jersey. The standard problem presented itself; the goods were available here, needed there, but how to pay for the transportation costs.

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The cost to airfreight sewing machines is very prohibitive. In fact the cost to ship these fifty machines air freight is not that much less than the cost of shipping a full container of bicycles. This is where Joey Penman, a strong supporter of Project OKURASE, and the Clif Bar Family Foundation, a major supporter of Pedals for Progress, came in. Together they donated enough funding that added to existing Project OKURASE funds made it possible to ship not only the fifty sewing machines, but to allow P4P to place those machines in among a full container of bicycles. Certainly receiving an unexpected 480 bicycles in addition to the 50 sewing machines will greatly change the small village of Okurase, located in the West Akyem district of the eastern region of Ghana.

The four overarching goals of Project OKURASE are to develop:

  1. A family-based model of caring for orphans and vulnerable children.
  2. A model for job and skills training for youth, young adults, and women in the arts and building industry.
  3. A model for family and village-based formal education with special emphasis on female children.
  4. A model for a community of green design or sustainable architecture.

For more information: Project OKURASE Economic Self-Sufficiency

The Man Who Fits the Bikes

by Andrei Rusanovschi
Fall 2005 InGear

He started repairing old Soviet bikes in his apartment to earn money for food. He built up his skill of talent and sweat. Bikes have changed his way of life and he changed the way bikes run across Stefan Voda and, ultimately, across Moldova.

Stefan Voda is a small city, situated not far from the Black Sea, and not too far from the capital of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, but far enough to have its unique salt and quietness.

Since ’91, after the fall of Soviet Union, many aspects of Moldova’s infrastructure were ruined, including the roads and public services.

Stefan Voda’s public transport system has never been petted; by anybody. The system has simply never existed. That is why bikes play such an important role in connecting the so-called private sector with the center of the town.

In Stefan Voda the bike shop is in the building of the Maria Biesu School of Arts. Walking down the steps to the shop one senses little by little the smell of rubber. The smell has already became characteristic and is readily associated with bikes — no other place in Stefan Voda has that many and such a big variety of them. Everyone knows “if you want good bikes at good prices, go the store in the basement.”

The bike shop, once a messy and unorganized place, now looks like it found a master. The room that once was too small to house two hundred bikes is now transformed into a neat bike store and a fitting shop, accommodating four hundred plus bikes of different sizes, models and function.fall2005moldovaBikeMechanic

When you enter the shop you see an energetic guy, always busy with fitting the bikes and making the place better. He even makes his own bike stands, inventing modifications, building bikes virtually from nothing. In comparison, it is quite simple to prep bikes in such good condition as those from Pedals for Progress.

To a big extent, it is due to Valeriu that the Moldova #3 project became possible, or at least potentially viable, says Vitalie Rusanovschi, director of Center Rural21, the NGO that administers the project in Moldova.

Valeriu started repairing bikes in his small one-bedroom apartment. “I never thought I would deal with bicycles on the professional level,” says Valeriu. “I just liked riding them when I was little. And, as a kid, I always liked to see what’s inside.”

After the Army I had to choose what direction to take, says Valeriu. I decided to go further with my education and studied automobiles. While studying in Chisinau, fate brought me together with a bike service center. This is when I began to study the subtleties of bike mechanics.

Now he works with Center Rural21, the regional NGO promoting democracy, healthy life style and sustainable development. The Pedals for Progress project is running in Moldova for the third time. The previous two shipments made essential improvements to the public transport infrastructure. It is readily visible when coming to the town.

“I could instantly see that Stefan Voda is now much better equipped with bikes than ever before,” says Mark Skelton, the Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova who was the first to contact Pedals for Progress in 2002, arranging for the first shipment of bikes from the USA. Mark visited Stefan Voda during the second week of August 2005. It had been two years since he finished his duty in Moldova with Peace Corps.

“I am impressed how Valeriu has organized his workplace,” says Mark. “It is neat and well structured, and it seems he improves it every second,” says Mark after a half-day visit to the bike store.

“The best gratitude for me would be the bike I fit to never come back for repair,” says Valeriu. “I will just welcome them at least once a year for maintenance work.”

The Pedals for Progress project proved to be sustainable and a long-lasting relationship, and with Valeriu Soloviov responsible for the fitting process, we will fill Moldova up with reliable, environment-friendly means of transport — bicycles, said Center Rural21 director, Vitalie Rusanovschi.