Inmates at Colombia's Picalea Prison, have earned work-release privileges to work for
Horizons of Freedom Foundation (FHL) Comp&Mail Messenger Service. With bicycles provided
by Pedals for Progress, inmates travel from the penitentiary to the service's headquarters and from there
to service's clients in the city of Ibagué. Reinel, who had nearly forgotten the freedom afforded by a bicycle,
reports he has regained his sense of autonomy and self worth while earning an income.

Pedals for Progress's involvement with FHL goes back to the summer of 2002, when FHL's founder and
director, David Toro, approached PfP requesting a container of bicycles. Toro, a former Picalea inmate,
is a nationally-recognized social entrepreneur and winner of a prestigious Ashoka Fellowship for social
entrepreneurship. Since 2002, FHL has received two subsidized PfP shipments totaling about 900 bicycles.

Besides using bicycles in its successful messenger business, HFF has launched a region-wide environmental
awareness campaigns centered on mass public bicycle rides, and has bartered surplus bicycles in return for
training, accounting, and other services from sympathetic community development organizations.

By Enlisting the help of Ellsworth Correctional Institute Pedals for Progress has been able to overcome
Colombia's onerous import regulations. Unlike Pedals for Progress, with its limited storage capacity and
volunteer staff, Ellsworth has plenty of volunteers and space to inventory the bikes, prepare the detailed
listing required by Colombian Custom Regulations and can store the bicycles until Colombian Customs
approves the inventory for shipment.

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June 2004 InGear