Bicycles For Humanity Georgia

New Website Launched! www.b4hgeorgia.org

2010-09-10T06:35:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

We are so pumped to announce that we have officially launched our new website! You can find all the latest and most wonderful updates, along with our new blog, at: www.b4hgeorgia.org

Hope to see round these parts; we'd love to hear from you! Feel free to send us an email at mary@bicycles-for-humanity.org if you have any questions or want additional info on our Sept. 11th bike drive this weekend!

Peace and love.
The B4H GA team

NamibianTimes article from a chief discussing needs for better access to health care and transportation: bikes have developmental power.

2010-08-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

Namibia: Chief Strives for Rural Development

Chrispin Inambao

10 August 2010

Windhoek — Chief Joseph Tembwe Mayuni of the Mashi Traditional Authority, whose chieftainship is among numerous that have official recognition, has applauded the Government for implementing many capital projects in the Caprivi Region.

Chief Mayuni's message was conveyed on Sunday at Choi at the colourful Tulikonge Annual Cultural Festival thronged by multitudes at the Mashi Traditional Authority.

He cited the power line that will electrify many rural homes at Kongola and Makanga, as "a symbol of development", saying by harnessing electricity, everything is possible.

The chief, a champion of conservancies and tourism, made an impassioned appeal to Government to consider extending "this power line to other districts that have government institutions such as schools and clinics e.g. Mayuni Senior Secondary and Choi Primary schools, Choi Clinic and the Mashi Traditional Authority office at Choi."

He also stated in his annual address that the new power line could be extended to Sibbinda Health Centre, Sikosinyana Senior Secondary School, Sibbinda Primary School and Sibbinda Circuit Office and should extend from Sesheke to Kamenga.

In reference to the recent commissioning of the N$3-million ferry procured for the flood-belt by the Ministry of Works and Transport, he said, "We acknowledge the provision of the water transport, which was named after Richard Kapelwa Kabajani, that is to transport people from Katima Mulilo to Impalila, on the Zambezi River, and back."

"We thank the Government for naming it after our hero, Richard Kapelwa Kabajani.

This is a symbol of unity in the region and the entire Namibia," said Mayuni.

While thanking Government for having bought him an all-terrain vehicle and providing him with a driver, he appealed to Government "to upgrade the Sachona road for the safety of our people".

He felt this particular road needs an upgrade because it is too bumpy "and very dangerous during the rainy season".

Mayuni says residents of Singalamwe, Lizauli and Masida in Kongola Constituency are totally cut-off from the Namibian health system and, because of lack of roads in some of these rural areas, patients have to be transported to clinics in ox-drawn wooden sleighs.

Relevant Links

This type of transport is unacceptable in an independent Namibia, said Mayuni, who also appealed to the Ministry of Health and Social Services to expedite the upgrading to a health centre of the clinic at Choi, as it caters for Lizauli and Ngonga.

He said Sibbinda is a health centre with no ambulance and in this vein, he appealed to the Ministry of Health and Social Services to purchase an ambulance for Sibbinda and for Choi Clinic.

Another request was for the Kongola-Katima Mulilo Water Pipeline to be upgraded with a water purification plant, because beneficiary villagers currently drink water pumped directly from the river resulting in a high number of cases of diarrhoea.

Mayuni appealed to his subjects and to all other tribes in Caprivi to desist from tribalism, a tendency he says is retrogressive and stunts meaningful development.

2010-08-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Follow these links to: Click 10, Give 10, Tell 10

Bicycles for Humanity - Georgia

launches:

Follow these links to: Click 10, Give 10, Tell 10

Excellent Article about our Partners in Namibia, and what happens to a container once on the ground...

2010-07-25T18:37:00.001-07:00

Women Bicycle Mechanics in Namibia

GEARED FOR CHANGE

http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/ben

by Carol Erickson | Jul 22, 2010
165 Reads | 0 Comments

Clarisse and Michael Link co-founded the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) to train and equip women in Namibia to be bicycle mechanics and instructors. This positions the women to be local transport technology experts, a traditional male role, and gives them access to income, affordable transport, and new skills.

When Michael Linke came to Africa in 2004, his main interest as a bicycling advocate was to address transportation challenges for HIV/AIDS health care workers. He planned to dedicate six months to setting up an organization to distribute bicycles to the health worker sector.

Six years later, Michael and and Clarisse are still living in Namibia and working strategically to expand this transport network to other African nations. Namibia has one of the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates, estimated at 20 percent of the total population.

Namibia's shortage of healthcare professionals further hinders its health system’s ability to cope with people living with HIV/AIDs-related illnesses. Rural communities are even more affected because a lack of transport systems creates another barrier to social and medical service access.

The Bicycling Empowerment Network works to address these challenges throughout Namibia, providing not only critical transportation for health care volunteers, but also creating a means of generating more income to supplement their meager medical volunteer allowances.

The Bicycle Empowerment Network was a winner in the
Women l Tools l Technology competition.

Dozens of grassroots organizations have implemented projects in partnership with the Namibian Ministry of Health, including programs for home-based care (HBC) of people living with HIV/AIDS, and support of orphans and vulnerable children. HBC programs work with health care volunteers to visit clients in their homes, providing counseling, nutrition, hygiene, and medication delivery, as well as assisting them with household chores and providing basic solutions to common needs.

Without transportation options, many of the volunteers had no alternative to walking long distances to visit people infected with HIV/AIDS. The volunteers, many of whom are HIV-positive themselves, work to reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, but also take on the critical task of assisting clients to get to clinics and hospitals, and adhere to their anti-retroviral treatments.

“We live and breathe this project now,” said Michael Linke about BEN, which employs 90 people in 22 Bicycle Empowerment Centers (BEC), that have distributed over 12,000 bicycles, “If I hadn’t been completely naïve, I would have never tried this in the first place. Finding local directors who really wanted to engage with the project was also challenging because I was perceived as an outsider who might be wasting their time.”

There is no solid bicycle manufacturing industry in Africa. Most of bicycle distribution takes place from small supermarkets or general stores that sell bicycles from China.

The Bicycling Empowerment Network in Cape Town provided Linke with initial guidance to begin addressing the mobility needs of Namibian health care workers. “When I started here, we had no track record, and that was a huge barrier,” Linke said. “Almost all of our problems in the early


		A BEN bicycle ambulance

days were about money, but this simultaneously forced us to be very creative and enterprising.”

There is no solid bicycle manufacturing industry in Africa. Most of bicycle distribution takes place from small supermarkets or general stores that sell bicycles from China. These stores offer no quality guarantee, and if the bicycle breaks, it has to be shipped to Johannesburg, South Africa for a repair that can take up to three months.

“Our bikes are of higher quality and we offer repair service," Linke said. "We’ve actually picked up a lot of business from Chinese bicycles that break down.

"The starting price for our recycled bicycles is about US $50, which is about half the cost of a new, low-quality bike that is imported from China. We feel that we are filling a gap by offering reliable, high-quality, low-cost bicycles for the Namibian market.”

BEN imports used, donated bicycles in huge shipping containers that hold up to 350 bicycles in partnership with Bicycles for Humanity and several other organizations. The first Namibian shipment in 2006 came from a chapter established in Whistler, Canada.

Bicycles for Humanity has chapters all over North America, including the United States and Canada, as well as chapters in Australia, Tokyo, London, and Germany. Anyone who wants to collect donated bicycles can start their own community chapter, and plan a visit to the BEN sites to see how their bicycles are transforming people’s lives.

The donated bicycles arrive in various states of repair and need to be refurbished. BEN’s trained local bicycle mechanics, including half who are women, go through a quality-control checklist as they fix the bicycle so it can be sold to the public with a guarantee.

When community members decide they want to start a Bicycling Empowerment Center, part of the training BEN offers is a planning session about how to assign starting wages for staff, based on what they think they will earn as the business gets established and builds customers.

“We find that they can earn up to US $130 per month, which is a huge amount compared to their $7 per month volunteer salary, or the subsistence, piecemeal work they would have been doing as a farm laborer,” Linke said. “Now they can start to plan for growth in other aspects of their lives and community, because they know that they will have a steady income.”

Bertha, an HIV-positive volunteer for a Catholic HIV/AIDs charity, received a bicycle through one of BEN’s volunteer programs. She couldn’t afford her medications, and was on the verge of giving up when the opportunity came to receive bicycle mechanics training,

The income Bertha generated as a bicycle mechanic allowed her to purchase cosmetic products, which her daughters sold at their schools to generate their own income stream. “Bertha has gone from a desperate situation to a place where she can afford to take her medication, meet her own needs, and help her daughters to earn an income,” Linke said.

BEN receives text messages from its mechanics, who are not shy to tell them if one of their procedures is not working well. “We provide the resources, training and support, but the real work comes from the people, who have to make a huge commitment to make these centers work,” Linke said. “And we don’t prescribe to the communities how they should invest their profits.”

A Bicycling Empowerment Center, run by Namibians with different physical abilities, decided to use their business profits to build a computer training center as an extension to the bicycle repair shop. Linke believes that without the business experience they developed through the bicycle center, they would have never realized that they possessed the skills to manage a village computer training center.

Linke believes it is vitally important that BEN eventually expand beyond Namibia. He said the mindset of bicycle mechanics shifts when they receive training and become driven to make the centers work. The Linkes plan to expand BEN to Zambia in 2010 with the same community empowerment philosophy that supports villagers so the Linkes can then step away and the centers can manage themselves.

Website: www.benbikes.org.za/namibia/

Game Time.

2010-07-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Game faces = on. We are launching a Bicycles for Humanity Georgia, 5 week, $5,000 funding frenzy...In these few weeks, we will be attempting to meet our final goals to purchase and send our first shipping container to Namibia.

Great things in store!

Got creative ideas? Let us know! Post below or email b4h.athens@gmail.com.

Cheers,

Your friends at team B4H Athens/Atlanta

The June Edition :)

2010-06-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

We just sent out our latest update! Check it out below...if you aren't on our email list and would like to be, just email b4h.athens@gmail.com and let us know!

----------------------------

Well hello there all!

We hope that everyone is doing well and wonderful and have been enjoying their summers so far! As June ends, we are entering into some really exciting times with Bicycles for Humanity, Athens/Atlanta, and we, of course, wanted to let you know about it! :)

1. We are 11 weeks away from sending our first shipment of second-hand bicycles to an impoverished community in sub-Saharan Africa! Sweet, yes? The actual day of full-on bicycle collection and preparation for shipment will be on Saturday, September 11th, 2010...so, mark your calendars! Check out a shipment that some of our partners in Canada just got packed for Malawi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/b4hottawa/sets/72157624256296391/

2. Good news from the IRS!! (it's possible) :) We have officially received our determination letter from the IRS for 501(c)(3) status; meaning: B4H Athens/Atlanta is now a federally recognized charitable organization! All past, present, and future contributions, whether monetary or in-kind, are now officially tax-exempt! That is good news!

3. We are almost halfway to our goal of $10,000 to send the first shipment! Thank you so much to all of those who have given selflessly! Whether it be donating bikes, financially, or spreading the word, we are all gathering together for a global impact. What a great, collaborative way to work together for real, sustainable, and ethical change... on September 11th, we will not simply be sending donated bicycles to Namibia, but we will be sending resources, access, and independence....

...We will be shipping empowerment to individuals

who have the ability within themselves to change the world around them,

but only lack the vast array of resources that we have just at our fingertips.

So, thank you again to all who have been a part so far! Together we can... :) If you have not yet joined us, there are several ways to do so! You can a la carte or choose them all!:

Give financially through PayPal at http://b4hathens.blogspot.com/
Send a check to Bicycles For Humanity, Athens, GA, Inc, P.O. Box 5383, Athens, GA 30604
Bring your dusty bicycles to Georgia Cycle Sport (http://georgiacyclesport.com/) and ask for Lane Seabolt
Put on your own fundraising event! Email mary@bicycles-for-humanity.org for more info

We are so excited for the coming weeks, and so honored to be sharing the journey with all of you! We also know that in these hard economic times, that it is increasingly difficult to give financially, and please know that we do not take your gifts for granted! We value fiscal responsibility, and would be happy to discuss at any time our process, goals, and philosophy so that you can learn more about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how your gift will be used!

Have a wonderful rest of your week! Please spread the word to those you know!

Peace and appreciation,

Mary and Team B4H Georgia :)

One bike can change one life,

One life can change a community

--------------------------------------------------

B4H Athens in the News!

2010-05-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well hey there everybody!

Thanks to bicycle mechanic extraordinaire and excellent Bicycles for Humanity advocate, Lane Seabolt, B4H Athens/Atlanta has had a bit of spotlight time!

We are so excited that momentum is spreading and individuals around Georgia are becoming aware of how one bike can change the life of a person living in poverty!

Just a couple of quick points of clarification: B4H Athens/Atlanta has targeted to send our first shipping container of 400 bicycles to Namibia in mid-September. We have a strategic partnership with the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia to use the container in a sustainable way to refurbish, distribute, and repair any future damage to bikes in the area, as well as providing monitoring and support for the project once on the ground.

For this to happen, the efforts must be two-fold: the collection of 400 second-hand bicycles and raising approximately $10,000 to cover the cost of shipping and purchasing the container. While non-refurbish-able bikes may be stripped for parts prior to shipment, we encourage the donation of bikes that will be able to have a long life in a community in Namibia, whether it be taking a health-care worker to HIV/AIDS patients, a child to school, or expanding a persons reach for employment...That said, we would love to partner with you in giving your old bike a new life!

Thanks again to Lane for all his hard work! Check out the links below for the Athens Banner Herald and NPR Atlanta...

http://onlineathens.com/stories/050310/new_631637639.shtml

(scroll to about the 1:18 mark for B4H news) http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1646560

Rock on. :)

Bicycle Drop Zone Announced!

2010-03-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

B4H Athens/Atlanta has a bicycle drop zone for your second-hands bikes!

Georgia Cycle Sport

www.georgiacyclesport.com

1029 Baxter St.

Athens, GA 30601

(706) 549-2453

Georgia Cycle Sport in Athens has generously offered to be a drop zone for B4H...So, if you have a bike that has been collecting dust over the years and you're in the Atlanta/Athens area, swing on over to Georgia Cycle Sport on Baxter Street and they'll take it off your hands for us...

your old bike could change the life of a person living in poverty.

Please make sure to send them some B4H love as well. :)

2010 = Sweet beginnings!

2010-02-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

"B4H Athens hit the ground running in 2010, and we're off to a promising start! We were thankful for the generosity of the donors who responded to our January Challenge Grant, which raised over $1000.

Combined with the matching funds from the Challenge Grant,

this puts our total thus far at $2160 -- and more than 20% closer to

sending a container filled with bikes to our neighbors in Namibia!

In the age of the Internet and 24-hour cable television, we have so much access to information on the needs of others, that trying to figure out who to help and how to help can feel overwhelming. What spoke to me about B4H was its specialized approach, and yet its broad impact. Safe and reliable transportation has transformed industrialized societies; it plays a major role in our economy...

Safe transportation paves the way for students to attend schools,
farmers to bring their crops to market,
employees to report to work,
businesses to transport raw materials and finished products,
customers to patronize businesses

--though several factors contribute to each of these, they would not be possible without safe, reliable transportation. And in Namibia, as in many other countries, one bike can make all the difference -- it can pave the way for a young girl to travel quickly and more safely to and from school, for a farmer to sell crops in a local market, for a health worker to reach patients, for carpenters to transport wood, tools, and finished products, for a tailor to pick up and deliver mended clothes, even for a mechanic to report to work to repair bicycles!

B4H's specialized approach -- delivering bicycles and repair/maintenance knowledge and equipment -- delivers broad, life-changing results to both individuals and their communities. And it is awesome to think that just $30, or the cost of two movie tickets and popcorn, a couple weeks of lattes, or a new shirt, can connect my life to another in a meaningful way.

Thanks to all of our January Challenge Grant participants,

and let's keep up the momentum!

Please spread the word with your family and friends;

we appreciate your support!"

- Rebecca Reed

One more weekend left!

2010-01-29T17:58:00.000-08:00

The January Challenge Grant window is almost over! Now until 11:59p.m. EST this Sunday, every dollar that you donate will be matched! Join with us to in creating a network of empowerment for a community in Namibia where many individuals live on less than $2USD a day...we're excited to team with you in bringing sustainable change!

Donate through PayPal by following the link at the top of this page, or by sending a check to:

Bicycles for Humanity - Athens, GA, Inc.

P.O. Box 5383

Athens, GA 30604

Tangi Unene! :)

("Thank you very much" in Oshiwambo)

January Challenge Grant!

2010-01-07T07:28:00.001-08:00

Hey all,

We are so pumped about the beginning of 2010 and focusing this new year on making an impact in the lives of others...what an incredible opportunity we have, at the start of yet another season, to make this year count for something bigger than ourselves! How cool is that?

At B4H Athens/Atlanta, we cannot begin to describe how excited we are about bringing our local community together to build into the lives, even in a small way, of some of those in our international community. 2010 holds many possibilities, one of which is sending 400 second-hand bicycles to an impoverished community in Namibia in September...

In addition to all of this, anonymous donors have approached B4H Athens/Atlanta with a January Challenge Grant. For every dollar that we raise in January 2010, it will be matched, dollar for dollar, by these donors...As it costs approximatley $30 to ship a bicycle to Africa, if you donate $30 to B4H Athens this month, you will essentially be providing for not just one bike, but two with this January Challenge Grant.

That is a potential of double the impact of your resources...that's a little girl who will be the first female in her community to use a bicycle...that will be the home health care worker who will be able to visit three times the amount of patients in a day...that will be the woman who will have access to new avenues of employment...and the father who will be trained in bicycle mechanics to now have an income for his family...

Even with the economic crisis we are in, we are yet still so rich in the eyes of the world...let's double our impact this year and extend the season of giving...Please use the donate now button to join us in affecting lives of disadvantaged Namibians, today!

Peace and love. :)
Mary

Give Your Old Bike Another Life...

2009-12-21T16:25:00.000-08:00

Great video from Bicycles for Humanity Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saYzQqW9mBc

Hangin out with the big shots...B4H Athens on the main Bicycles for Humanity Website.

2009-12-18T12:57:00.001-08:00

Check it out... http://www.bicycles-for-humanity.org/Locate_Chapter_USA.php

sweetness :)

Welcome to the B4H-Athens blog!!

2009-12-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Bicycles for Humanity - Athens, GA is an affiliate of the Canadian organization Bicycles for Humanity. With the knowledge that a bike can change the life of an individual living in poverty, especially in developing countries with little access to alternative transportation, B4H - Athens is partnering with citizens of the Athens/Atlanta areas, local organizations, the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia, and you to send a 40 foot shipping container packed with a projected 400 bicycles to Namibia in sub-Saharan Africa. We have filed for non-profit incorporation with the Georgia Secretary of State and intend to pursue federal non-profit status.

We are currently beginning our first project to collect four hundred second-hand bicycles and raise funds (approximately $10,000USD) to purchase the container and ship the donated bicycles to the coast of Namibia in September of 2010. From here the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia will take this container, turn it into a workshop, and train individuals in business management and bicycle mechanics to repair the bikes and have an income-generating activity. Partnering with a local community-based organization, the bikes will then be sold and donated into the community.

What does a bike mean to someone living in poverty? It could mean employment or access to employment; it could mean the ability for health-care workers to visit more patients, or increased access to ARVs and clinics for individuals living with HIV/AIDS; or, it could mean a little girl being able to ride a bike in a community where only males have been able. Simply and amazingly, a bike can open up a world of access in places where the only mode of transportation available to many is by foot.

We are so excited about being a part of Bicycles for Humanity and the journey of the coming months! There are a lot of exciting ways to be involved, and we know that this project cannot happen without your help! If you would like to contribute monetarily, please follow the above link to access google checkout. If you have a used bicycle that you would like to donate or if you would like more information, please email us at mary@bicycles-for-humanity.org.

Thanks! J