New Partners 2015

Rural farmers and health workers in Africa are getting a lift from Bikes for the World as we add three new partners this month. Two containers for Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar will be loaded at our Arlington warehouse and two more for Madagascar and Cameroon, which BfW helped place, will be loaded with sister organizations, Working Bikes and Bicycles for Humanity, Oregon WI.

All three projects will be monitored by Bikes for the World to establish a plan to move forward and continue shipping bikes to support these new-to-us programs.

In Guinea-Bissau our bikes will be distributed as part of the Guinea-Bissau Livelihood Initiative in Bafatá. This program aims to remove barriers to economic opportunity for small producers in one of the world's poorest and most isolated nations.

Bikes will go to a women's association of smallholder farmers who will sell them at affordable prices to their members to generate revenues for their micro-finance program. The bikes will help female farmers and their families transport good to storage centers, processing facilities, and markets. Read more about this project...

In Madagascar Transaid works to bring transportation solutions to poor people in developing nations. Transaid operates in several African countries, but our bikes will be used for their healthcare project in Madagascar. The hope is that bikes will help health workers access the villages and help others access needed services.

Transaid will help cooperatives of health workers to set up bikes shops. The members will receive training in bike mechanics and the revenues will provide them with an added incentive for their work and additional funding for health-related projects. Read more about this project...

In Cameroon, we are working with NAVTI Foundation. Bikes collected by Bicycles for Humanity in Orgeon WI will be sent to Ndop in the region of Kumbo, where the first of three bikes shops will be established. A bike mechanics program will train youth in the skills needed to repair and maintain bicycles.

Bikes will go primarily to students and small-scale entrepreneurs, particularly females, to promote economic development in the region. BfW established this new partner and worked with B4H Oregon WI in order to place one of their containers as the pilot effort. We will monitor the program and hope to continue supporting the project going forward.