On Sunday April 11th, Bikes Not Bombs volunteers will load a 40' shipping container full of bicycle aid to send to the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana. We are excited to announce that this shipment will mark 40,000 bikes shipped overseas by Bikes Not Bombs! (with many more bikes saved from landfills and used in our youth programs and bike shop)

A woman test rides her new bike after a VBP workshop in Piina, Ghana, March '09. Photo by VBP.

For the Village Bicycle Project (VBP), this shipment also marks a milestone as their 100th container of bicycles they have received (from BNB and other sources). At about 480 bikes per container that's 48,000 bikes, and with over 23 million people in Ghana, this works out to roughly 1 bike brought in per 497 people in the country - a huge impact. Requests from rural villages for VBP visits (with training workshops and bikes) are higher than ever and George Aidoo and Samson Ayine are busy traveling, training, and distributing bikes.

We start at 10:00 am (bagels and coffee provided) and work until we finish, which we expect to be 3:30 or 4:00pm. We'll take a break around 1pm for a pizza lunch (provided) and a short talk about the project. Volunteers can come for any part of this time that works for you. Experience not required. We'll be moving, sorting, and loading bikes, wheels, and spare parts. You may wish to bring work gloves.

This event happens RAIN or SHINE!

The Village Bicycle Project (VBP) is based in the capital, Accra, where they will wholesale part of the shipment to 20-30 local small bike businesses. VBP trainers then take the remaining bikes to small villages around the country to do workshops in basic bike maintenance; people who complete the workshop can buy a bike for 1/2 price. The more active economy of the capital subsidizes bringing bikes affordably to small villages. See the VBP website at www.ghanabikes.org.

VBP bike maintenance workshop for women in Piina, Ghana, March '09. Photo by VBP.

See photos from these workshops in Piina at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thuyle1020/VillageBicycleProject?authkey=Gv1...




Also, you can see a short video online about bikes from BNB going to the VBP (this video is some years old, and was made when BNB was at our old location), see http://current.com/items/76310502_village-bicycle-project.htm

Directions

This event does NOT happen at Bikes Not Bombs, but is just around the corner. We will be loading from a big parking lot at 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, 2 blocks from the Stony Brook T stop on the Orange Line. Coming from the BNB HUB at 284 Amory Street, turn right on Amory. At the first traffic light turn right on Boylston Street (where the Stony Brook T stop is on your left) and then turn right into a large parking lot which is part of the Brewery Complex. You'll see our 40 ft. shipping container parked in this lot, just off the street.