Ghana
Since September 2002 BNB has shipped nearly 2,000 bicycles and tons of parts to the Village Bicycle Project (VBP) in Ghana, West Africa. The VBP offers bike repair classes and tools to stimulate small business development in the bicycle transport sector. VBP also builds trailers and cargo bikes to improve Farm-to-Market access for village growers that are stranded due to lack of public transport. The economic reality for 90% of people in Ghana is that the bicycle is an excellent and appropriate vehicle with which to mobilize oneself. Emily Lin, a BNB trained instructor, headed up VBP's first Earn-A-Bike programs in three communities. The VBP plays a vital role in distributing bicycles to a population that has great need for affordable mobility. BNB will continue to ship bicycles and provide technical support to Earn-A-Bike programs in Ghana.
News
Help Load Bikes for Village Bicycle Project in Ghana
Oct 23 2011 - 10:00am
These two sisters received bikes from the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana. (Photo courtesy of VBP)
Village Bicycle Project is Bikes Not Bombs’ first and longest running partner on the African continent, and continues to be extremely effective at getting bikes out to the most rural areas in Ghana - to people who need the bikes most as their primary means of transportation. These bikes go to farmers, women, teachers, students, health care workers, traders and children to increase their mobility and access to resources in rural areas, fueling development. Village Bicycle Project also provides bicycle maintenance training to everyone who receives a bike, as well as advanced repair training to local mechanics. BNB is very excited to continue supporting Village Bicycle Project’s great work with bikes!
Join us for the container loading! We will start loading bikes at 10am and continue until about 5pm (come for the whole day or for a few hours - whatever you are able). We will load at our warehouse space at 10 Harvard St in Dorchester. The warehouse is about a 10 minute walk from the Fields Corner T-Station. Breakfast and lunch will be provided!
Please RSVP to David Branigan, International Programs Director - david@bikesnotbombs.org
Location:
Boston ReStore, Inc.
10 Harvard Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
Please check the Google Map to find the best bike or driving route from your location. Also, ReStore is about a 10-minute walk from the Fields Corner T-Stop.
View Larger Map
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Help Send Bikes to Ability Bikes in Ghana
Jul 3 2011 - 10:00am
On Sunday July 3rd, help Bikes Not Bombs load 500+ bikes and parts to Ability Bikes Cooperative in Ghana. Ability Bikes is a micro-enterprise bike shop in Koforidua, Ghana, that repairs and sells used bicycles supplying the Eastern Region of Ghana with affordable transportation. Ability Bikes is a worker-owned cooperative that is owned and operated by people with physical disabilities. Bikes Not Bombs helped to establish Ability Bikes in 2008 - modeling the project after Bikes Not Bombs' early work in Rama, Nicaragua. Ability Bikes recently hired a new mechanic - Lizzy Viditor! Lizzy took part in the initial mechanics training in 2008, and is now a member of Ability Bikes Cooperative! Congratulations Lizzy.
Also, the work of Ability Bikes can be seen in the feature documentary film With My Own Two Wheels.
The loading will begin at 10am and will go until about 4pm at our warehouse space at 10 Harvard Street, Dorchester 02124.The warehouse is about a 10 minute walk from the Fields Corner T-Station. Breakfast and lunch will be provided! Please RSVP to David Branigan, International Programs Director - david@bikesnotbombs.org
Mirriam helping Agyen true a wheel in the Ability Bikes workshop. Photo by Ian Wexler, from the movie With My Own Two Wheels.
Date and time: Sunday July 3rd, 10am-4pm
Location:
Boston ReStore, Inc.
10 Harvard Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
Contact: David Branigan, International Programs Director, at david@bikesnotbombs.org.
Please check the Google Map to find the best bike or driving route from your location. Also, ReStore is about a 10-minute walk from the Fields Corner T-Stop.
View Larger Map
»
Help Load Bikes for Ghana
Apr 17 2011 - 10:00am
This Sunday, April 17th, Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) will load our first container of 2011 to Village Bicycle Project (VBP) in Ghana. This will also be our first loading out of our NEW warehouse space in Dorchester, in the ReStore warehouse. So come on out to help us load bikes to Ghana, and celebrate the new BNB warehouse with a day of fun, teamwork and solidarity!
Village Bicycle Project is Bikes Not Bombs’ first and longest running partner on the African continent, and continues to be extremely effective at getting bikes out to the most rural areas in Ghana - to people who need the bikes most as their primary means of transportation. These bikes go to farmers, women, teachers, students, health care workers, traders and children to increase their mobility and access to resources in rural areas, fueling development. Village Bicycle Project also provides bicycle maintenance training to everyone who receives a bike, as well as advanced repair training to local mechanics. BNB is very excited to continue supporting Village Bicycle Project’s amazing work with bicycles!At right, George Aidoo, the main VBP trainer, leads a workshop in the village of Liati Agbonyra. Photo by Sunniva Rodgers. See www.ghanabikes.org.
Time: 10am - 4pm
Come for the whole day or a few hours - whatever you are able. We'll have coffee and bagels in the morning, and pizza in the afternoon with a break to talk about the project.
Location:
Boston ReStore, Inc.
10 Harvard Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
Contact: David Branigan, International Programs Director, at david@bikesnotbombs.org.
Please check the Google Map to find the best bike or driving route from your location. Also, ReStore is about a 10-minute walk from the Fields Corner T-Stop.
View Larger Map
Progress & Photos from Ability Bikes Cooperative in Ghana
David Branigan, International Programs Director, visited Ability Bikes in Koforidua, Ghana for two weeks in January to assess the project and provide technical assistance. David is pleased to report that over the past year, since his last visit, Ability Bikes has greatly progressed in skill and maturity.
Ability Bikes Cooperative is run by an all-physically challenged staff and has successfully become a primary source of high quality refurbished bikes in Koforidua, the capital of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Ability Bikes was established in 2008 through the resources and support of Bikes Not Bombs, and has since become substantially independent. Ability Bikes imports two containers per year from Bikes Not Bombs, as well as two more from Re-Cycle and Working Bikes Cooperative.
During his visit, David worked with the Ability Bikes Cooperative members to hold their second annual meeting where they used a participatory process to critically analyze the progress of the micro-enterprise in terms of its accomplishments, challenges and potential for growth. David also worked with the members to envision potential developments for 2011 and to define concrete steps that Ability Bikes can take toward increased operational and financial autonomy. The goals are to secure the sustainability of the project, the long-term dignified employment of the physically challenged members and the continuous supply of refurbished bicycles in Koforidua - further building the bicycle infrastructure of the Eastern Region of Ghana.
David reflected on this visit, noting: “I received a lot more hugs from the Ability Bikes members on this visit than I was ever used to getting in Ghana, a society where greetings are generally done with handshakes. I think that together we've progressed past the development dynamic of recipient/provider to that of equal. We've built a partnership based on transparency, solidarity and strategic support that builds the members' power day by day, bike by bike, sale by sale to not only own the future of their cooperative business, but also their own futures.”
See more photos from David's visit on Flickr.
New Date! - Shipment to Village Bicycle Project in Ghana
Dec 18 2010 - 10:00am
On Saturday December 18th, volunteer to help load 500 donated bikes for the Village Bicycle Project in Ghana!
Village Bicycle Project (VBP) brings bicycles to the most rural villages throughout Ghana and organizes village workshops, at which local participants learn the basics of bicycle repair and maintenance, and get the opportunity to purchase a bicycle at half the market value, helping resource-poor people – who need the bikes most – to afford them. Village Bicycle Project also organizes advanced mechanics trainings for local bicycle mechanics and supplies them with affordable bicycle tools.
The loading will take place at our warehouse at 179 Boylston Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 from 10am to 4pm. No experience necessary. We'll be sorting, moving, and loading bikes and parts in a space open to the outside, so dress warmly and you may wish to bring work gloves. Lunch is provided.
Check out the Village Bicycle Project website for more information about the project. Contact David Branigan at david@bikesnotbombs.org or 617-522-0222 x103 with any questions about volunteering at this event or about BNB's international work.
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.
