What's it like to lug a bundle of firewood to your home every day to cook a meal?
(Heck, yours truly doesn't even carry the firewood from her own garage...)
What's it like to trudge for miles with containers of drinking water?
(Find out what these guys decided to get for Christmas this year)
We don't know. We can only imagine, and let me tell you, it's hard enough to pick these things up, let alone hike across the countryside with them.
Bicycles can help. A lot. The World Bicycle Relief web page tells you how much. For people in the developing world a bicycle is a godsend. It boosts a single person's carrying capacity five times, increases the distance they can travel four times, frees up valuable time, and increases a health worker's capacity to reach people in need more than ten-fold. It gives people access to services, jobs, markets and education.
Yesterday, we were privileged to participate in a World Bicycle Relief bicycle building event. According to F. K. Day, the president of the organization and Executive VP of the Chicago-based SRAM Corporation, he approached Boeing Company for donations and sponsorship of bicycles. Boeing, in turn, wanted to organize a team-building event for their downtown-Chicago employees. They put these two ideas together, and created a team-building project, whose purpose was to assemble bicycles to be sent to people in need in Zambia.
Over 75 Boeing employees participated, assembling about 50 bicycles. Our Rapid Transit mechanics were on hand to offer help, advice and encouragement to the new bike builders.
They worked in teams of two. Each team would exchange photos with the local assembler in Zambia, and the final recipient of the bike, thus establishing a tangible history and connection between people half-way around the world.
(Frames and wheels waiting to be turned int bicycles)
(Ben surveys the crowd of assemblers)
(Ronnie cheers on his assembly team)
(Sam watches as an assembler adjusts a wheel)
(This bike is nearly done)
(This one IS done)
(At the end of the day, there will be fifty bikes here)
Think you'd like to help? Click below:
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