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World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief is an international, non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL that specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries around the world. Their programs focus primarily on education, economic development, and health care. As of May 2024, World Bicycle Relief has distributed 811,188 bicycles in 21 countries and trained more than 3,501 bicycle mechanics in the developing world. Within their largest program, the Bicycles For Educational Empowerment program, nearly 70 percent of the student bicycles are designated for girl students.
Studies done in Africa (Uganda and Tanzania) and Sri Lanka on hundreds of households have shown that a bicycle can increase the income for families by as much as 35%. Transport, if analyzed for the cost-benefit analysis for rural poverty alleviation, has given one of the best returns in this regard. For example, road investments in India were a staggering 3-10 times more effective than almost all other investments and subsidies in rural economies in the 1990s. What a road does at a macro level to increase transport, the bicycle supports at the micro level. The bicycle, in that sense, can be one of the best means to eradicate poverty in developing nations.
World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 by SRAM co-founder and Executive Vice President F.K. Day and his wife documentary photographer Leah Missbach Day following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Day and his wife, travelled to Sri Lanka to witness local relief efforts. In discussions with aid groups on the ground, they realized the potential value a bicycle distribution program could provide, and thus created World Bicycle Relief. World Bicycle Relief then partnered with World Vision and a local manufacturer to produce and distribute bicycles specially designed to fit the needs and terrain of the recipients, a format that they would later use with other projects.
World Bicycle Relief has fundraising entities in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia.
World Bicycle Relief designs bicycles specific to the environment in which they will be distributed. The WBR bicycle is branded as the Buffalo Bicycle given its strength and durability. The WBR Buffalo has a coaster brake for safety and durability, and weighs 50 pounds (23 kg), including a rear rack and fenders. It can carry a cargo of 100 kilograms (220 lb). The frame and fork are built from over-sized, 16-gauge steel, and the wheels have 32 and 40 13-gauge spokes, front and rear respectively, with 18-gauge steel rims. The bicycles are assembled in three WBR facilities in Africa—one in Harare, Zimbabwe, one in Lusaka, Zambia, and one in Kisumu, Kenya—to lower costs, be close to the end-user, and to ensure local parts compatibility.
To ensure ongoing maintenance of bicycles, World Bicycle Relief implemented a maintenance training program. WBR conducts trainings in groups of 5 - 20 - trainings consisting of a curriculum that encompasses bicycle maintenance, business principles and life skills. Additionally, mechanics are supplied with high quality bicycle tools and uniforms. Through February 2020, 2,300 mechanics have been trained and equipped to maintain bicycles in their communities in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda. Additionally, World Bicycle Relief is working with interested mechanics to establish their business with a supply of spare parts to help increase the parts supply in rural sub-Saharan Africa.[citation needed]
Launched in June 2009, the Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program (BEEP) is an educational initiative in partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Education, community-based organizations and several international NGOs. Its goal is to provide 50,000 bicycles to school children and teachers in rural districts in Zambia in order to improve access to education by cutting down travel time. 70% of these bicycles are allocated to students, while 30% are for teachers, community leaders, and bicycle mechanics. 70% of student bicycles are allocated to girl students in recognition of their unique challenges in accessing education, such as having household chores, issues of safety, and prospects of early marriages. Early reports on the program show an increase in the percentage of children who complete their schooling to 88% in BEEP schools compared to the national average of 60%. Every recipient receives basic training about bicycle maintenance and safety, and signs a contract of commitment when receiving his or her bike.
From 2006-2009, World Bicycle Relief partnered with RAPIDS (Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support), a USAID-funded, World Vision-led coalition of relief organizations, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zambia by providing 23,000 bicycles to community home-based care volunteers, disease prevention educators and vulnerable households. The bicycles provided allowed RAPIDS not only to serve greater numbers, it also facilitated a greater level of care given to those who were being served, since workers were able to have more frequent visits and also have more significant impact through. their interaction with the chronically ill. Among the quantitative outcomes of this program is the finding that since World Bicycle Relief's participation in RAPIDS, caregiver retention has risen to 97%, a marked increase from earlier stages. World Bicycle Relief also trained over 470 mechanics.
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World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief is an international, non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL that specializes in large-scale, comprehensive bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries around the world. Their programs focus primarily on education, economic development, and health care. As of May 2024, World Bicycle Relief has distributed 811,188 bicycles in 21 countries and trained more than 3,501 bicycle mechanics in the developing world. Within their largest program, the Bicycles For Educational Empowerment program, nearly 70 percent of the student bicycles are designated for girl students.
Studies done in Africa (Uganda and Tanzania) and Sri Lanka on hundreds of households have shown that a bicycle can increase the income for families by as much as 35%. Transport, if analyzed for the cost-benefit analysis for rural poverty alleviation, has given one of the best returns in this regard. For example, road investments in India were a staggering 3-10 times more effective than almost all other investments and subsidies in rural economies in the 1990s. What a road does at a macro level to increase transport, the bicycle supports at the micro level. The bicycle, in that sense, can be one of the best means to eradicate poverty in developing nations.
World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 by SRAM co-founder and Executive Vice President F.K. Day and his wife documentary photographer Leah Missbach Day following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Day and his wife, travelled to Sri Lanka to witness local relief efforts. In discussions with aid groups on the ground, they realized the potential value a bicycle distribution program could provide, and thus created World Bicycle Relief. World Bicycle Relief then partnered with World Vision and a local manufacturer to produce and distribute bicycles specially designed to fit the needs and terrain of the recipients, a format that they would later use with other projects.
World Bicycle Relief has fundraising entities in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia.
World Bicycle Relief designs bicycles specific to the environment in which they will be distributed. The WBR bicycle is branded as the Buffalo Bicycle given its strength and durability. The WBR Buffalo has a coaster brake for safety and durability, and weighs 50 pounds (23 kg), including a rear rack and fenders. It can carry a cargo of 100 kilograms (220 lb). The frame and fork are built from over-sized, 16-gauge steel, and the wheels have 32 and 40 13-gauge spokes, front and rear respectively, with 18-gauge steel rims. The bicycles are assembled in three WBR facilities in Africa—one in Harare, Zimbabwe, one in Lusaka, Zambia, and one in Kisumu, Kenya—to lower costs, be close to the end-user, and to ensure local parts compatibility.
To ensure ongoing maintenance of bicycles, World Bicycle Relief implemented a maintenance training program. WBR conducts trainings in groups of 5 - 20 - trainings consisting of a curriculum that encompasses bicycle maintenance, business principles and life skills. Additionally, mechanics are supplied with high quality bicycle tools and uniforms. Through February 2020, 2,300 mechanics have been trained and equipped to maintain bicycles in their communities in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda. Additionally, World Bicycle Relief is working with interested mechanics to establish their business with a supply of spare parts to help increase the parts supply in rural sub-Saharan Africa.[citation needed]
Launched in June 2009, the Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program (BEEP) is an educational initiative in partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Education, community-based organizations and several international NGOs. Its goal is to provide 50,000 bicycles to school children and teachers in rural districts in Zambia in order to improve access to education by cutting down travel time. 70% of these bicycles are allocated to students, while 30% are for teachers, community leaders, and bicycle mechanics. 70% of student bicycles are allocated to girl students in recognition of their unique challenges in accessing education, such as having household chores, issues of safety, and prospects of early marriages. Early reports on the program show an increase in the percentage of children who complete their schooling to 88% in BEEP schools compared to the national average of 60%. Every recipient receives basic training about bicycle maintenance and safety, and signs a contract of commitment when receiving his or her bike.
From 2006-2009, World Bicycle Relief partnered with RAPIDS (Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support), a USAID-funded, World Vision-led coalition of relief organizations, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zambia by providing 23,000 bicycles to community home-based care volunteers, disease prevention educators and vulnerable households. The bicycles provided allowed RAPIDS not only to serve greater numbers, it also facilitated a greater level of care given to those who were being served, since workers were able to have more frequent visits and also have more significant impact through. their interaction with the chronically ill. Among the quantitative outcomes of this program is the finding that since World Bicycle Relief's participation in RAPIDS, caregiver retention has risen to 97%, a marked increase from earlier stages. World Bicycle Relief also trained over 470 mechanics.