Kanmenta Assi, of Ping, Ghana, will use her bike to travel to Jirapa to learn tailoring at the National Youth Emloyment Program center there, 20 miles away.  Without the bike she received from Village Bicycle Project, she would not be able to travel back and forth from Jirapa to  her home for the weekends. She cannot afford the private car fares, and cannot be away from her family all the time.  She will stay in Jirapa with relatives, and use her bike to help her family  in Ping on her free days.

Owning a bike will make Kanmenta’s life easier and more productive, allow her to learn a skill that will  increase her income and save her many hours every week.

Thanks, Erin, for your donation!

Thank you for your support of the Village Bicycle Project bicycle repair workshop in Konjiahai, Ghana! Konjiaji is a village in the remote furthest NW corner of Ghana where no English is spoken, 4 miles from the main town of Wa.

Jaliha received her bicycle the day we took this picture, last week.  The first thing she is going to do is get a rack for her bicycle so that she can carry loads on it easily.  She will use the bike to take her maize for grinding in Kperisi, about half a mile away from her home, and Wa, about 4 miles away.  She also works at the quarry making gravel in the dry season when there is not a lot of work to do at her farm.  The quarry is 3 miles away and normally she would walk, but with the bicycle she will go and come quickly.

Thanks, Tom, for your donation, and making life easier for Jaliha.

Magret lives in Ping, Ghana, 40 miles north of the main town of Wa. There are no paved roads and no public transportation, even though there are numerous communities in the area. The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles.

There are few shops in this region, so most major trading is done on market days, rotating every six days among various towns and villages. Magret will use the  bike she received from your donation to buy guinea corn at the market in Hang, about 8 miles away, and bring it back to Ping. Guinea corn is the basic ingredient for making piito, the local millet beer. Owning a bike will make Magret’s life easier and more productive, increase her income and save her many hours every week.

Thanks, Graham, for your kind donation!

Monica lives in Ping, Ghana, 40 miles north of the main town of Wa. There are no paved roads and no public transportation, even though there are numerous communities in the area. The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles.

There are few shops in this region, so most major trading is done on market days, rotating every six days among various towns and villages. Monica plans to use the bike she received from your donation to buy staples at the Hang market, about 8 miles away round trip, and sell them in her local village.

Owning a bike will make Monica’s life easier and more productive. It will also increase her income and save her many hours every week.

Thanks, Patricia, for your donation!

Elewy lives in Ghana, in the village of Guri, 40 miles north of Wa, where the pavement ends.  There’s no public transport to the east, even though there are numerous communities.  The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles.

There are few shops outside the major towns, so most major trading is done on market days, rotating every six days among various towns and villages. Elewy makes shea butter which she sells on market days in Heng, 8 miles round trip and in Ullo, 12 miles round trip from her home. Before she got this bike from Village Bicycle Project, she walked to the markets while carrying as much shea butter as she could.  With her bike, she will be able to travel faster, and carry more of her products to sell.  This will increase her income, save her precious time, and make life for her family better.

Thanks, Merleen, for your donation!

Lamisy lives in Guri, in Jirapa district, 40 miles north of Wa. She lives far away from her farm, and until now, has had to walk both ways to get there. In addition, she walks many miles to a new market every week to trade.

Lamisy’s husband has a bike of his own, but she still walks everywhere she goes.

Now, thanks to your donation, Molly, Lamisy is independent too! She will use her new bike to travel to her farm and the markets that take place in neighboring villages. Owning a bike will save her many hours per week, and make her life easier and more productive.

Thanks, Molly, for your donation!

Flex lives in Guri in Jirapa district, 40 miles north of Wa. Flex is a shea butter producer who sells at the Hang market, about 8 miles away round trip from her home. Flex used to walk weekly, carrying all of the shea butter she could handle, to the market where she trades.

There are no paved roads, and no transportion to the east, even though there are numerous communities there.  The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles. There are few shops in this region, so most major trading is done on market days. The market rotates daily among various towns and villages.

In addition to walking to her market, Flex’s farm is 6 miles round trip from her home. Now, as a result of the bike she received last week through your donation, Flex will be able to visit her farm far more easily, and she has better access to the markets.

Thanks to your gift of a bicycle, Casey, Flex will now save time and increase her income!

Momori is a piito brewer who lives in Guri in Jirapa district, 40 miles north of Wa, where the pavement ends. Momori buys millet, one of the ingredients for her business, at the local market.

Before she received this bike through your donation, she was limited by what she could carry on her walks. She would walk to the market, often 6-8 miles round trip,  and carry the grain home on her head.

There’s no public transportation except private taxis, even though there are numerous other communities , and no one owns a car.  The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles who are on long journeys, like Momori.

There are few shops in this region, so most major trading is done on market days, rotating every six days among various towns and villages.

Thanks to your donation of a bicycle, Nancy, Momori will cut down on the time needed to make her product, she’ll be more productive, and she’ll be able to access new markets! Thank you for supporting Momori and her business growth!

Agnes Baminenee lives in Ping, Ghana, 40 miles north of the main town of Wa.  There are no paved roads and no public transportation, even though there are numerous communities in the area.  The road is too narrow for two vehicles to pass, and is used mostly by pedestrians and bicycles.

There are few shops in this region, so most major trading is done on market days, rotating every six days among various towns and villages.  Agnes will buy a bike carrier to transport sacks of grain, (mostly millet, guinea corn or rice) which she buys locally and sells at the Hang market, about 8 miles away, round trip.  Without the bike she received from Village Bicycle Project, she could not move the grain to the busier markets.

Owning a bike will make Agnes’s life easier and more productive, increase her income and save her many hours every week.

Thanks, Deborah, for your donation!

Kutum is from Konjiahi, Ghana and shes uses her bicycle for many things. This picture was taken the day after the Village Bicycle Project repair workshop where she got her bike, and learned repair and maintenance skills, in late October.

Kutum said that she will ride to the main town of Wa to buy a bike rack to carry her harvest of maize.  After drying the maize, she will carry it on her bike to Kperisi (about 2 miles) from Wa for grinding.  She will also use the bicycle to carry her pots and pans to her farm so that she can cook for her family while they are working.

During the dry season when there is less farming work she will use the bicycle to go three miles to the quarry where she breaks rocks for a living. Without the bicycle she had to walk to all of these places and she wasn’t able to carry as many things.

Thanks so much for your donation, Devin, and for making Kutum’s life better!