Teacher Kadiatu carries her nephew Tommy on her back while teaching student Yamboom from the Josephine Bakhita School for the Poor in Sierra Leone.  Yamboon will have an advantage over other girls in Sierra Leone because she knows how to ride.  As she gets older, this skill will help her be more productive in her community and in her own life.  Thanks for helping Yamboon improve her life!

Winfred will use his new bike to go to his farm in Atiavi, Ghana.  He works with the local Peace Corps Volunteer and will use the bike for tree planting work and other projects.  The bike helps him a lot because formerly he had an old and poorly built bicycle which he was always working on and it was costing him time and money.  Winfred is very happy to have his new bike. Thanks so much for your donation!

Xede will use the bike you provided to get to his farm and for traveling long distances around Atiavi, Ghana. He has family in two different villages which are about 4 miles apart and this bicycle will help him out tremendously.

The bike allows him to travel long distances without taking a taxi. It will save him a lot of time and money.  Thanks so much Pam for your donation!

Tricia,

This man, Abdulai, from Patefu Broun in Sierra Leone, usually travels from his village to Lunsar on foot, 16 miles round trip, at least 3 times per week!

His village helped him pool together a small stipend to buy this bicycle that you, Tricia, have helped subsidize!

Kabia had never before used gears and was delighted to learn how to do so during the maintenance workshop.

He uses his bikes over rugged and hilly terrain where gears, racks and knobby mountain tires make the ride smoother and more comfortable.

Thanks Tricia for changing a life!

These two amazing village men are (forefront) Santigi and (background) Mohammed. They both live 8 miles from Lunsar, Sierra Leone where they used to travel by foot to take care of all their commercial errands.

They come from a very small village called Patefu Broun and they now ride their bicycles to work at their farms every day, to the weekly food market to sell their produce and to Lunsar on occasion.

Their bikes have changed everything: how often they can travel, how much time they have for other activities and how much money they spend on transportation. Thank you Predeep for making life easier for these men.  They are grateful to you!

Peter was very excited to receive a bicycle. When he has problems with it, he takes his bike to the repairer who attended the Village Bicycle Project advanced repair workshops who knows more about how to fix his kind of bike than other repairers. Peter uses his bicycle to travel to Sege, Ghana and also to work at the salt mines where he is a security guard. His wife, Aku, also received a bike from the program as well.

Thank you Judith for helping Peter and his family!

These girls from the Panlap Secondary school in Sierra Leone will use their bicycles for absolutely everything: farming, to go to school, to run errands for the family and to go to market.

Girls are the primary caretakers of everything domestic in the family, so the more time they spend at home taking care of the house, family members and helping to get food on the table benefits everyone. Spending less time riding to and from school also gives girls more energy to keep up their studies and go further in their education.

In Sierra Leone, especially in villages like this one, seeing a girl riding a bicycle is still not a common site. These girls are also setting a good example for their community and taking a risk by demonstrating something out of the ordinary – riding a bike is usually reserved only for men.

Not only will these girls use these bikes but their entire family will undoubtedly use them too for their errands.  Thank you Laurie for supporting these girls and their community!

Comfort’s brother taught her how to ride a bike so now she takes it to Sege, Ghana about 15 miles away. She also takes it to her farm which is about 1-2 miles away.  She says she’s happy with her bike because it saves her money and time.

Thank you Judith for helping Comfort get around town!

Samson takes his bicycle to his farm, which is a 90 minute walk away.  This saves him a lot of time!  He also uses it to take his produce to market in nearby towns. By riding his bike, he is able to spend less time walking and more time farming and selling his produce.

Judith, all the people who have recieved the bikes you have sponsored live in Adzumanikope, Ghana.  Thanks so much for your support!  Lives are changed by your generosity!

Godson uses his bike to carry bread from his home in Adzumanikope, Ghana to Sege, which is about 15 miles away.  He puts bread in the basket in the front and piles it high, as he shows us in the picture.  The rider has to peer over or around the pile of bread to see where he’s going. He also uses his bike to carry produce from his farm and once he used the basket to carry a sick child to the hospital in Bornikope, which would otherwise be a 25 minute walk away.

Thanks Judith for supporting Godson and VBP!