Thursday, January 17, 2008

Africa Bikes... and a call to aid


I read a story about some interesting advocacy efforts, in the latest Bicycle Retailer, being done for the poor of the world. Different organizations are donating bikes, parts, time, and money to the aid of impoverished nations. Organizations such as Bicycling Magazines Bike Town, SRAMs World Bicycle Relief, Konas Africa Bike, and Ritcheys Project Rwanda. Bicycles help health care workers to get to thier patients quickly, they help poor farmers transport crops more efficiently, and they help with transportation in general. A neat one I saw is the Eco Truk, the bike itself is an extended bike with a platform on the rear that can carry goods and people if needed. Eco Truk is also part of Wolffs Bike Shop(the designer of the bike) bike in a box program, where they ship 200 bikes, tools and parts to Africa to entrepenuers interested in starting a bike shop. I am really inspired by this and plan on doing something on a bit of a local level. I am planning on donating some of my time to Gods Pedal Power, and I also hope to get other volunteers to join me in this notion. Another thing Ive really been interested in is putting together a Bikes Not Bombs chapter here in the St. Pete/ Tampa bay area. this would be something on a local level that would help donate time, bikes, parts, and whatever to a needy cause... where ever that may be. more on that to come.

this is the Eco Truk... more info on this at Ecotruk.org


other interesting websites:




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