(Video) Changing Lives Through Bicycles-World Bicycle Relief
For many of us, bikes have always been a part of our lives! Some of our fondest memories might be of a parent teaching us to ride without training wheels, the freedom that we had pedaling around our neighborhood, or the first time we competed in a race or rode a piece of singletrack. While we love using bikes for recreation, for millions of people around the world, owning a bike radically changes their lives.
Imagine that your most reliable source of transportation is your feet. You have to walk everywhere: to school, to see the doctor, to sell or buy food, to get water. Your basic necessities are only available on foot. Time becomes a valuable asset. Oh, how much more you could accomplish if you didn’t take hours just walking to places! This is where a bike changes everything. Suddenly you can go farther in the same amount of time! You can carry more supplies on your bike to distribute or bring home! The possibilities of what can be done in a day grow exponentially! This is the power of a bicycle for individuals and families in the most rural areas of Africa and Asia. This is why World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005, and the impact they have had is tremendous!
About the Bikes
The founder of World Bicycle Relief, F.K. Day, was a leader in product development at SRAM. This gave him a unique position to brainstorm with other cycling manufacturing companies to come up with the perfect bike for these rural communities! They need to be strong, easy to repair, and long-lasting to really have the impact on the community needed, so they created the Buffalo Bike! Made from steel with a heavy-duty rack on the back for carrying people or merchandise, it’s a very basic bike, but it is worth its weight in gold for the people who get one!
World Bicycle Relief’s Impact
Every bike World Bicycle Relief distributes changes the transportation story of an individual and even the whole community! Firstly, there is an increase in school attendance and retention, especially among girls! Next, physical health improves as doctors can see more patients and see them faster! Furthermore, farmers see increased revenue because they can distribute more products! Employment opportunities rise too with the establishment of community bike mechanics. It’s amazing what something we can take for granted can do for a community on the other side of the world!
How to Give
They have multiple ways that you can give and different amounts as well. One bike can be funded for $165 or for $25/month you can fund a mechanic so their bikes can keep rolling. Racing opportunities may be coming in the future to help support the cause as well! Our adventure community believes in fun and exploration, but we also believe in giving back to our local communities and those around the world, which is why we wanted to highlight World Bicycle Relief. You can hear more about World Bicycle Relief in our discussion with Michigan chapter leader, Eric Hune, in the video below!
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