Bikes for Africa

The average age in Senegal is 19, and 18 in The Gambia. Many children in Africa live on the streets and have difficulties in accessing education. It is many kilometres to the nearest school, to which children travel on foot – this takes up a lot of time and energy. Therefore, parents often leave children at home and their education falls by the wayside. And since education and human development also play a huge role at KOMA, we would like to introduce you to the Bikes for Africa project. In 2012, Roman Posolda and Richard Gazda founded Bikes for Africa, a public service organization (www.kolaproafriku.cz), whose main mission is to provide children in Africa with a path to education through this initiative from the people of the Czech Republic. Czech people donate bicycles to be repaired and transported to Africa by the organization. The imported bicycles support an overall increase in literacy and represent an opportunity for employment and increased civic status for local people.

→ How does the project work?

Anyone in the Czech Republic can donate a bicycle at one of the collection points. As of the end of 2022, there were 56 of collection depots across the Czech Republic and two in Slovakia. Bikes can be in poor condition – spare parts or reflective vests are also accepted. The bicycles are then transported to the central warehouse at Ostrava prison, where prisoners sort the bicycles and repair those in need of it. Some of them remain in the Czech Republic because they are not suitable for African conditions. The bikes that are not shipped are recycled, upgraded, dismantled, or sold. The bikes and spare parts destined for Africa are then loaded into shipping containers and transported by sea to Gunjur, Gambia, to a local warehouse. The average cost of transporting a bicycle to The Gambia is CZK 1,000. Bikes for Africa have contracted local schools to run bike repair shops and train mechanics. The aim of the project is not only to bring bicycles to children in Africa, but also to teach them how to maintain them. They receive the bicycles in a disassembled state – in a bicycle kit containing frame, wheels, forks, handlebars, chain, pedals, etc. They assemble the bicycles themselves under the guidance of the school bicycle mechanic.

→ Bicycles in Africa

The organization encourages Gambian schoolchildren to check their bicycles regularly. It teaches them how to repair a puncture – the most common problem. The children have a bike service station at school so they can tune up their bikes and do minor servicing themselves if need be. At the end of the assembly week, the children build a bike parking lot. Again, this is an activity that sup- ports the project in schools and deepens the children's relationship with their new bike. The bicycle has brought new opportunities to Gambian children and responsibility with it. It is through the responsibility they feel for their new means of transport that they will take good care of the bikes to ensure long-lasting service.

You can support the project through the Donio.cz platform