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Exploring the world has And on these adventures he has seen the impact a bicycle can make to someone in severe poverty. In the west we use bicycles largely for recreation, but to a majority of people, a bicycle can be the means to get a job, go to school, or to carry wares to market. A bicycle can be a great gift that lifts a person up and into a position of strength. Wheels 4 Life is his answer to this discovery.
"So that’s how this whole thing started," Says Hans, "I started Wheels 4 Life a couple of years ago and just wanted to give something back to the sport of cycling which has been good to me." "At this point we’re rather small and so usually when I commit to a project we give away anywhere between 10 and 30 bikes. It’s much easier at those quantities to buy the bikes locally. What we usually do is when I find – first of all, I find people who can help me and deal with all the logistics locally and who can help me identify the people who really need a bike. That’s my first step and for that I’m working with individuals and also with other organizations and local churches or schools or whatever it might be. Once I have that established, I have them show me what kinds of bikes are available in that country. And one of the reasons I’m buying the bikes in the country is the local economy will profit from me buying the bikes there. Secondly, the people will be able to find spare parts if they ever should need them. And last, but not least, I can save a lot of money in shipping and handling and logistics and customs and duties because, if I would ship a bike from California somewhere to Africa, it would probably cost me $400 per bike. At $400 a bike I can probably buy up to eight bikes in Africa."
California Bicycle is a brand that specially builds low cost quality bikes for Third World countries. These mountain bikes are built sturdy, with parts that are easy to replace and cheap to fix. The California bikes have 6 speeds, fenders, bag rack, bar ends, water bottle and cage, sturdy tires, kick-stand, etc....
While a bicycle can give a hand up from poverty, finding the right people who really can benefit from a bicycle is not as easy as it sounds. Hans often works with local community organization and asks them to screen candidates and have them write a letter of need. Hans explains:
"If everything looks okay, then we say, okay, we’ll send money to buy 10 bikes, and why don’t you send us a little report on how it went and takes some photos. From all that we can usually judge really well if these people are legit and if they’re serious and how much corruption is involved, which is a big issue in those countries. But the nice thing is we go straight to the source and we cut out a lot of the corrupt government agencies and all those other places which you have to deal with in those countries. So far we haven’t had bad experiences. But it’s just something that’s bound to happen and it will happen. That doesn’t slow us down. It’s just tough out there, you know, and corruption is just thick. Dealing with this, we’ve learned a lot and you learn how to evaluate these people and judge them. One of the things I’ve learned is going directly there and giving the bikes to the people firsthand will ensure you that they end up at the right place
Very important for me is to also – the other end of the spectrum – is to assure the people who support my charity that the money is spent wisely.
The other thing is that instead of going to all the big bike companies or the big foundations who support charities, I’d rather go to individuals and make them understand that, even thought they might not have the money that Bill Gates has to give, even if they only give a dollar, I can make a difference and that dollar will end up at the right place and, furthermore, I want to make these people feel good about doing it. That’s why a lot of times we work with schools where the children organize a bake sale. I understand it’s very time consuming, and I could spend that same time making some phone calls or writing some letters to the Bill Gates Foundation asking for money, but I know, at the end of the day, these kids are all really fired up about having raised enough money to buy two bikes somewhere in Africa, and it changes their lives.
There’s a little video clip on our website and it’s called Cash for Trash. And it goes along the lines what I have told you. I want to appeal to the individual. A lot of people tell me – they say, oh, I don’t have any money to give to charity. And I completely understand but I appeal to them saying – Why don’t you go in your garage? I’m sure there’s some stuff in there you haven’t used in years and it’s valuable. Why don’t you sell it at a garage sale? Why don’t you sell it to a friend? Why don’t you sell it on E-Bay and then take some of those profits and give it to charity? Take the old inline skates or your old surfboard you haven’t used in five years, or skis, and sell them, and turn that into some money that will actually make a difference somewhere? I think it’s very important that the individual understand that they can make a difference. It doesn’t necessarily have to always be money coming out of your wallet directly.
LETTERS OF GRATITUDE:
Ghana
"I am Christiana Osito-Done, a native of Big Ada, a community health educator and a counselor. I live at Totimekope as a health coach and counselor. The bicycle will help me reach the community and clients easily. I joined the center in 2007 and the roles I played were educating people in the communities on HIV/AIDS and counseling, and also translation during focus group discussions."
Omokia, Kenya
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