Since Bicycles Change Lives started in 2005 we have given out 63,000 bicycles to people throughout South Africa, running programmes via partners who have long term relationships in the places where we work.
Qhubeka means to move forward and that’s what we want to do – help people move forward or progress through the use of bicycles.
South Africa doesn’t have a very good public transport system. People get around in taxis that are more like minibuses and are known to be unsafe, overpacked and not running to a good schedule. Or people walk – 11 million of South Africa’s 17 million school children walk to school because the family can’t afford to pay for the transport each way. It costs £1 per journey – which soon adds up for people on an average salary of £136 per month.
Of those who walk, half a million travel more than 6km, which takes a child about one hour. By the time they get to school they are exhausted and not interested in learning. Often they are late, so they either get punished or are not allowed into school and have to walk the 6km back.
A bicycle means the child is less tired in the classroom and more alert. As many children don’t have electricity at home, getting back earlier means more daylight time to do their homework, which has a knock-on effect on their education.
It also creates an opportunity for the whole family – one bicycle can be beneficial for up to five people in a community. The parents can use it to go to the shops and under fives with a bicycle in the family are more likely to receive healthcare.
Some bicycles have a direct impact on education; others create a better life for people through access to a bicycle. Our entrepreneurial programme gives people an opportunity to earn a bicycle by collecting one tonne of waste – about 4,500 plastic litre bottles – or by growing 100 indigenous trees from seed to 30cm.
Ground rules for people who get the bikes
Adults can sell on the bicycle if they wish. One woman traded in bikes to help her replace the shack she was living in with a brick house. Another girl earned seven bicycles from growing trees; she used one to go to school and used the others to start a bike rental company. She is now saving to go to university.
Schoolchildren are not allowed to sell the bike on; the bicycle is the property of the school. To earn it they have to sign a contract to increase their attendance and school marks – goals set by a supervising committee made up of teachers, police and community members. The bicycle is there to help them work achieve these. If they succeed they can keep it and take it on to university; if they fail the school will redistribute the bicycle.
Once there are 500 bikes in an area it’s sustainable for someone to run a small mechanic shop. We run a bicycle mechanic training programme to help people set up these businesses.
Trying to prevent bikes being stolen is easier in rural areas. We say: “These bicycles belong to your children and your community.” This is successful in the same way that cows don’t get stolen – there is a sense of community ownership and care for the children and the bikes.
We want our programme to be sustainable, to work in places for up to 20 years. Our work is not possible without the donations of corporations and individuals. Having Nederburg on board has been an exciting step for us. Although it’s South African, like us, it’s known all over the world; it will help us provide more bicycles for our campaign.
We have always been about giving a hand up not a hand out. Our founder ran a large IT company in South Africa and initially wanted to put IT centres into schools to help children access education. But when he visited the schools headmasters told him the biggest challenge didn’t start at school; it was getting to school.
He stayed with a couple of families and experienced it for himself. It made a big impact and changed the direction of the charity. Qhubeka is very much a home-grown South African solution. All the people who work here, live here. We are not some foreign NGO trying to save people. We believe in this. It is change we want to make in our own community.
