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Introduction

World Bicycle Relief has partnered with a USAID-funded, World Vision-led coalition of relief organizations to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zambia. We will provide 23,000 bicycles to community home-based care volunteers, disease prevention educators and vulnerable households. We are also training and equipping more than 400 bicycle mechanics in the field. The program will reach more than 500,000 adults, orphans and vulnerable children.

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Poverty, Disease and Education

Zambia is a nation roughly the size of the U.S. state of Texas, with approximately half the population: 11.5 million people. The World Health Organization estimates life expectancy at less than 40 years, and more than 1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. More than half the population is less than 16 years old, and one in five children have lost one or both parents to the disease.

Poverty is directly and undisputedly related to HIV/AIDS in Zambia. A parent (or parents) suffering and dying of HIV/AIDS leads to the downfall or demise of the household. The children orphaned because of HIV/AIDS are often taken in by relatives or foster families, which then leads to the overburdening of these families. Worse yet are the orphaned children forced to become the head of households themselves. These children often turn to prostitution or theft, and sink deeper into poverty.

Remote villages, coupled with a lack of transportation, isolate patients from the growing availability of healthcare. Healthcare is then useless because it does not reach those in need. Without care and education, the disease is rampant, leaving a wake of sorrow, hopelessness, and economic devastation.

This epidemic is treatable and preventable. There are drugs and healthcare procedures that stop the transmission of HIV from mother to newborn. They can extend the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and help them return to productive lives. Beyond drugs, education is effective in slowing the transmission of the disease and providing care for those who live with it. By providing bicycles, we will ensure that both healthcare and education reach those most in need.

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Donation Update

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The Power of Bicycles: Project Zambia

In Zambia, healthcare without effective transportation will not reach rural villages or poor urban areas. To combat this, World Bicycle Relief is providing 23,000 bicycles in support of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS initiative funded by USAID and led by World Vision International.

This program, Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support (RAPIDS), equips community-based healthcare volunteers and disease prevention educators with the tools necessary to provide care in their communities. (Download the program overview PDF.) Bicycles, as tools of simple sustainable mobility, will more than quadruple the volunteer’s ability to reach those in need, and allow them to travel greater distances more quickly, and with less fatigue, while carrying significantly more supplies. This results in better and more frequent healthcare and education for more people at a lower cost, and enables the volunteers to better care for their own needs.

In support of Zambia’s culture of community and volunteerism, the bikes will be provided on a two-year, work-to-own basis to the volunteers. This will provide the following benefits:

• Healthcare and education will be provided efficiently and consistently to those in need.
• Volunteer turnover will be reduced. This adds to consistency in healthcare and allows for an increase in volunteer development.
• Volunteers will benefit economically from having a bicycle, as they are able to use it for their own needs concurrently with their service.
• A sense of ownership will ensure that the equipment will be cared for properly.

(For a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow this link.)

Creating Sustainability

An important component of Project Zambia is the training and equipping of more than 400 field mechanics and assembly workers throughout Zambia. Assembly workers earn $1.50 per bicycle and can build four or five per day, earning a respectable income. World Bicycle Relief has also worked within the supply chain to incorporate improved quality procedures, and assemblers are an important part of bicycle distributions – so that they may see the impact of their work in the field.

Each field mechanic takes part in a 5-day training course, which includes three days of life skills/business training and two days of bicycle maintenance training. Upon completion of the program, they are provided with a diploma, uniform, tools, repair manual, bicycle and a customer list. They are then contracted to service each volunteer caregiver’s first tune-up for free. Thereafter, any repairs they provide to a World Bicycle Relief recipient or other bicycle owner is charged at market value. This ensures the bicycles remain in good working condition while creating jobs, including employment for youth who are trained as part of the program.

Improving the Bicycle

The bicycles chosen for Project Zambia are culturally appropriate to the region. This means that they are built for their intended use, and are familiar to the recipients because of the legacy of bicycle use in the country. Furthermore, there is a base of spare parts and knowledge as the bicycles come from within the existing supply chain.At the same time, World Bicycle Relief is working to improve the bicycles, while ensuring any changes are backward compatible so that the bicycles can continue to be serviced. Changes introduced as part of Project Zambia include coaster brake rear hubs, replacing antiquated rod brake assemblies; a doubling of the capacity of rear racks; pedals and saddles less prone to failure; and the introduction of caged assemblies in the headset and bottom bracket that replace loose bearings. Improvements are prioritized based on feedback from the field, with high-failure areas addressed first.

Measuring the Power

As with Project Tsunami, World Bicycle Relief is committed to measuring the impact of our work in Zambia. We have contracted an independent organization to establish a measurement and evaluation (M&E) study based on scientific principles. Once completed, this study will include economic, social and physical data that can then be used to spread The Power of Bicycles to governments, non-government organizations and institutions throughout the world.

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Financial Requirements

Through close partnerships with our suppliers, we were able to hold back any bicycle cost increases for two years. Unfortunately, in the face of rising costs across the board, the price for our bicycles increased from $109 per bike delivered into the field, to a new price of $134, as of July 15, 2008.

Our primary suppliers (Tata Industries India, Velosteel Czech Republic and Tata Zambia Ltd.) did a great job in holding prices in the face of increasing steel costs, a declining U.S. dollar (USD), and increases in transport costs. Our initial contract that brought our heavy-duty bikes into the field for $109 was negotiated in September 2006. Since that time, major changes occurred that directly affected our costs:

• Cost of steel: increase by 78%. The robust nature of these bicycles means we use a lot of steel.
• Cost of oil: increase by 101%. This affects every level of transportation, from rail, to sea freight, to trucking – but not transport by bicycle!
• Dollar to Rupee: USD decreased by 8%. We purchase a high percentage of our parts out of India.
• Dollar to Euro: USD decreased by 18%. We purchase rear hubs and air pumps from the Czech Republic and Germany.
• Dollar to Zambian Kwacha: USD decreased by 20%. As you might expect, a significant part of our operating expenses occurs in Zambia.

We worked closely with our supplier base to keep the increase as low as possible while still maintaining the level of quality, robustness and performance that our program demands. All-in, the new cost of a bike – fully assembled and delivered into the field – is $134.00 a 23% increase. This price also includes a portion designated for the Field Mechanics Maintenance and Training program, independent Measuring and Evaluation and field management.

As always, we strive to manage costs where possible without compromising on our commitment to quality. We thank our suppliers for working closely with us to mitigate these cost increases, and in giving us early warning of this inevitability.

Our donors can be assured that we continue working to maximize the impact of each of their dollars contributed to World Bicycle Relief. This price increase is unfortunate, but our supplier base is committed, and the programs are strengthening every day. The Power of Bicycles is empowering people in a way that is sustainable and scaleable, and will have a lasting impact on their lives.

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The Power of Project Zambia

Healthcare and education are useless if they do not reach those in need. By providing bicycles, we will ensure that healthcare volunteers and educators reach even the most remote communities. Mobilizing this potent force is a huge step in the fight against poverty and disease in Zambia. Bicycles assist individuals, families and communities in reversing the devastation of HIV/AIDS, and in returning to productivity and independence.

Please support this program. Please support the people of Zambia as they fight this merciless disease. They need your help to achieve their goals of stability, independence, and eventual prosperity.

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Contribute to Project Zambia. Please visit our donations page.