Chrispine lives in Mlinde, a rural village in the Machinga district of the Southern Region of Malawi, one of the poorest and most densely-populated areas of the country.

Due to socio-economic issues and the lack of infrastructure, education has never been a high priority in Chrispine’s community and not many people believe in the importance of finishing school.

Despite this, Chrispine was determined to get an education. To reach the nearest secondary school to his village, Namandanje Community Day Secondary School, he would walk 16km each way, a journey that would take nearly three hours.

“I would often miss some morning lessons because I was late most of the times,” Chrispine laments. “It was difficult to concentrate in class because I was feeling tired and lost in thought about my long journey back home, and I wouldn’t be able to study at home in the evenings because I would get home late.”

In 2018, WBR’s bicycle program, Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program (BEEP), was implemented at Chrispine’s school and he was selected as a recipient of a Buffalo Bicycle.

With the bicycle, Chrispine has reduced his travelling time by over an hour each way. He now gets to school on time, never misses any morning lessons and he has extra energy to study at home in the evenings because he arrives early. His academic results have improved dramatically and he recently scored the best grades ever recorded in the history of his school. He is currently waiting to write university entrance exams.

Since BEEP was implemented at Namandanje Community Day Secondary School, the school has also recorded its best performance to date.

But the benefits of the bicycle go beyond Chrispine’s school success. The bicycle has also helped his household. Outside of school hours, Chrispine helps his parents cart vegetables to market to sell, which has stimulated the family’s income. His parents also use the bicycle to run errands.