I will no longer be posting on this site – as I am not formally involved in the world of development and bicycles anymore.
I am still informally involved – through riding and supporting a team of young cyclists. This venture is proving to have a direct impact on changing adolescent behaviour – as it incorporates [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Mistakes
Posted in Uncategorized on August 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Working Towards A Dream
Posted in Uncategorized on June 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
To be a competitive cyclist is tough. It requires hours and hours of sitting on a bicycle seat, training through all kinds of weather, climbing up steep hills (over and over again), covering more than 70 km in a day and preparing mental strategies.
And that’s just to get into the competitive scene.
Jafet is a 17-year-old [...]
Huron County’s Bikes Arrive in Namibia
Posted in Okatana, Uncategorized on May 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
They call it African time – meaning that things happen when they’re meant to and that you have to be patient.
For those of us who grew up in the west, where things can come almost instantly, African time means waiting. And that your patience is tested.
Last week, African time ended and wait was over.
CONTAINER REACHES [...]
Then the Floods Came…
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Africa, Bicycles, Bikes, fish, fishing, flooding, Namibia, Okatana, Oshiwambo, Owamboland on May 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In March and April of 2009, northern western Namibia was flooded. The area saw mass evacuation as rising waters crept into people’s homes, schools and businesses.
In Okatana, the new home of 300+ Huron County bicycles, much of the community was underwater. Subsistence farmers lost everything – a year’s harvest washed away. However, for many, the [...]
Fixing the Future
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Africa, bicycle empowerment centre, bicycle mechanics, bicycle sales, bicycle workshop, Bicycles, Bikes, Namibia, namibian women, recycling bicycles, sending a bike to africa, women on May 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Women in blue overalls and grease-stained hands smile widely as they greet a customer carrying a broken bicycle.
This is precisely why they came to work this morning: to assist customers in need of bicycle repairs and to sell quality, second-hand bicycles at affordable prices.
Quickly noticing a loose pedal, Moreen Gaweses – a mother of two, [...]
Bicycles to an Outpost
Posted in Okatana, Uncategorized, tagged Bicycles, Africa, BEN Namibia, Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia, Bikes, cycling, workshop, Bicycles for Humanity, bicycle mechanics, AIDS, Home Based Care, People Living with HIV/AIDS, PLWHA, Okatana, Catholic AIDS Action, Home Based Care Volunteers, volunteers on April 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
LONE RIDER
A man rode a lonely yellow bicycle down the dusty road.
He would be the first of many to pedal Okatana’s paths.
As the container of bicycles from Huron County, Canada arrives in Okatana this week, it is expected many more will join the lone cyclist in the months to come.
OKATANA
An outpost of a community, [...]
Anticipation
Posted in Uncategorized on April 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The container of Huron County bicycles arrived in Walvis Bay’s port on 1 April.
Once it clears customs, it will be sent to the village of Okatana, an 8 hour drive north of Windhoek.
The container will be transformed into a bicycle workshop. Bicycles will be refurbished and sold to assist a support group for People Living [...]
More than a Rock Concert
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Africa, AIDS, BEN Namibia, Bicycles, Cyclists, HIV, HIV prevention, HIV testing, Namibia, Team BEN, Team BEN Namibia, Team BENN on March 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It was a bit like waiting for a rock concert tickets.
Crowds of people camped out for long hours.
Government officials sang praises.
Children screamed to join the excitement.
A radio broadcasted live from the event.
But this was no rock concert.
This was a campaign to encourage people to go for an HIV test in two Namibian communities on the [...]
5 for the Future
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Africa, bicycle mechanics, Bicycles, Bicycles for Humanity, bike sales, Bikes, business, Namibia, orphans, OVC, rehab, rehabilitation, second-hand bikes, street children, street kids, Thunder Bay, vulnerable children, workshop on March 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Five years ago, this group would have been a bunch of labels.
“Addicts”
“Thieves”
“Delinquents”
Thrown to the streets, this group – like many other young people in Namibia, were surviving the best, the only way they could.
Known as a group called: “Orphans & Vulnerable Children (OVC)” these teenagers are part of a growing number of youth who have [...]
Tell them we love them
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Africa, bicycle repair, Bicycles, Bicycles for Humanity, bike sales, Bikes, business, cycling, Katutura, Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia, prostitutes, rehab, rehabilitation, reintegration, second-hand bikes, sex, sex work, sex workers, women, workshop on February 18, 2009 | 1 Comment »
“Tell them we love them. From the bottom of our hearts. Tell them thank-you.”
The sun is breaking through rain clouds in Katutura. Outside a voluntary HIV testing clinic, a group of five women crack open the doors to a shipping container for the first time.
They gasp at what’s inside. Some shout with excitement. [...]
