BICYCLES
FOR EDUCATION
Project location
Senegal
Start year
2015
Aim
Improving access to education for students in rural areas of Senegal.
Description
Creation of a bicycle school transportation system.
CONTEXT
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In Senegal, hundreds of children walk more than 5 kilometers to school. They wake up before dawn, barely have breakfast, and then start walking. When school is over, they walk back the same distance. They arrive home tired and without the energy to study.
And the next day, start over.
Objectius
In Senegal, hundreds of children walk more than 5 kilometers to school. They wake up before dawn, barely have breakfast, and then start walking. When school is over, they walk back the same distance. They arrive home tired and without the energy to study.
And the next day, start over.
In Senegal, hundreds of children walk more than 5 kilometers to school. They wake up before dawn, barely have breakfast, and then start walking. When school is over, they walk back the same distance. They arrive home tired and without the energy to study.
And the next day, start over.
In Senegal, hundreds of children walk more than 5 kilometers to school. They wake up before dawn, barely have breakfast, and then start walking. When school is over, they walk back the same distance. They arrive home tired and without the energy to study.
And the next day, start over.
A LITTLE HISTORY
In 2015 we visited Senegal for the first time.
Our goal was to assess the suitability of providing bicycles to students to go to school, as we had already been doing in India in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation .
We started by "donating" secondhand bicycles we brought from Spain. Hundreds of bicycles we collected from individuals and tried to repair as best we could before sending them to Senegal. Little by little, we realized that this wasn't the way to go. The bicycles broke down too quickly, and instead of helping the community, they became a burden, obsolete junk that ended up joining the pile of materials donated in good faith from Europe and soon abandoned due to their poor condition, lack of spare parts, etc.
So—after several crises that nearly brought us to the brink of abandonment—we decided to take the plunge and think big. If the problem we wanted to solve was access to education, we had to make the best bicycles available to students. And in 2020, we created the baobike .
It was a turning point. The project began to roll.
Ten years later, we realize how much we've learned. We went with a classic vision of aid and cooperation: Give others what you think they need . We also went with a challenge: Figure out what happens the day after the bike deliveries .
Regarding the first point, we've discovered that to develop a successful project in a territory other than our own, the first thing necessary is a strong dose of cultural humility. So, a good part of our experience has been based on learning from the "other," listening to the "other," and building alongside the "other" until we've created a " we ." Regarding the second point... one day we'll write a book and tell you about it.
A LITTLE HISTORY
A LITTLE HISTORY
In 2015 we visited Senegal for the first time.
Our goal was to assess the suitability of providing bicycles to students to go to school, as we had already been doing in India in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation .
We started by "donating" secondhand bicycles we brought from Spain. Hundreds of bicycles we collected from individuals and tried to repair as best we could before sending them to Senegal. Little by little, we realized that this wasn't the way to go. The bicycles broke down too quickly, and instead of helping the community, they became a burden, obsolete junk that ended up joining the pile of materials donated in good faith from Europe and soon abandoned due to their poor condition, lack of spare parts, etc.
So—after several crises that nearly brought us to the brink of abandonment—we decided to take the plunge and think big. If the problem we wanted to solve was access to education, we had to make the best bicycles available to students. And in 2020, we created the baobike .
It was a turning point. The project began to roll.
Ten years later, we realize how much we've learned. We went with a classic vision of aid and cooperation: Give others what you think they need . We also went with a challenge: Figure out what happens the day after the bike deliveries .
Regarding the first point, we've discovered that to develop a successful project in a territory other than our own, the first thing necessary is a strong dose of cultural humility. So, a good part of our experience has been based on learning from the "other," listening to the "other," and building alongside the "other" until we've created a " we ." Regarding the second point... one day we'll write a book and tell you about it.
A LITTLE HISTORY
In 2015 we visited Senegal for the first time.
Our goal was to assess the suitability of providing bicycles to students to go to school, as we had already been doing in India in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation .
We started by "donating" secondhand bicycles we brought from Spain. Hundreds of bicycles we collected from individuals and tried to repair as best we could before sending them to Senegal. Little by little, we realized that this wasn't the way to go. The bicycles broke down too quickly, and instead of helping the community, they became a burden, obsolete junk that ended up joining the pile of materials donated in good faith from Europe and soon abandoned due to their poor condition, lack of spare parts, etc.
So—after several crises that nearly brought us to the brink of abandonment—we decided to take the plunge and think big. If the problem we wanted to solve was access to education, we had to make the best bicycles available to students. And in 2020, we created the baobike .
It was a turning point. The project began to roll.
Ten years later, we realize how much we've learned. We went with a classic vision of aid and cooperation: Give others what you think they need . We also went with a challenge: Figure out what happens the day after the bike deliveries .
Regarding the first point, we've discovered that to develop a successful project in a territory other than our own, the first thing necessary is a strong dose of cultural humility. So, a good part of our experience has been based on learning from the "other," listening to the "other," and building alongside the "other" until we've created a " we ." Regarding the second point... one day we'll write a book and tell you about it.
