Publication in the Bucknell SouthPaw Paper

One of the students traveling to Uganda this summer wrote an article about Bicycles Against Poverty in the newly introduced Bucknell liberal student paper. I thought it would be cool to share it with you, so here it is.

Bicycles have traditionally been used primarily as a means of transportation only, and this outlook has often ignored some of the other benefits that this seemingly simple vehicle can provide, especially in economically backward regions, where automobiles and other more modern forms of transportation are not easily accessible, primarily due to lower incomes and lack of infrastructure development. Expanding the roles of bicycles in these communities is the primary intention of Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP).

Conceived of by Muyambi Muyambi, a class of 2011 Civil Engineering and Economics double major from Uganda, BAP explores a comprehensive development strategy in a northern part of Uganda called Gulu using bicycles. This will employ the means of microfinance to promote sustainable economic and community development by allowing sharing of bicycles in Gulu. Funding for the project has been obtained thus far by a variety of sources including the Walmart Foundation via the Clinton Global Initiative, 100 Projects for Peace (The Davis Foundation), as well through a variety of donors through campus wide fundraising efforts.

For Muyambi, the need for this project came about when he visited the Gulu region, which has been ravaged by Civil Wars over the years. Additionally, members from the largely rural community have to travel several miles a day to transport water from the source to their own homes. Basic infrastructure continues to be lacking in these communities and with the research in sustainable technologies around the world, especially in the United States, these technologies can be applied to such development initiatives. Examples of these technologies include leveraging the energy from the bicycles to power mobile phone chargers and employ in water filtration systems. These could also be used to power low intensity light bulbs, which can be used in homes where there are no electricity lines from the grid. The sharing aspect of the bicycles intends to improve trust within the community, which has diminished since the days of the war.

Development in several parts of Africa is being extended through such grassroots initiatives, and will provide an excellent platform for the Bucknell community to get involved. To implement the final stages of the project, along with selecting applicants and distributing bicycles, approximately twelve members representing Bucknell will be visiting Uganda for two weeks towards the end of the summer in July 2009. While in Uganda, the group will also be involved in organizing training workshops for the recipients of the program in maintenance and repair of bicycles, as well as how to make most effective use of the bicycle program that they will participate in. This is an integral part of the sustainability goal of BAP, as prior initiatives from other organizations have simple distributed bicycles and subsequently distanced themselves away from the project, leaving the recipients in an unfavorable situation.

Several partnerships with local organizations in Uganda have been established already, which will serve as liaisons between BAP and the community. With governments often ineffective in promoting inclusive development in several regions of Africa, projects such as BAP give invaluable experience to students and faculty members interested in issues of sustainable development outside of the classroom.

Abhay Agarwal ’09

Surprising Publicity by Local Action Network

This is interesting. So, i was just googling, "bicycles against poverty" to see what comes up and i ran into a website publicizing one of our fund raisers that i did not know. I am suspecting that Molly- the organizer of the fund raiser contact this local news outlet. But i was really happy with what they did for us.

If you want, check out the link. Its http://www.localactionpa.org/events/fundraiser-for-bicycles-against-poverty-at-brass.-louis

But if you dont want to waste you time, here is what they wrote

This Saturday evening come show your support for a student-run microfinance bicycle project to benefit Northern Uganda. Dine and enjoy entertainment by Earl Pickens and Faculty Lounge.

Bucknell students are hosting a benefit dinner at the downtown Lewisburg restaurant Brasserie Louis this Saturday, February 21 at 7:30pm. The group is Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP) and is a microfinance bike project for Northern Uganda. All of the proceeds will go towards the project.

More Information:
Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP) is a microfinance bike project in which bicycles are made available to community members in Northern Uganda. BAP is a project started by students at Bucknell. With the help of a few grants to start the project, students plan to travel to Uganda this summer to implement the initiative.

The dinner includes salad, entrée (choice of salmon, pot roast, chicken, and a veggie option) and a dessert all for $30. Entertainment will be provided at 9pm by Earl Pickens and Faculty Lounge, a band comprised of faculty members at Susquehanna University.

All checks can be made out to Bicycles Against Poverty.

Email molly.burke@bucknell to sign up!

For more information about this project visit. http://www.bucknell.edu/x45249.xml and the project website is www.bicyclesagainstpoverty.org

Fund raising dinner at the Brasserie Louis

I just wanted to share one of our successful stories of fund raising this semester. The BAP members here at Bucknell organized a fund raising dinner at the Brasserie Louis restaurant. BAP was working together with the Delta Upsilon (DU) members to make this possible. The owner of the Brasserie Louis was wonderful enough to let us work with him to make the dinner possible. The way it worked was simple. We were given a certain number of seats in the restaurant and we were supposed to fill them. In preparation we spent one of our weekend evenings writing letters to all professors on Bucknell campus to come to the dinner. It was enjoyable working with BAP members, trying to keep the work fun through jokes and talking to some writer about his study of Chinese ancient history. Anyway, we soon had everything in place and we designated people to take on different departments.

The next week we had tables in the Langone center (LC) trying to get some students to sign up as well. The prices for the dinner were $30 for professors and $25 for students. For days into business there were a few people signed up and the main organizer of the event was worried that it would not be successful. So, all measures had to be taken to get the word out. I got letters and worked door to door of the deans offices handing them letters and telling them to come. Meanwhile Molly was doing something similar-trying to get her friends to come the dinner.

The great part was that it was BAP advisor's -Janice birthday that Saturday. So, she invited her friends to come and celebrate her birthday at the restaurant. I also called a number of my friends and told them to come to the dinner.

Within a few days people had started signing up for the dinner and everything was looking nice.

Anyway, soon Saturday was here and we had the dinner. The wonderful part of it was that there were so many Civil engineering professors which gave me another reason to be proud of the professors in my major. Anyway, my technology support boss Bud also came. He is a great boss and a great person.
So, i enjoyed dinner with my friends and we later headed back to school.

Special thanks to those who made the dinner possible and everyone who attended

Muyambi

Bicyles Against Poverty (BAP) at CGI U

So, i decided to post the video Grace managed to make while we were attending the Clinton Global Initiative University conference (CGI U, http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=1871) in Austin, Texas. Just to tell you a little about the conference. It was the second time president Bill Clinton was hosting CGI U after the first one was done at Tulane University. The conference basically brings together students from so many universities to listen to inspirational speakers and fellow students. Its amazing how small this world is, while at the conference i met a two of my second years that i went to school together with in Norway. While i was busying making friends, one of my old friends came behind me and when i turned i could not believe it was David Sengh behind me. I had not seen for over 3 years, so you can imagine the joy of reunion. The other friend i met was Wanlapa Fon.

Anyways, at CGI U i got to meet and connect with some amazing and passionate students and i hope i will be able to work with most of them to develop our group commitment of bringing bicycles to Northern Uganda where people surely need them.
You can check out the project in detail at www.rotu.org or www.bicyclesagainstpovertry.org.

So, just to go in detail about the video i posted. I was setting at one of the plenaries before Bill Clinton spoke with a Mathew Mcconaughey and there was a video of me talking about Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP)which was done when i was attending CGI in Newyork last september. It was a surreal moment and Grace managed to get part of the footage from the screens. By the way, it was just not me and Grace Han at the conference, another two of my great and helpful friends joined me to publicize BAP, it was Molly Burke (i have been working with her ever since i stepped at Bucknell-wonderful girl i must say) and Abhay Agarwal (very passionate guy). I will post a number of pictures taken at the conference.
And guess what..Bucknell University surprised us with a cameraman at the conference who went around taking pictures of what we were doing..a few of my friends were not happy with the decision, but well, what can we do...Bucknell is great