Committees

Here is a general description of each of the BAP committees, though the job description of each will continue to evolve and be added to as the organization continues to expand.

Operations:
VP of Operations-Nicole
Generally, their role is to handle the logistics of BAP events and implementing ideas. The operations committee works with any offices on campus like RICs, BSG (except for the finances), and Transportation Services. They also handle the logistics for events working behind the scenes and taking care of the short term planning. They work to coordinate with other established college campus chapters like Brown University for example. Finally, they are responsible for contacting and connecting with people on the ground in Uganda.

Communications:
VP of Communications-Kylie
The Communications is the outreach and advertising branch of BAP, making sure that our events get out there. They are responsible for arranging presentations, making posters and flyers, sending message to the entire campus through the message center, and delivering invitations.

Development:
VP of Development- Molly
They work on longer-term projects, setting the foundation for the major events and fundraising projects sponsored by and benefitting BAP. They also are in charge of finding and applying for grants. Finally, they are working on establishing the legitimacy of the organization and branching out. Currently that is manifested in working for non-profit status.

Another successful Group Meeting!

Tonight we met with the entire group, introducing our new members to the organization and the way the club is run, discussing the three committees and what we have planned in the upcoming months.

We have decided that every other Thursday we will meet with the entire group from 5 to 6 in the seventh street house! (Individual committee meetings will happen according to each group’s schedule. The steering committee will meet from 5 to 6 on the Thursdays we do not have the large group meetings.)

Here is what we discussed at today's meetings:

Before the group meeting we held a mini steering committee meeting discussing:
1. Our successful fundraising selling bags and necklaces brought home from Uganda
2. Changing our name with Bucknell University from Child Soul to BAP
3. Obtaining a used computer for the office in Uganda
4. The presentation today that was sort of a flop because of low attendance
5. The video we are creating about BAP to teach people a little about the organization and what we did this summer to use as an advertising tool.
6. The Fundraising dinners that will take Place in Lewisburg in November
7. The BAP constitution
8. The Board of Directors

At the larger group meeting we discussed:
1. Welcoming our new members and giving quick introductions
2. Introducing each Vice President and explaining what their committee does
3. Each committee updated us on what they have been up to. Communications is working on advertising. For example, they are making connections in the Lewisburg community and working on giving presentations to local clubs, churches, and organizations, scanning all of the articles about BAP, and developing the video. Development is working on obtaining our nonprofit organization status and our longer-term fundraising dinners. Operations is working on the logistics of all of our events on campus, specifically the Gulu walk.
4. We gave updates on the steering committee meetings to the larger group.
5. We discussed the upcoming conferences we will be participation in
6. The Gulu walk on October 25.
7. The to-do lists each community


Thanks to everyone who came!

Getting Organized

Tonight in our steering committee meeting, planning for the upcoming semester really got rolling, here is an update of what we discussed:
1. Finishing the constitution for ROTU/BAP
2. Contacting possible board of directors and writing up letters to them and listing their responsibility
3. People’s responsibilities as committees and VPs.
4. The communication of BAPers outside webmail.
5. Finalizing the general BAP report.
6. Fundraising dinner
7. Paintings from Uganda
8. Raising public awareness: Daily Item, Bucknellian, and other local news?
9. Faculty Presentation
10. Rotary clubs/churches presentations
11. A new face for the Website
12. Gulu walk on the FRONT page on Bucknellian
13. Public Safety Bikes
14. T-shirt for the Gulu walk

In addition to this meeting, the individual committees met this week and are working on their separate tasks using the newly interested members from the Bucknell Campus. People from every year came out to our interest meeting last week and we are already seeing that they will be a ton of help!

BAP LOVE

Successful Presentation

The presentation on the trip to Uganda was a huge success Tuesday night. We had an awesome turn out and a wonderful power point presentation describing what happened during the trip, what had to be done, and people experiences. Afterwards, the audience asked some great and informative questions. Tomorrow, we will begin to sell the beautiful crafts brought back from Uganda. Specifically, bags and jewelry made by the children who were forced to hide at night in order to be kept safe. We have also set the dates for some very exciting events in the upcoming months. The Gulu walk will take place on Sunday October 25 at 1 pm. We will also be hosting a screening of the movie Invisible Children on November 5 at 7:30 pm and a fundraising dinner on Saturday November 21.

Communication with BAP Project Manager Part 1

I should have written this a while ago to tell you about whats happening with BAP now that we left Uganda. Ideally i am supposed to call our Project Manager (PM) regularly to get updates about how everything is progressing but due to the time difference does not make it as simple as it sounds and should be.

During my first call with PM, he informed me that over 300 people turned up at the office to get applications for the bicycles but he unfortunately had only 42 applications that we had left with him. It should be not problem given that i am returning to Uganda during winter break.
He also informed me that one of the official in lulyango (one of the villages) is not being as cooperative as we had hoped. The PM promised to talk to this official so that everything moves smoothly. Fortunately the second local council (LC) official of this area has been wonderful.

Out PM was also having trouble with his gmail email account but i helped him resolve the issue and he is ready to become internet savvy.
Apparently there is an incident where both a husband and a wife have BAP bicycles- something we tried really hard to avoid. So i guess we will have to ask everyone's family details for the application.

That is all i got from our PM, Alex Oryema, i will be back soon with more details from my second call with him. Please stay tuned, dont touch that dial Muyambi is on the mic.

BAP LOVE

BAP presentation at Bucknell University

Mark your calendars for our Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP) presentation to learn more about who we are and what our project aims to do. We will report on our efforts this summer in Northern Uganda and what our plans are for the future.

Anyone interested in joining BAP efforts , come to learn more about how you can help us reach our goals.

Anyone else from the community is also welcome to learn more about what BAP is and how you, too can help us realize our dream of helping people in developing countries "cycle to prosperity".

We will be meeting at 8:15pm on Tuesday, September 8th in the LC Gallery Theatre (LC301)- on the third floor of the LC.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact muyambi@rotu.org or visit our website at www.rotu.org.

Back at Bucknell

Last week, the most of the BAP crew met at Bucknell for the first meeting since the trip to Uganda and the possibilities for Bicycles Against Poverty Seem endless. With the success of the trip to Uganda behind us, we started the fall semester by organizing, electing officials to govern. Unanimously electing Muyambi president, and designating a Vice President of Communications, Operations, Engineering, and Development as well as financial officer and a secretary in order to effectively run the club and be able to do as much as we can, as quickly as we can. In the works for this semester, we plan to work toward achieving non-profit status and NGO status, with the help of some lawyers in the BAP family. We also hope to branch out, spreading the BAP program to other colleges and Universities, reaching into the network of Bucknell Alumni, and incorporating alternate forms of micro-finance, including working with senior engineering majors to design their senior engineering projects for BAP under the umbrella of ROTU, or Reaching Out To the Under Privileged. Additionally, we had an unbelievable turnout at the BAP table at freshman orientation, and this semester fresh faces will help to propel us forward. Finally, the Uganda team put together a wonderful presentation about the trip that will be held in the LC on September 8 at 8pm.

Drawing comparisons on opportunities for the ultra-poor

Just before starting work at Centre for Microfinance, I spent close to a month with fellow students from Bucknell University to implement Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP), a microenterprise Community Based Organization in Northern Uganda, not very far from the Sudanese border. This area has continued to remain behind several other regions of Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of economic and social development, which can be largely attributed to a civil war that has devastated the region since the mid 1980s. A brief introduction to the Ugandan Civil War, which is unofficially and slowly coming to an end, can be found here and here.

BAP mainly targets the ultra-poor community either currently living in government sponsored internally displaced people (IDP) camps or those returning to their native villages after having lived in these camps for a few years. As the overwhelming majority was composed of farming communities, bicycles would play an important role in transporting goods back to the village and the market, as well as for carrying water and during emergency medical situations in this area comprising of very poor infrastructure.

Institutional funding from the United States was used to set up a combined donor-microfinance model to provide bicycles at subsidized costs because it was realized that asking families earning less than half a dollar a day to pay the full amount for a new bicycle is unreasonable. After conducting baseline surveys of over 250 households, 100 individuals were identified to receive bicycles in two villages in Amuru district based on a selection rubric optimizing the ability to pay (ATP) and the desirability to obtain and effectively utilize a bicycle. Both these indices were developed from baseline data. The bicycles were given to the beneficiaries after conducting two workshops: one on bicycle service and maintenance, and another on credit and savings management.

The terms of the loan comprise a monthly 4,000 Ugandan Shillings (1 USD = 2050 UGX) payment over an 18-month period to cover the subsidized cost of the bicycle. Following the completion of the payment, full ownership of the bicycle will be transferred to the beneficiary, although he/she is not allowed to re-sell the bicycle within ten years after the bicycle was disbursed. This clause in the contract was necessary to ensure that beneficiaries do not think of the bicycles as a good they can sell in the open market, but as a source of income generation and productivity improvements.

One of the goals of this program was to encourage regular saving habits for the people, many of whom are habituated to spending most of their income from the harvest season right away, instead of saving for the lean season. It should be mentioned though, that there do exist some self help groups in these villages which collect between 1000-1500 UGX from individual members throughout the course of the year, which can be borrowed for unforeseen emergency situations.

Within a couple of days of receiving bicycles, several beneficiaries asked the program manager if they could repay the entire loan amount in the next month’s installment or pay 6,000 – 8,000 shillings to complete loan obligations sooner. There are a variety of possible explanations for this behavior – some beneficiaries would be willing to borrow from friends and family so their debt obligations with external agencies are minimal. Additionally, the bicycles were given during the harvest season, and thus the beneficiaries would use their increased seasonal income to pay off current loans immediately instead of getting into a regular habit of personal saving. Could a greater minimum monthly payment > 4000 UGX have changed this scenario? The baseline data would have suggested otherwise.

The important issue to be considered after reading about this project is asking what context specific income generating goods or services can be provided to the ultra-poor which will serve to increase their capacity to generate income one way or another. Be it bicycles, solar-cookers, treated bed nets, or livestock, improper implementation of the program in these scenarios can ultimately change the outcome of such interventions. With BAP, however, the primary objectives of the program look to be getting fulfilled.

Article by Abhay Agarwal