A peek into what it's all about....

THE BICYCLE PROJECT

Give your old bicycle to a village school child

In villages located a couple of hours outside Mumbai, there are several children aged 6-16 years, walking an average of 2-7 kms a day, one way, to get an education. This is the generation that will bring about a change for the better – for their families, their villages, and who knows, maybe even their country and some day, the world!
Going to school is the most important thing for these kids – and they know that.
Which is why no distance is too long – and walking for hours is normal because missing school is not an option. Whether rain or shine, blistering heat or freezing cold, these children do their best to get to school on time, every day.
We're asking you to help these children by being part of The Bicycle Project

What is The Bicycle Project?
We're collecting your old bicycles, which are probably of little use to their owners and lie rusting on a terrace, or in a stairwell or garage. After giving these bikes a new lease of life, we deliver them to the village kids in and around Mumbai, in Maharashtra.

Phase 1 of this project will help children in the villages of Thappar Pada, Wada and Vikramgarh with a farmhouse called The Hideout as the base for distribution of the bikes to the children.

These villages are located 100 kms from Mumbai, off the Ahmedabad highway in Thane district.

We have made our primary focus, the 900 students of the Marathi medium SSC board high school called Sri Binoi Gharde Sajjan Vidhalaya in Alonde, Vikramgarh Taluka. Once the 137 needy students from this school have received a bicycle each, we will move on to the next village and so on.

Donors and those interested are welcome to come and visit these children at any time if you wish to see how your simple gift of an old bicycle can make a huge difference to their lives.

So is this all about bicycles?
It's only the first step. Eventually the plan is to introduce and expose these children to two things that will help them enter the mainstream: English and computers.

The Hideout getaway will offer free food and accommodation to anyone wishing to spend a month or so, to visit the school in Alonde and spent time with the children. No expertise in grammar or teaching is needed; these kids just need to hear English the way it is spoken by people who use it in their day-to-day lives.

Old computers that are too outdated to upgrade and which will fetch not more than a couple of hundred rupees from a bhangaarwallah are also welcome, for the kids to get accustomed to using a computer. Those who donate their old computers will receive a discount if they choose to visit The Hideout for a stay.

So why should you bother helping?
Well, we're hoping it'll give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside that comes from helping those less fortunate than you. But honestly, if you care about the state of our country, it's easy to see that children's education is a number one priority right up there with the nutritious food, clean water and unpolluted air – things that children all over the world rightfully deserve. Your old bikes can get a child to school and give him or her a chance at a better future.

What do you have to do?
You could pick up the phone and call Hemant on 9820149022 or email us at thebicycleproject@gmail.com. And we'd be happy to have the bikes picked up and repaired, after which we will pass them on to deserving village children.
If you can, please extend your generosity to printing out the poster and putting it up where it will attract the maximum attention and more participation.

Other ways in which you can help:
1) Sponsoring the repairs of the bikes (on an average, each bike costs Rs 400 to fix up)
2) Transporting (or sponsoring it) the bikes from the donors' homes to the repair shop and then to the village
3) Sharing a space where all the bikes donated in your area can be collected, before they are picked up in a single trip, which will save a lot of time, money and energy

Don't forget to sign up (on the top right corner of this blog) , you will receive an email every time we update the site! We're also building our website www.thebicycleproject.co.in, which will be ready soon.