Why Teaching Women and Girls in Africa to Ride a Bicycle is Important
For women and girls in Ghana and Sierra Leone, learning to ride a bike is a ticket to independence and success. How does this happen? In rural communities where transport is expensive and people walk long distances every day, the ability to ride a bike means that women and girls can get where they need to go faster and for free, without exhausting themselves by walking. Once they learn to ride a bike, they can ride bikes owned by fathers and brothers. With the help of VBP, women and girls can purchase and maintain a bike of their own.
For example, when women have a bike to ride, they can save taxi or bus fares for work or school. Students can use the transportation money saved to pay school fees, and use the saved time to get homework completed.
Instead of walking two hours each morning to school, a teacher can ride in thirty minutes, allowing her to teach with greater energy. While a husband takes a motorbike to work, his wife can take her bicycle to the farm and carry back large loads of yam or firewood that normally would go on her head. This leads to a larger harvest, higher income, and improved quality of life for the whole family.
A daughter who has to fetch water in the evenings can borrow her father’s bike to carry back the 40 pound water can. These examples are common situations where women and girls are benefiting and improving the world around them.
It comes down to this: riding a bike gives women opportunity. Teaching women and girls to ride changes their world for the better.