Bicycles against poverty

Improving economic prosperity and maintaining environmental sustainability.

Dick Muyambi (Red Cross Nordic UWC) established an organisation called Bicycles Against Poverty (BAP) in 2009.  They distributed 102 bicycles to villages in Uganda in their July 2009 pilot project, having raised funds through campus fundraising efforts at Bucknell University (where Muyambi studies) and grants from organisations including the Clinton Global Initiative and 100 Projects for Peace.

Muyambi received an additional grant through the United World Sustainability Fund in 2010. The fund was set up by UWC alumnus Dan Marshall (UWC Atlantic College) to assist UWC students and recent alumni in projects promoting sustainable living. The grant enabled him to purchase  31 additional bicycles and repair kits  to distribute in Gulu, a region in northern Uganda affected by a 22-year civil war.

Muyambi says, “Introducing bicycles to the economy results in a system which improves the economic prosperity of the people while maintaining environmental sustainability, because petroleum is not being consumed”

More information
Watch a video about the project