Support Earn-A-Bike in Ghana
6 December 2004 - The online update archive is again up-to-date and can be viewed here.
6 August 2004 - Pictures from Ghana are here.
Over the past four years, in an effort to address the vast U.S.-African wealth gap, the Village Bicycle Project has been working to improve African access to bicycles. In addition to recycling discarded but useful bikes and materials, the VBP runs repair workshops and assists with general bicycle advocacy in Africa.
The young mechanics pictured above were part of a repair workshop held in Hohoe, Ghana by the VBP. The VBP has long wished to expand its fieldwork to run youth-specific programs, but these plans were stalled due to lack of funding and qualified personnel.
At this time, I am planning to leave the U.S. in late September to spend a year in Ghana, serving as the VBP's youth programs director. So far, I have secured $6,000 in grants and $1,000 in matching funds to help establish Earn-A-Bike programs in several Ghanaian schools and orphanages. I am turning to you - my friends, family, and fellow cyclists - to help me raise the remaining $2,250 needed to make these programs a success.
This site was created to give interested people more information about the establishment of youth programs in Ghana. Here you can find a project description and proposal, a budget, pictures, articles, and information about how you can help.
Thank you for visiting this site and for all your support. If you have any questions, comments, or random musings, please e-mail me at emilyghana@yahoo.com.