Chókwè Catholic Church Celebration

Hot December in Macia

Bicycles to Africa

I want to present you another very interesting project.

It is coming from Denmark and has the following name: Baisikelis.

Baisikelis philosophical starting point is social innovation: to make a difference for people and to give them the possibility of developing professionally and socially. It is based on the belief that the best foreign aid is based on a regular commercial market. A purely subsidized development project will make the African partners completely dependent of donations from other countries.

A solid support in the education and start-up phase, on the other hand, is necessary for enabling the African cooperation partners, the upcoming bicycle mechanics and future entrepreneurs to support themselves.

Check their webpage and inspire yourself!

Bike Town Africa

Rita called in the morning and said there were some bike people in her office.

Immediately she catches all my attention. It is not difficult. You just have to mention the B word. They were distributing bikes to several persons in Chókwè.

Sadly I was in Maputo and could not meet the persons. She later told me that they were from a project called Bike Town Africa.

A crew of volunteers were preparing to assemble 250 bikes that later were to be distributed in order to to increase the mobility of workers that give nutritional and medical support to AIDS sufferers in Africa.

You can learn more about Bike Town Africa. Read the stories about the trip to Mozambique here and here.

Photos from Just This In Blog - Bicycling

Our Bikes

You have asked for them. Here you have our bikes.

Rita has a Sawan and I have a Hamilton. Both are bicycles Made in India.

Mozambican stores sell these bikes and here in Chókwè you have hundreds of people with these models pedaling on the streets.

Youngsters prefer the BMX and the racing styles. Older persons and people that work in the agriculture fields prefer the classical model.

It's the Mozambican Cycle Style.

Police on bikes

Recently some European and North American countries have launched police bike patrols. In Portugal, my homeland, most of the medium and big cities have this and the media is always talking about the advantages of bike patrols. Mozambique has also police on bikes. They make communitarian surveillance and the bikes and training were offered by the USA. Here, a photo taken from the newspaper, they look very modern and ready to pedal and get the bad guys. I would love to see them on the streets.

Two bicycles in Xai-Xai

Two bicycles in Xai-Xai, very near to the train station. Note that one has a poster saying: "Cuidado Comigo", which means "Be careful with me" or "Don't mess with me".

This message always intrigued me as it can have these two different meanings. It can say: "hey drivers, be careful with me as I am more fragile than you". In Portuguese "Cuidado Comigo" it also can pass the message of a empowered cyclist that is not afraid to take his/her place on the street and affirm him/her self.

At least, it is sure that he/she is communicating with other road users. This is one of the most import things to do while cycling. Communicate, communicate, communicate. It is something very basic to every human being.