Tanja Bause
31 January 2008
THE Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia) was started in 2005 to provide bicycles for HIV-AIDS homebased care volunteers who often need to cover long distances in their areas.
These days, many volunteer organisations - not only those that work with HIV-AIDS patients, but also with orphans and vulnerable children - benefit from BEN Namibia.
Initially, secondhand bicycles were shipped to Windhoek, repaired and overhauled.
They were then distributed to different partners around the country.
This however proved uneconomical as only a small number of bicycles could be processed and the transport costs were expensive.
In addition, most Namibian towns and villages have no bike repair or maintenance services.
In partnership with the Canadian organisation, Bicycles for Humanity, BEN Namibia devised the Bicycle Empowering Centre (BEC).
This is a shipping container, which is filled with 300 secondhand bicycles, spare parts and tools which can be delivered to any town or village in the country.
Local volunteers from the community are trained as bicycle mechanics and project managers.
The BECs are now run as bicycle workshops: bicycles are overhauled for distribution to volunteers, as well as for sale to the community at an affordable price.
The first BEC, run by an Anglican HIV-AIDS homebased care group at Okathitu, near Outapi, has distributed bicycles to volunteers, HIV-AIDS support group members and orphans travelling to school.
They have used income generated from the BEC to plough the fields and plant mahangu to feed the village's 230 orphans.
Accommodation has been built for the teachers and study loans provided to some of the village's youth.
In addition, three women have been employed as bicycle mechanics.
"This was our first project and it demonstrated the value of empowering local people with skills and opportunities.
The people who manage the project have had to work for their money, and are then able to make their own decisions about how to spend it based on the needs of their community," said Michael Linke, the founder and Managing Director of BEN Namibia.
At present, there are also BEC projects at Tsumeb, Hakahana, Oneshila and Oshakati.
BEN Namibia aims to deliver a further 12 BECs this year, with three set to arrive in February.
Each project is funded by Bicycles for Humanity from Canada and the UK, who pay for the cost of buying the bicycles, the container and the shipping costs to Walvis Bay.
BEN Namibia still needs funding for the in-country shipping costs of delivering the BECs, the tools and the training, and hopes that local businesses will come on board.
To date they have received funding from the US Ambassador's Self Help Fund, the Embassy of France, Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, Stephen Lewis Foundation, the Dutch Consulate and the Rotary Club of Bramhall and Woodford in the UK.
By the end of 2007, BEN Namibia had distributed more than 4 000 bicycles, trained over 100 mechanics - of whom more that half are woman, created direct employment for more than 30 people and manufactured and delivered 50 bicycle ambulances.
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