Thursday, April 21, 2011

#30DaysofBiking: African Bike Ambulance

My own day 21 of #30DaysofBiking story was a pleasant, albeit uneventful, trip to the grocery store. Rather than bore you with that, I present you with this little bit of email, forwarded to me by my friends at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

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From: JoAnn Yoshimoto
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 8:08 AM
To: All Staff
Subject: New Purpose for Unclaimed Bikes

Here is what an ambitious healthcare worker was able to do with one of the abandoned bikes that was shipped to South Africa by Bicycle for Humanity – Seattle Chapter.

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From: Gail Pohlman
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2011 8:23 AM
To: Fulvio Pace; Pat Montani; Frank Finneran
Subject: Ndumo ambulance

In addition to helping with the BE program in Ndumo I am a volunteer (nurse) at the public clinic. Earlier this week I noticed that someone had converted their bicycle into an ambulance in order to bring someone into the clinic that was unable to walk the distance to the clinic. Just thought you would enjoy the photos.

Gail Pohlman
United States Peace Corps Volunteer
Ndumo Community
KZN, South Africa

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**** UPDATE. See MzunguEriki's excellent comment. It is almost certain that this particular bike didn't come from Seattle. Hundreds are shipped over there, but this one looks like it came from India. ****

Bicycles can and do change lives.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA
at

2 comments:

  1. MzunguEriki10:08 PM

    I doubt that particular bicycle came from USA. It is a Phoenix bicycle made in India and shipped by the millions to Africa for sale.

    However:
    -Bicycle Alliance of WA is doing great work shipping bicycles to Africa.
    -The idea someone used it as ambulance is good.

    But you might be careful giving credit to Bike Alliance for that particular bicycle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kent Peterson7:29 AM

    MzunguEriki,

    Thanks for the heads up. I updated the post to make sure people see your comment.

    ReplyDelete