The ABCF/Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative (GBBI) partnership will also distribute free bikes to Kumbungu Senior High School students in Ghana’s Northern Region, next week.
KUMASI, Ghana, March 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Officials of the African Bicycle Contribution Foundation (ABCF) today visited Ghana, from the U.S., to participate in an event, at Boama Dumase, in Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal, Ashanti Region, as part of a two-day program in which ABCF will distribute a total of 50 additional free bamboo bikes in Ejisu, today, and next week, at the Kumbungu Senior High School, in Ghana’s Northern Region.
A. Bruce Crawley and Patrícia Marshall Harris, the board chair and executive director, respectively, of ABCF, joined Bernice Dapaah, CEO of Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative (GBBI), the manufacturer of the iconic, Ghanaian-made Eco-Ride bamboo bicycle; Ms. Ama Pomaah Andoh, member of parliament, Juabeng Constituency; Mr. Edward Adams, Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal Director of Education; Duampopo Chief Nana Adjei Bieni; Nana Abanquah Ababio, Boama Dumase Traditional Area; and other distinguished Ghanaian leaders, at the event, which saw the 240th ABCF-funded, free bamboo bicycle distributed to under-resourced students, teachers, small farmers and healthcare workers, in rural Ghana.
In addition to 39 bicycles that were distributed, today, to students and teachers in Ejisu, GBBI officials, in a separate event, next week, will also distribute an additional 11 of the ABCF-funded bikes, at Kumbungu Senior High School.
In Ejisu, the student-recipients will range in age from 10-17 years old, and the distance of their commutes to and from school, by foot, have averaged about 4.7Km (2.9 miles) per day, or 14.5 miles weekly.
In Kumbungu, the median recipient’s age will be 17 years, and the median distance traveled, on foot, to and from school, daily, has been 24Km (14.9 miles) or about 74.5 miles per week.
Ms. Dapaah, who recently returned from a visit to London where she joined, with several other young Ghanaian entrepreneurs, in an international trade presentation with President Addo, provided a brief progress report on GBBI and its partnership with ABCF, to date.
Solomon Amankwaah Owusu, development director, GBBI, also presented a broad overview of the efforts being made to make the company more customer- and technologically driven, including its work with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre and the World Bank.
In his remarks, Mr. Crawley noted how pleased ABCF has been with its partnership with GBBI and Bright Generation Community Foundation, over the past 18 months. He also re-affirmed ABCF’s commitment to distribute 2500 free bamboo bicycles in Ghana over its first five years of operation. “Nothing quite compares, however, to actually being here, in West Africa, where our own families originated, and from where they were sold into slavery, so many years ago, to participate in these bike distributions,” Crawley said. “Being able to meet with all of you, and to actually speak to the students, today, inspires us to return home, work harder, and create more supporters for the important work being done on the ground, every day, by Bernice Dapaah and her team at GBBI.”
During the time they’ll spend in Ghana, this week, the ABCF leaders will also join with Ms. Dapaah, GBBI officials and previous recipients of the ABCF bicycles in producing a video documentary about the ways in which the Eco-Ride bicycles have affected their lives, over the past 18 months.
Established in July 2016, the African Bicycle Contribution Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to generate funding to underwrite the free distribution of bicycles to under-resourced students, small farmers, and healthcare workers in West Africa. The Corporation has made a commitment to finance the distribution of 2500 bicycles, in Ghana, over its first five years of operation.
For additional information, please contact:
A. Bruce Crawley
African Bicycle Contribution Foundation
215-751-0140
abcrawley@m3mpr.com
SOURCE: African Bicycle Contribution Foundation
