Lilongwe, Malawi … A bicycle, in a Western nation, is associated with children, or in some cases sports racing, or mountain climbing, but rarely would one associate it at the center of the economy of the family unit. Yet, for several reasons, a bicycle can be at the heart of a family’s survival when it comes to village people living in rural areas. To name a few:
- AFFORDABLE TRANSPORTATION
Public transportation in rural areas is often not readily available and even when it is convenient it is not affordable. The cost of fuel, insurance, and maintenance is often far beyond what a village family will ever be able to afford. - INCREASES MOBILITY
In rural areas, in countries like Malawi, roads are often not passable, footpaths are too narrow, and the terrain is so rough it is impossible to traverse them. A bicycle goes where no car (Galimoto), can travel, and it does it far cheaper. - INCOME POSSIBILITIES
Often when nearly everyone in a village must walk everywhere they go, the one person who has a bicycle is in high demand for their services. They can use this form of transportation to transport goods to market, move people quickly from place to place, or rent out the unit to help transport aged people to market or health services. - HELPS MAINTAIN BETTER HEALTH
Cycling offers physical activity that can help maintain good health. In countries, such as Malawi, there are often not enough opportunities to exercise properly. Riding a bicycle can help maintain good health in several ways. - OPENING TO EDUCATION
For many Malawi children, the difficulty of walking 10, 20, or even 30 kilometers each day, each way, to go to school can be handled much better when a bicycle is available to make the trip easier and faster. - REACHING HEALTHCARE
Far too often the distance and time it takes to reach healthcare in an emergency is simply impossible in an emergency. Walking 30 kilometers to a rural hospital to deliver a baby can be out of the question. A bicycle can deliver an expectant mother to healthcare much quicker, with less physical stress, than walking or riding in the back of an oxcart.
Given these benefits, one can easily see why so many people in Malawi would choose a bicycle as the first and only form of transportation that can fit their lives and lifestyles. Why not consider helping to fund the purchase of a bicycle? It is easy to do: https://www.malawiproject.org/donate/