Vision and Strategy

The purpose of this  document is to  provide an overview of  our movement and to share with  all, our  beliefs, model and strategy.   The founding principals of the B4H Movement are as strong today as when our movement was founded 6 years ago.   There are 4   guiding  beliefs that our movement   grows from. In the last 6 years,  our movement has delivered over 70 containers or 40,000 plus bikes to Africa from over 30 chapters  globally, literally thousands of volunteers  and  it continues to grow  at a very rapid pace, all without any staff, support, central administration or monies spent.  We are a pure grassroots movement and what connects and drives us is the common belief that , “A Bicycle can make a difference”

We believe that the gift of mobility that a bicycle can provide is  universal, essential and empowering to all.  Mobility  delivered by a bicycle allows healthcare workers to do  more, enables  youth to travel long distances to school, entrepreneurs to  establish business’s and  deliver goods to distant markets.  It also allows families to  carry  food and water long distances, hopefully allowing the family unit more time to be together. 

 To be truly sustainable, it  must be  embraced and accepted by our partner communities, with local teams taking full responsibility for the   on going  support of the program.  Bicycles are delivered in Containers,  local community members are  trained  in  bike service  and support and, with these BEC’s or Bicycle Empowerment Centers becoming the foundation to long term  support, development, job creation and community development at many levels. Community is key to our movement, we encourage  chapters here to   work together with   community groups and chapters in Africa.   Global teamwork is key to both an understand and the development of new models to solve the problems facing many globally. 

Bicycles for Humanity is a  community based grassroots movement.  Other than our main website, supporting a directory of all projects, there is no  central organization,  management or administration of  any kind.  We are a pure, highly efficient movement with  community leaders organizing, their chapters, raising the funds to send the containers of bikes to Africa, to communities  there  that they want to support.   This model allows all to organize, fundraise and collect in a manner that makes sense to them and their community.  It also allows  chapter heads to take charge, be accountable and to  feel empowered  as well  as  others on their team.  In short, it is a very flat, very efficient  model that allows whoever  puts in energy to help do  it the way they feel best. Much of our movements growth comes from individuals who, rather than just volunteer for  a NGO or Non Government organization and  just be a volunteer with little say, choose to start their own organization,  while still being connected to a common vision through the movements belief’s.

Efficient models that empower the individual and the  chapter to do more is   the last founding key.   Deep down everyone wants to make a difference, to contribute and to know that their efforts of helping others helps themselves and their communities at the same time.  The B4H movement is really a model or template that allows all to  help  others globally and locally.  It allows the creative energies and forces  of many to focus on a very simple goal helping deliver the gift of mobility  through a bicycle.

In Summary, The Bicycles for Humanity Movement Believes:

Bicycles are universal, everyone understands the power of a bike.

Individuals and their  communities are empowered to make a difference.

The deliverables are clear and every project has a start and an end.

Accountability and responsibility stays with the chapter.

It’s fun and very rewarding on many levels, local, regionally and globally.

Bicycles for Humanity  Developed World Chapter Model

Chapters and local community leadership are the foundation to the B4H Grassroots Movement.  Chapter  membership is open to all, individuals, schools, civic clubs, church’s, sports teams, really anyone who believes that a bicycle can make a difference and is  interested in sending at least one container of bicycles  a year to a community partner/chapter in Africa.

4 Guiding Principals of Chapters in the developed world are as follows:

Chapters are free to organize in any way that makes sense to them.  Bicycles for Humanity existing chapter leaders and teams will  mentor you and your  team  to the best of their abilities.  All we ask is that a developed country Chapter  try to  deliver on their commitment of   sending one container of bikes a year.  If the chapter has raised funds and does not complete  the process of sending a container, than we ask that that chapter forward any funds they have to an existing chapter. Chapters cover the cost of buying the container,  which becomes the BEC, Bicycle Empowerment Center, all local logistics, plus the cost of Ocean  freight to the closest African port.  Depending on the partner relationship in Africa, some chapters may also cover  the in country shipping and logistics on their own or in partnership with their African Community partner

Every chapter  and  chapter leader will be listed on our website, www.bicycles-for-humanity.org   and in the main B4H directory, plus   they will have a link to their website, Facebook  or WordPress page.  We encourage all chapters to  support all 3 social media  platforms, plus use Twitter to keep all informed  locally, regionally and globally.  We encourage chapters to follow  a uniform naming model, example,  Bicycles for Humanity, Ottawa.  www.b4h-ottawa.org as an example.   Today’s social media allows for  all to spread the movement message  virally and we encourage all chapters to  establish links and favorites pages with all other chapters.  This way you both learn what is going on within the movement,  plus gain ideas on how to make your chapter better

Chapters are free to  pick whatever community they want to support in Africa.  In many countries like Namibia  our movement has  a  long history with  the Bicycle Empowerment Network  and many chapters partner with this group.  Other chapters  establish their own partner programs in Africa and  any new or existing chapter is free to join these initiatives, or you can start your own and  grow B4H membership around your project. B4H has a set of logo’s and images that all chapters are  encouraged to use, we also do not mind if you  create your own or a variation of one of our existing ones.

By telling your story locally, the media is drawn to the efficiencies and value that a B4H Chapter partner creates in their community.  We encourage all chapters to keep telling your  story and the need for bicycles in Africa.  We also encourage chapters to work together, share ideas  and where possible establish relationships that are good for all chapters and communities in Africa.

In Summary Bicycles for Humanity Chapters are:

Free to organize in  whatever way they like and support the community of their choice.

We ask that all chapters try and send at least one container of bicycles  annually.

We encourage teamwork, both here and in Africa and by building community  everyone benefits.

We encourage chapters to  follow our core naming model and to use  social media tools  to tell their story and spread the word.

We respect the  chapter structure and encourage all to do the same, while sharing and helping each other.

If we had created a Non Profit, organized centrally and   asked  people to join this  NGO would we have grown the way we have, I don’t think so, would  individuals be taking this in a hundred directions all good for their communities and good for communities in Africa, nope, don’t think that would have happened.

It’s hard to  identify any one thing, it’s a lot of things.  People want to make a difference, they want to drive change and they want to be accountable  and know that what they are doing is making a difference.  Today’s connected world of social media allows all with common interests to connect, organize and mobilize  quickly and efficiently.  The speed at which grassroots can drive change and the efficiencies of models that scale driven by concerned citizens who want to make a difference is  a powerful force and one that is very difficult to stop.

There is a  terrific book called, The Spider and the Starfish, the  concept is simple.  if you cut off the leg of a spider it dies, but if you cut off the leg of a Starfish, it grows another leg.  Movements like Starfish  flourish because there is no one leader, but a set of ideologies that many believe in.  Mobility  offered by a bicycle is efficient, economical, environmentally friendly and  universal globally.  Saving  a portion of the 18 million bicycles destined for landfills in North America and Europe is a good thing.  Doing good in one’s own community and linking that community to help do good a half a world away  connects us in ways we cannot imagine.

My wife and I started bicycles for Humanity to  simply send one container of bikes to healthcare workers in Namibia.  Today there are literally hundreds of volunteers and leaders everywhere who share our  vision and beliefs and all  who have  joined this movement have taken it a  thousand times further than I  could ever imagine.  Would this viral growth happen in a structured NGO, don’t think so, too many rules and  to much inefficiencies to attract  high energy people.  Can a highly structured NGO attract  good people and keep them, by making them a small cog in their big machine, don’t think so, people want to make a difference and they want to do it their way.

Bicycles for Humanity and all within it resemble a Starfish and it  keeps growing on it’s own.  Many highly structured NGO’s  are beginning to look like Spiders and  by losing one   individual, they can  fail or become very inefficient.

In reflecting back on the last 6 years, it is simply incredible what has happened and  I have no  idea what the future  will bring, but I know that  it will be good  on a hundred fronts and the gift of mobility that a bicycle can deliver will reach many many more communities globally.

Organization vs. movement vs. philosophy

An organization uses structure and resources and power to make things happen. Organizations hire people, issue policies, buy things, erect buildings, earn market share and get things done. Your company is probably an organization.

A movement has an emotional heart. A movement might use an organization, but it can replace systems and people if they disappear. Movements are more likely to cause widespread change, and they require leaders, not managers. The internet, it turns out, is a movement, and every time someone tries to own it, they fail.

A philosophy can survive things that might wipe out a movement and that would decimate an organization. A philosophy can skip a generation or two. It is often interpreted, and is more likely to break into autonomous groups, to morph and split and then reunite. Industrialism was a philosophy.

The trouble kicks in when you think you have one and you actually have the other.

In 6 years  we have gone from groups collecting bikes to support other organizations projects to chapters branching out and supporting  their own projects in Africa and we hope this continue’s for many many years to come.

I think we are about to enter the 3rd phase of our growth and I believe the most important single step in our  movement.  Initially we grew in the developed world and  supported the developing world.  today we are seeing a trend  towards groups in the developing world, Uganda, Swaziland wanting to form chapters and  build community globally to support  their respective countries and communities.  As   new grassroots groups in developing countries take hold, it will open up and  grow our movement in ways we cannot yet imagine.  new relationships with government, new partnering opportunities with corporations and industry groups.  Individuals and  groups that have a heart for a specific country can now get involved.  As we grow in  both worlds, developed and developing, we have the ability to    help more in many new areas, yet, stay close to the  initial belief’s of our movements grassroots .  We are about to enter a wonderful era in the life of the Bicycles for Humanity Movement

thanks, we look forward to together  helping more globally with the gift of mobility a bicycle can deliver

pat

Bicycles for Humanity at it’s core is a grassroots movement, it is chapter led, entrepreneurial and it will always be this way. Many chapters have very strong desires to support areas other than Namibia.  In 2010, we had chapters supporting Ghana, Malawi, Zambia , Searra Leon and South Africa.  Frank Finneran who heads our Seattle chapter decided to  ship his first container to a town called Ndumo.  Frank in partnership with the Catholic Church established a BEC in the   far north of South Africa , just below the Mozambique border.  The community is a long  way off the   main road and the need for bicycles in this area is tremendous.  I met with the board overseeing the project there , the mechanics and many in the community and in summary, Frank and the Seattle team did a terrific job.

Frank is the  first chapter  following  the new Bicycles for Humanity model, chapters taking the initiative to establish the relationships in a new country.  Building the infrastructure and support to manage the new projects and with the communications and relationships established it is very easy for other Chapters to directly support existing chapters who have entered new areas, keeping all  grassroots on both sides, here and in Africa.   Frank’s second   BEC will be going to izulu Orphans Imitative in partnership with the local Rotary Club in Empangainy, SA and Seattle Washington.   The project has a terrific team on the ground and with the support of both Rotary District Governors; it will be a huge success.  Frank, thank you so very much for showing us how Bicycles for Humanity can grow at the grassroots level into new countries.  What you have done is simply outstanding and I encourage any and all chapters to join in with Frank and the Seattle team, if South Africa  is your calling.   The Chapter led model is very different than how Bicycles for Humanity started, but I believe it is the future of our movement and I encourage   all existing chapters and new chapters to support those projects that inspire you.

Next I  flew into  Kampala, Uganda to meet my friend Paul Sherwen and Thain  Hundert from our Calgary Chapter.  This was Thain’s first trip to Africa and  Uganda is very very different from Namibia and South Africa.  The purpose of our trip was to visit the Karamoja region of North Eastern Uganda with the goal of establishing  our   Bicycle Empowerment Model in this region.  Before even going there, we met with  government officials from the first Lady, Janet Museveni right down to the  local government officials Florence Naduk and all are  very supportive and will do all they can to  help make this a  huge success.  Paul then set up meeting with  many of the local major business’s to gain their support and that went extremely well.  Paul also  own a logistics  company that services the  emerging oil and gas industry in this region.  In summary, we already have a solid   base of partnerships and support in many ways very similar to Frank in Seattle. Paul as a child  travelled to the Karmoja region and to this day, he loves the people and the  region.  From  where the pavement stopped, we then proceeded on 200 km of single track dirt washed out in most places. There is no electricity to the region, and everyone is walking and walking very long distances.  Best way to describe  Karmoja is like going back several hundred  years but the  people are  wonderful and the need for bikes  is huge.  Paul, Thain and I did a video of the region and the need, which hopefully will be posted in the  next week.  As the founder of Bicycles for Humanity, the Karamoja Bicycle Initiative may be the most important project we as a movement will ever   work on.  Women do all the work, they walk incredible distances with 100 plus pound  loads on their  heads.  During the times of the wars, the men were killed first and in some communities, there  are a few adults taking care of literally hundreds of orphans, and there are thousands of orphans  in the region.  In the coming weeks, we will be launching Bicycles for Humanity Uganda and specifically, the Karamoja Bicycle Initiative to hopefully try and bring 25,000 bikes here in the next 5 years.  Hopefully some of the existing chapters will support this project, but the Whistler and Calgary chapters are prepared to build our chapter base by hundreds  of chapters to get this job done.  With Paul, the support of Government and the major corporations in Uganda we are off to a terrific start and I know for me, Karamoja will be where my energy will be focused, the need is simply so great and our ability to  drive real change to close.

In summary it was a great trip, all aspects of  Bicycle for Humanity appears to be working nicely and with chapters spreading their wings and entering new countries and building support    and teams in  the respective countries, it  opens the door to B4H Chapters being able to support  new countries and  to work together with existing chapters to take on new initiatives.  Over the next week, I will be posting more thoughts and pics, but wanted to share with all that the Bicycles for Humanity  Grassroots Movement is heading in the right direction and the  foundation is there to grow at an incredible  pace.

Thanks

Pat

5 years ago, my wife Brenda and I thought we would bring some bicycles to those in need in Mexico.  Never in our wildest dreams did we think it would turn into  the Bicycles for Humanity Movement, grassroots movement   that has  grow globally and continue’s to grow.  Everyone understands the power of a bicycle and  how it can help people travel further and do more with less.   I’m in Africa visiting communities that have received BEC’s, Bicycle Empowerment Centres delivered  by B4H chapters globally.  To see orphans receiving a new bike, to see women getting goods to market and healthcare workers being able to do more is simply mind blowing.   All within  our movement who visit Africa, never come back the same, their lives are changed forever and many help  community partners in a hundred ways,  by sending books, sports equipment, tools and building supplies.  If you asked  Brenda or I, 5 years ago if this idea would become a global grassroots movement, we would have said no way, but it has and it  continue’s to grow and it belongs to all, it is a movement, owned by all, supported by all and grounded in the same beliefs that the  gift of mobility that a bicycle can deliver is a gift worth sharing.

In the developed world, we all have bicycles, we also all have computers, smart phones, ipads, netbooks and a host of other networked and connected devices.  Like a bicycle we use these tools every day, check news, book tickets, buy goods, communicate with friends,  study, communicate and stay in touch.  Complimenting these tools are  databases and specialty sights that support our every day needs, government databases,  access to jobs and social programs, forms to be filled in and sent to apply for  grants, support and aid.   The internet and technology has become an every day part of our lives  to the point where we take it for granted, just like the bicycle until we shared the story  that everyone was walking in Africa and a bicycle was a game changer.

Rural communities in Africa, have no computers, little internet, the databases that support the people are not there.  In any community, the local government has no idea who lives there,  are the children with their parents, grandparents or aunts and uncles.  Has one or both parents died of Aids,  who do the children live with, who cares for them and who lobbies on their behalf for  support  that is there for them, but they and their caregivers are unable to access or to understand what is possible.  For  individuals and groups wanting to help in Africa, it is very difficult to get a handle on the problem, how many are orphans in a community, how many have parents, how many have healthcare problems, have they seen a doctor, have they been tested.  I can go on and on, but you get the picture, we simply do not know and those caring for the children are too overworked and do not have the skills to  lobby on behalf of the children. Kate and here team   at iZulu ,  http://www.izuluorphanprojects.co.za/ changed all that forever by  building  a database that is current, real time and efficient.   It is broken into many sections and   it works and the difference it has made in one community is simply staggering.  I encourage  all of you from the bottom of my heart to support her efforts and to help her, help many globally who face the same problems here community faces. Every child and adult is known known, they are not unknown faces and stories, they are real people with a  story to tell and  Kate and her team know  now who they are and what their needs are.

A movement begins when one person steps up and takes the first step, kate and her team have done that, I  believe strongly in what she is doing and I am  taking a step to join her team and help orphans globally.  Every one of you with the technology,  can  join the iEmpowerment Movement.  All of you who are part of  teams working in and supporting communities in Africa can join in.  Gather the  data on your communities, find out what is available to the children, help them get registered, to find their birth certificates, to  find their parents death certificates.  Only through putting names, faces and  a history of each child can we advocate  and support them as a global community.  Everyone reading this can help, by  building databases,  mapping communities, lobbying for doctors, dentists to visit these communities.  With skype, video and messaging, finding doctors to  talk and skype to nurse practitioners in the field.  We have the technology just like we had it with Bicycles.  A movement is born when  many begin to understand the problem and find ways to help solve it.  Today, globally we can with the technologies and with all that Kate and here team have done and continue to do, lets join here and lets learn from her actions and lets help all in the developed world.   I am travelling  in Africa, on my way to Uganda today, sitting in the airport, but already my mind is racing.      Kate and  http://www.izuluorphanprojects.co.za/ has set the  model, it is efficient and good and I believe here passion and idea will become a movement.  As a teck, telecom  enthusiast I was blown away and will do everything I can to help.  A movement begins when one and then another  see the  value and in their own way want to step up and make a difference.  I believe the iEmpowerment Movement has started and it will grow and a lot of good will flow, thanks to the  efforts of Kate and here team.  I urge all of you to join the Bicycles for Humanity  and the iEmpowerment movements, lets together  change lives forever and the tools are there, bicycles and smartphones and  everyone of us can make a difference.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
~Margaret Mead

Two days ago, I was asked by Frank Finneran of our  Seattle Chapter to visit a new partnership he was   organizing with Fluvio Pace  from Empangeni, South Africa.  The project  is called I Zulu Orphans Project   www.izuluorphansproject

Kate and her team  work with and care for 1200 orphans, help support 250 families, with everything from school uniforms  to their health needs,   food and gaining access to jobs and opportunity .  The program is simply wonderful and it works.  Kate comes from an IT background and has built a database  and set of applications focused on  accounting for everyone and knowing  what is needed depending on the situation like the death of a caregiver or a parent dying of Aids.  The program and process Kate has built is simply outstanding and  for all who want to help orphans globally, my suggestion is to contact Kate, find out what she is doing and why it works.  Start with supporting her initiative and then helping her take it further to help  many.

With today’s technologies, smartphones, ipad’s, netbooks, the model can be replicated  everywhere and volunteers  globally can help communities get empowered and all of their people  on a  path  to a better life for all.   For years, I have said that a bicycle and a smartphone will be a game changer globally, well, I think  we have found the other half, it is in Empangeni and it  was built by the team at http://www.izuluorphanprojects.co.za/

I am a  telecom  fanatic and see the power of today’s networks and technologies in helping others.   As a part of the Bicycles for Humanity Movement, I and  thousands globally come together to help many with the  gift of mobility.  What  Kate and the team  here have done is simply outstanding on a hundred fronts and I encourage all who read this to  take an interest and support her initiative and together we can  combine the  technology  and the bicycle to help all to a better life.   I have been around technology  and startupsfor all of my working  career.  In 40 plus years of ding this type of work, I have never seen a better more focused application to help others and  it has the potential to scale globally just like Bicycles for Humanity and so many other grassroots movements.  We can all play a role in empowering others and helping orphans to a better life and it is within our reach, Kate has built it and it is  easily portable to  many platforms.  Best of all volunteers globally can get involved and help out, visit communities and help them establish an  I Zulu Empowerment Center.  Have you church, Rotary  Club or School partner with a community to help them really understand their needs and   what needs to be done. Today, everyone can make a difference,  Kate has shown us the way and I encourage every one of you to visit  her website  http://www.izuluorphanprojects.co.za/ and to ask, how  each of you can help here  help more Orphans

Thanks

Pat