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    Posted December 4, 2009 by
    Location
    Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Young People Who Rock

    Bicycles Against Poverty

     

    Bicycles Against Poverty or BAP is a student led microfinance bike program that enables low income families in the Northern part of Uganda to access bicycles for economic prosperity. The program began as a commitment made by Dick Muyambi to the Clinton Global Initiative University where it was awarded a grant of $5,500 to get started.

     

    The Northern part of Uganda has been experiencing war over the past 22 years and the communities are in desperate need of income generating assets such as bicycles. Bicycles enable them to access markets and transport perishable goods that would otherwise not be able to reach the market.

     

    BAP's model of operation takes a new form of approach to alleviating poverty through bicycles. To ensure sustainability of the program, BAP provides its beneficiaries with bicycles at half the market price. The  collected money from the beneficiaries is put in a fund to buy more bicycles for other members.  BAP also offers credit management workshops to ensure financial literacy of the beneficiaries as well as bicycle repair training.

     

    In the first year of the project, BAP provided 102 bicycles to 102 families. And due to the great need for bicycles, the project is intended to continue.

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