Going to school by bicycle: Soa,Cameroon - Donate for sustainable mobility!

Introductory remarks

Most students at Lycée de Soa, although living in the vicinity of the school, come to school by taxi or share taxi, and spend a lot of money on it. Only very few students are able to cycle. Due to poor road conditions and traffic jams, the means of transport used are very slow and unreliable, and students often arrive too late.  Car journeys are a burden on the environment and further aggravate the congestion problem. In addition, many pupils do too little sport anyway. That's why we want to teach the students how to ride a bicycle.

Goals

1. significant cost savings for the way to school
2. reducing air and environmental pollution caused by cars
3. to contribute to the health of pupils through more physical activity
4. shortening of travel times
5. contribution to solving the congestion problem
6. to impart knowledge of the maintenance of bicycles
If successful, we hope for a multiplier effect, so that other schools can take over the idea, perhaps with the support of the Cameroonian state.

Measures

→ February 2019
At the Lycée de Soa we built a bicycle parking lot by hand with students. It was presented to the public at the German Club Forum on 9 March. We also started an image campaign for the bicycle.
→ From now on
We also need bicycles. For this purpose we collect bicycles, spare parts, tools, helmets and locks in Germany as donations in kind. We will buy equipment that is absolutely necessary, but which we do not receive as a donation. If we have collected enough bicycles to fill a container, we will ship it to Cameroon. The association "Fahrräder für Afrika e.V." assures us to take responsibility for this.

→ April to June 2019
We assume that we have collected enough bicycles in March 2019 so that the container will arrive in Cameroon in June 2019 or later.

→ From September 2019
In the next school year, cycling and bicycle mechanics will be regularly included in the curriculum. After an introduction to bicycle mechanics and the working methods in the workshop, the delivered bikes will gradually be inspected by the students and made ready to ride, so that the students gain experience and technical knowledge. The bikes are then sold exclusively to students at affordable prices for the families. Before the sale we will also inform the parents about the advantages of cycling.
Meanwhile, we will start with the cycling courses in the sports lessons. Therefore we will keep 50 suitable bikes for the lessons and store them safely in the school. In the long run, all students will learn to cycle with us.
Financing

"Fahrräder für Afrika e.V" has assured us to cover the costs for the collection of bicycles in Germany as well as for the transport to Cameroon. The organization donates us a container with about 400 bicycles.