Almost nobody would dispute that receiving a bicycle will improve an impoverished person's lot in life. But by how much?
Dave Schweidenback, founder and CEO of Pedals for Progress, has an answer: "Every one of those bikes represents a minimum 15 percent increase of income for the individual who gets it."
He was referring specifically to the bikes the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps volunteers are collecting for Pedals for Progress, who is sending them to Guatemala and other developing countries. But his claim is probably valid in reference to bikes donated to just about anyone, anywhere, whose income-earning (and, in many cases, educational) opportunities are constricted by a lack of transportation. I would imagine that receiving a bicycle would enable not only people going to regular jobs in stores, factories, offices or other sites, but also folks who weave, sew, cook, bake, carve, paint or practice other crafts--many of whom are women-- and sell their wares. They could use bicycles to bring their work, say, to a marketplace or to deliver to people's homes.
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| Dave Schweidenback, founder and CEO of Pedals for Progress, with the 150,000th bike collected. |
Speaking of which: The Vermont-based Peace Corps group is collecting, in addition to bicycles, used sewing machines. I would imagine that while a bicycle might increase someone's income by 15 percent, it--or a sewing machine-- might allow someone else in an impoverished area to work in the first place.
