It takes pupils in Tanzania and Madagascar an average of 102 minutes to walk to school. That is 90 minutes more than it takes pupils in Switzerland. The routes to school are often not only long and tedious, but also dangerous – especially for girls.
Mariam Nsimba Haruna (pictured), for example, walked three and a half hours a day to get to school before receiving a bicycle through the project.
The «Bike to School» project ensures that children and young people from poor, often rural backgrounds receive a bicycle at a reduced price. With a bike, pupils can get to school more safely and quickly. This gives them more time and energy to invest in their education.
We work closely with various partner organizations. In Tanzania, these are the Vijana Bicycle Center and the ABC Bicycle Company and in Madagascar the Centre Akany Risika. Our partners prepare the bicycles, coordinate and organize their distribution to the students. With the «flying mechanics», they take care of the maintenance and repairs of the bicycles.
Within the first three years of the project (2020-2023), together with our project partners we were able to provide 6416 pupils with a bike. About two thirds of the bikes went to young women.
One of them is Nyota (pictured), a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Tanzania. In the portrait on YouTube, she tells us how the bike changed her life.
«Flying mechanics» for remote schools
Bicycles need maintenance and repairs. This service is important so that pupils and their families can benefit from the bikes in the long term.
That is why trained mechanics, such as Emanuel Lucas Jilugu from our local partner company Arusha Bicycle Center, regularly visit remote schools.
We call these mechanics «flying mechanics». Many of them have completed their training in one of our vocational training programs.
Sustainability in Switzerland
Recycling the donated bikes extends the product cycle of the bikes and their individual parts. The «Bike to School» program also promotes social sustainability in Switzerland: we work with 27 social work integration companies and 11 prisons to process the bikes. This creates 250 jobs in the bicycle workshops at the partner companies.
Facts & figures
Project active since 2019
Project countries Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Tanzania
Project partners
Faso Velo, Centre Akany Risika, ABC Impact, Vijana Bicycle Center
Bikes distributed 8712 (November 2024)
Schools supplied 259 (November 2024)
Average age of beneficiaries 15
Sex ratio Two thirds of the beneficiaries are female
Made possible thanks to private donors, a Swiss family foundation and other institutions.
Sustainable Development Goals
The «Bike to School» project has a direct impact on the following United Nations SDGs: 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11.
