Kenyan girls pedal towards a better future

Kakamega and Kisumu, Kenya, September 2, 2016: In Western Kenya, poverty has put girls at risk of becoming pregnant and dropping out of school. But a program in the region seeks to empower the girls by giving them transportation, in the form of bicycles. For VOA, Lenny Ruvaga reports from Kakamega and Kisumu, Kenya.

Loise Luseno, a local resident of Kenya talks of how she herself had to drop out of school last year because of lack of conveyance facilities. Their society anyway isn't very supportive of girl education and this problem of commutation hampers their fututre furthermore. Her parents are just subistence farmers who earn $30 per month, barely enough for food, school fees and transportation.

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She also speaks of how teenage girls drop out of school because of their pregnancy as a common phenomena and how the motorbike riders in her area treat these girls when they're seen walking to school. "They normally stop us on the road, when we're on legs. They told us they would carry us. When they carry us, they start disturbing us to drop out of school which is not good."

Ainea Ambulwa her school teacher, also a member of a part of the Bicycle Supervisor Committee and ensures that the girls maintain the bikes' good condition. He states that the recurring poverty is a big challenge. When these girls or their family members use these bikes to carry heavy loads of items, they break and they can't afford to service them.

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The World bicycle Relief, based in Chicago, USA, manufactures bicycles and distributes them to another charity called World Vision. In 2015, the group set up a production plant in Kenya. The cost of production of a single buffalo bicycle costs around $180, but with the help of donors, they have distributed more than 7000 bicycles countrywide, most of their recipients being girls. The owner, Peter Wechuli says, these bikes have certainly improved the girls' lives but the 100 kilometres distance of Kisumu from the plant remains a problem with limited resources but they aim to make the lives of these girls better for a brighter future.

This bicycle usage will not help the girls to complete their education, but also transport them into a better future as a better human being (VOA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLi9m0H-yVE