Girls on Wheels: Bicycle Programs in developing Countries like India and Kenya help Children to get to School

Members of her family work as subsistence farmers. They earn just about $30 a month — not nearly enough for food, school costs and transport.

But, a few months ago, Luseno went back to school – this time on a bicycle. Her new form of transportation was provided by World Bicycle Relief, an American-based group.

Hurdles for girls

Christina Kwauk is an expert on girls' education at the Brookings Institution, a research organization in Washington, D.C.

Kwauk recently told VOA that, in many countries, girls face a long list of barriers to school attendance.

Sometimes, the issue is that a society has firm ideas about what girls "can and shouldn't do as they become young women," including whether they should receive an education.

Luseno experienced this. When girls in her community walked to school, motorbike riders would stop them on the road. They would offer the girls rides to school. Then, they would try to persuade the girls to drop out.

Kwauk says another reason girls may not attend school is their family. Parents might believe that losing children's help at home can cause the family to lose money.

For example, a poor farming family grows less food without the help of children. Girls are often expected to do this work. In many cases, those household duties include taking care of younger brothers and sisters.

There are also direct financial barriers, says Kwauk, such as school fees, books, and meals. So, in places where families value boys more than girls, and parents have little money, the boys are sent to school.

The ups and downs

Even with the success of the bicycles programs, there are still problems.

Ainea Ambulwa teaches at the Bukhaywa secondary school in Kakamega, Kenya. He belongs to a bicycle supervisory committee at the school. He makes sure that the riders are keeping their vehicles in good condition.

Ambulwa says defeating poverty remains a difficult issue.

He says that some families will put heavy things on the bicycles and then they break down. Because the family lacks the money to have the bicycle repaired, the girl can no longer get to school.

World Bicycle Relief is based in Chicago, Illinois. It provides bicycles through another group: World Vision.

In 2015, the two groups launched a bicycle production factory in Kisumu, Kenya. The cost of the bicycle is around $180. That is too much money for most families in rural Kenya.

But with the help of donors, the program has given away about 7,000 bicycles throughout the country. Most of the people receiving the bikes are girls.

Bicycles decrease the safety risks for girls because the girls get to school quicker, Kwauk explains. It also helps parents not to lose work time taking their girls to school.

Peter Wechuli, the head of the program in Kenya, says the bikes have improved children's lives. But, he says, the factory was built around 100 kilometres from Kakamega. So, getting the bicycles to needy families can be a problem.

Yet Kwauk calls the bicycle programs "very promising" and a low-cost solution. She says many organizations in wealthier countries would be happy to provide this kind of resource.

I'm Alice Bryant. And I'm Jill Robbins. (VOA)