Bicyles for women.

Did you know that women in Sub-Saharan Africa do 70 per cent of household labour, and that 85 per cent of that labour is spent on transport-related chores like fetching water and gathering firewood? Women in our region carry at least three times the loads carried by men, and spend between fifteen and thirty hours per week walking. Access to reliable, affordable transport can obviously have a big impact on the lives of women.

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Bringing bikes to villages in the North

Since May 2005, Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia) has worked to provide bicycles for Namibians, and much of their work has been focused on women. Under the direction of Michael Linke, BEN Namibia collects donated bikes from the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States and then modifies the bikes to fit the needs of Namibians. While some of the bikes are sold, most of the bikes from BEN Namibia go to home-based care projects in villages. Usually affiliated with the local parishes, these projects send volunteers, mostly women, to visit people living with HIV and Aids. Using bicycles allows the volunteers to visit more patients and to carry more supplies, thereby having a greater impact in the fight against the disease.

Setting up bike shops

BEN Namibia also focuses on training, investment and entrepreneurship. Its first village-based bicycle shop was established in Okathitu, seven hundred kilometers north of Windhoek. For a small contribution, BEN supplied bikes to the local parish, which in turn sold the bicycles at an affordable price. The church, run by Reverend Lazarus Hipangelwa Ekandjo, used the profits from the sales to support their home-based care programme and their orphan feeding programme.

In December, BEN will deliver a container of 300 bicycles, spare parts and tools to Okathitu. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy, this donation will allow the church to establish a full fledged bike shop, providing inexpensive transport for local people, income for the church's programmes and job opportunities for skilled mechanics.

Training women as bike mechanics

Hilya Ekandjo is one of those mechanics. The first female bicycle mechanic trained by BEN Namibia and the daughter of Reverend Ekandjo, Hilya has not only started her own bicycle repair business, but has also begun a programme to train women in the art of bicycle mechanics. Just five months since completing her training, Hilya has already signed up twenty home health care workers for her programme. BEN Namibia will provide an additional mechanic to help Hilya with training, and also plans on sending her to facilitate training workshops for women in their other village-based projects.

The impact on women

According to Clarisse Cunha, BEN Namibia Project Coordinator, transport is not gender-neutral. Transport burdens in rural communities fall disproportionately on women and girls, taking up much of their time and energy. A bicycle can alleviate some of this burden, as studies have shown in other countries. In Uganda the benefits of bike ownership were seen in reducing the time women spent walking by 2 hours per day, and in a major reduction in head-loading, a practice which has severe implications for back and neck health. Owning bikes has also increased the total income in women-led households by 36 per cent. In Mozambique, a 2006 study revealed that girls whose families have a bicycle have a 32% higher probability of going to school. BEN Namibia is currently developing a gender differentiated monitoring plan to evaluate the specific impacts of bike ownership on the lives women in Namibia, but already the response of the home healthcare workers has been positive.

Hilya Ekandjo

Hilya is 23 years old. She recently returned from a trip to Manchester, England where she visited Holy Trinity Church, which has provided 46 bicycles for Okathitu's home based care programme and continues to support their work through their partnership with The Church of the Good Shepherd.

I never thought of becoming a bicycle mechanic. After completing grade 12, I just wanted to do something with my life. When BEN Namibia came to Okathitu to set up a bicycle shop with my father's parish, Michael asked me "What are you doing, Hilya?" I told him that I was just trying to find a cheap course so that I could do something with my future. He invited me to come to Windhoek for training. I did and now I really love being a mechanic.

I see myself as being a development promoter. People can buy their bicycles, but they don't know how to maintain them. I teach them how to take care of their bicycles and how to service them. That's really my role. While I was in Manchester I learned a lot and I thought about putting those lessons into action. In the future I will focus on education and youth. I also want to think about providing bicycles at the lowest possible cost. I want everyone in Namibia to own a bicycle and to know how to maintain it. I never dreamed of becoming the first women bicycle mechanic in Namibia, but now I really feel that's who I am. Now, I want to encourage other women to help themselves and help the community.

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Paulina Endjala

Paulina is 28 years old and is also from Okathitu. She currently works for BEN Namibia in Windhoek.

I started training with BEN in February and everything was difficult for me. I did everything by force, physical force. Every night when I arrived home I was exhausted. I slept as if I were dead. There was a girl working here, too. I worked with her for two to three months, but she complained about everything. "This work is not for us. We are girls," she would say. "We are supposed to be somewhere in an office." I wanted to do whatever a man could do. "If a man does it, I am also going to do it," I told myself. She quit, but I stayed because I want to do everything on my own, even if I have to struggle.

Now it's only me and Hilya, but she is in the north. She is an interesting woman. When she comes here, she says, "Let's do it, Paulina. If we don't know, we have to ask." She is such a strong woman and she really encourages me to keep going. She is a good role model.

Things are easier now. I feel proud of myself. I am a woman and I can fix bicycles. I haven't been back to Okathitu since I became a mechanic, but once the bike shop is opened I will go back home. I think it will be easier for me, but I will also encourage women to join me. If you are always waiting for a man to do something for you it is a waste of time. A woman must think always and must do something for herself.