- This week is World Bicycle Relief Week here on GCN,
World Bicycle Relief helping to change lives
through the power of bicycles.
In this, the first of our four videos,
we find out just how a Buffalo Bike
has changed student, Lizzie's life.
(birds singing)
We are heading to meet Lizzie,
who received a Buffalo Bike a year or so ago,
she lives with her grandmother,
13 year old student and we are on our way
to find out how the bike has made a difference to her life,
which means us leaving at just gone five a.m.,
apparently her work starts very early.
(traditional Zambian choir music)
This is Lizzie, who we're going to be following
on her chores today,
we have already done a bit of washing up actually
and now we're going to do the fire, boil the water,
but we're off to get some fresh water in a few moments.
(crackling fire)
So, container's all strapped onto the back of Buffalo Bike,
so we'll be setting off fairly shortly, I think,
of course, before she had the bike,
she used to have the container on the top of her head
filled with water on the way back.
Off we go.
Dropped.
Having lost her mother and father at a very young age,
Lizzie has been brought up by her grandmother,
she lives with her family in a small hut,
made from mud bricks, which has to be rebuilt
every other year after the rainy season.
Lizzie's bike is by far the most valuable item,
that they own and it cost less than 150 dollars
to provide her with one.
So I reckon that was about,
what, two and a half, three kilometres?
Not too much actually on the Buffalo Bike,
but yeah, if you have to walk that every day,
it can be a big difference.
(metallic pump clanking)
Wow.
She's not even letting me have the whole thing,
obviously doesn't trust me, probably quite rightly so.
I'm gonna let you have it, Lizzie.
It weighs a tonne.
I don't feel like I'm being much help
and I'm not, to be perfectly honest,
but Lizzie is so accomplished
at doing these things on a daily basis,
that I think I'm probably making things
harder for her, than easier.
Like many children in Zambia,
Lizzie has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders
at a very young age,
these chores done on foot are time consuming and tiring
and can often come at the expense of education,
with the Buffalo Bike, she can spend longer resting,
less time doing chores and leave later to get to school,
it just makes everything more achievable.
And we're back home
with water for the day, so this is the water
that they'll be using just for drinking today,
because for the washing up and clothes and everything else,
they use the water from down in the lake there
and she's strong, she'd make a good cyclist.
(clucking hens)
Lizzie is now ready to go in to school, as you can see,
I think we've made her slightly late this morning,
late for her chores and also late getting the water,
so we'd better get on our way,
so she's not late for class as well,
I think it's about 4.8 kilometres we've gotta go now.
(gentle piano music)
The challenge is for Lizzie
and other students in her position
are not just the duration and distance of getting to school,
there are also dangers to walking before dawn
of violence and even rape,
so the Buffalo Bike doesn't just help these students
to save time and energy, it also helps them to stay safe.
(gentle piano music)
Okay, I think we're arriving.
This is Lizzie's school
and that's taken about 35 to 40 minutes,
it's pretty rugged terrain to get here,
but to be fair to Lizzie,
she's an incredibly strong cyclist,
genuinely struggling next to her on some of those climbs
and look at all those bikes.
Wow.
Let's find a parking spot.
Whilst we just wait for Lizzie to finish her school day,
in the classroom there just behind me,
now a good time to mention that a couple of days ago,
we went to the big celebration,
that is the distribution of these bikes
and the latest local people, who received them.
(drumming music)
Distribution Day of Buffalo Bikes
at any school here is a really big deal,
as you can see from this welcome,
that we received from Japarpa Secondary School.
(cheerful band music)
Oh wow, look at this.
How amazing is that?
(drumming music)
We had singing, dancing, poetry, speeches
and then finally the handover of the bikes,
each student, that receives a Buffalo Bike
is chosen by a local committee,
the bike is handed over with a pump and a contract
and that contract stipulates exactly
how they are expected to use the bike,
the committee ensure that the bike is used correctly
and importantly, it stays in the right hands.
Well, I simply wasn't expecting that level
of entertainment from the students
and effort really, that they put into entertaining us,
as they start to make this handover
of the Buffalo Bikes to the students,
about 30 or 40 of whom, have already received theirs,
it makes such an incredible difference
and really that entertainment was not a thank you
to us at GCN, it was a thank you to you,
the people who donated your very hard-earned cash
around about 12 months ago,
the job's not finished though, we want to raise
even more money for World Bicycle Relief this time around
and all the details of how you can do that
are in the description just below.
Right, well, school's out,
I think Lizzie's looking forward to getting home,
so let's do the journey back.
Okay, you can ride from here.
(traditional Zambian choir music)
I think we're about halfway or maybe just over
back to Lizzie's home now,
we've been dealing with a fierce headwind,
a couple of sandstorms and a lot of bumps,
(laughs) as our cameraman's sitting on the back
of a Buffalo Bike himself, bumpy, isn't it? (laughs)
(traditional Zambian choir music)
Well, it's been an amazing day to spend with Lizzie,
thank you so much, we should leave you now,
but before we do,
I understand there's something you'd like to say.
Oh, it's been a pleasure, thank you,
it's been a great ride.
A nurse? - Yes.
- Oh, that would be fantastic, big aspirations,
yeah, well done, Lizzie, good luck with everything,
thank you.
Well, that's been an incredible journey,
an incredible day to spend with Lizzie,
but not just with Lizzie, but to see all the other kids
at school and their Buffalo Bikes getting them as well,
it's an amazing community actually,
when you ride back and you see how many students
there are now on Buffalo Bikes,
but there are still a lot,
that are walking to and from school each day
and it's taking them a long time.
World Bicycle Relief are doing an incredible job,
but there is still more work to be done
and that is where you guys come in,
you've already been so incredibly generous
this time last year,
but we want you to match that again this year
and hopefully do even more,
you'll find all of the details
in the description just down below this video
for how to donate to World Bicycle Relief,
because we want to get as many of these kids
as possible on two wheels,
thank you so much.