Working Bikes is building a new cycling culture in southern Africa with Bikes for Lesotho (B4L). According to B4L founder Dave Gorman, “I had been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho 25 years ago and had returned twice since then. In all that time, I had never seen even one bike! Combined with that, I’d read in 2012 that the estimated number of orphans largely due to the HIV/AIDS crisis had reached 100,000. That’s when I resolved to send bikes to those kids simply for the purpose of giving them some joy.” To date, B4L has sent 4,500 bikes, 4,000 of which were from Working Bikes.

Dave recently spent two weeks in Lesotho and saw many bikes in and around the capital city of Maseru. “It’s a powerful feeling to know that most of the bikes are from the Working Bikes warehouse, that we’d collected and loaded those very bikes.” For every $20 contribution to the project, a sticker with the Working Bikes logo is placed on an orphan’s bike stating “this bike from Chicago comes with love from Working Bikes & (donor’s name)”. This has reinforced the very tangible connection of the program.

Photo courtesy of Bikes for Lesotho

During his trip, Dave helped his project partner, Tumi, to deliver bikes to orphans at schools and orphanages. Dave also witnessed the daily coming and going of customers at Tumi’s Bike Shop. “Tumi has successfully mixed charitable giving into his business. As a result of his providing free bikes to orphans, he has become famous throughout the Kingdom, which has helped his shop to prosper.”

B4L is working on a new plan to encourage more entrepreneurs like Tumi to establish the first shops in towns in the rest of the country, where bikes are currently rarely seen. In fact, Dave met with King Letsie III, Prince Seeiso, the Peace Corps-Lesotho Director and others to solicit their input and assistance. Bikes are transforming the country and Working Bikes is excited about furthering the special connection between Chicago and Lesotho. More information is at https://www.facebook.com/BikesForLesotho/.

On Tuesday, May 16, Working Bikes hosted our second On the Table dinner. On The Table is an event sponsored by Chicago Community Trust, in which thousands of Chicago area residents pull up a chair at gatherings around the city to discuss the future of our communities while sharing a meal together. Working Bikes used this opportunity to bring together those of the bicycle community, organization supporters and partners, and friends.

Working Bikes was proud to host 45 dinner guests to discuss transportation equity and the role of bicycles as tools of empowerment. Partner organizations such as Esperanza Community Health Center, The Resurrection Project, Saint Sabina Employment Resource Center, Vaughn Occupational School, Bikes for Lesotho and Friends of the Major Taylor Trail sent representatives to discuss our shared interests, assets, and struggles. Guests enjoyed Birria and vegetarian mole from Birrieria Zaragoza while pondering how we can use our partnerships to truly “Act up” in the name of peace, justice, and bike grease

It is inspiring to be able to collaborate with so many organizations in our city that do not traditionally utilize bicycles, but that wholeheartedly pursue the opportunity to share the love of two wheels with their clients and constituents. As we continue rescuing, recycling, refurbishing, and redistributing bicycles, everyone at Working Bikes is thankful for the opportunity to reflect and break bread with each other.

On the heels of On The Table is the Acting Up Awards, an intentionally small grant for projects or programming for OTT hosts to utilize as a grassroots approach to improve their community. Our proposal focuses on putting together follow-up events for our local donation programs, Cycle of Power and Cycle of Peace. Watch and like our video proposal on YouTube!