Bike Project Slide Show

[Bill London <london@moscow.com>]

A free public slide show about the Village Bicycle Project, a four-year
old grassroots technology project based in Moscow that sends used
bicycles from the Pacific Northwest to Africa, is planned for Wednesday,
December 19 at 7pm, according to Dave Peckham, project coordinator.
 The slide show will be held at the banquet room at Mikey’s Gyros
restaurant at 527 South Main in Moscow.
 A total of more than 700 donated, used bicycles have been gathered from
Moscow and other parts of the Pacific Northwest by Village Bicycle
Project volunteers, then shipped, via cargo container at Seattle, to
Ghana in West Africa, Peckham said.  The bicycles were sold at discount
prices to Africans who attended a workshop in preventative maintenance.
The project is also distributing specialized tools and providing
training to West African bicycle mechanics, improving maintenance and
raising local incomes, he added.
 The goal is to improve the lives of impoverished Africans by providing
a realistic and environmentally-friendly transportation option, he said.

 “Because of this project, hundreds of rural teachers, farmers and
others have reliable transportation that they can afford,” Peckham
summarized.  “Anyone interested in learning about the project, or
supporting our work in the future, is invited to the slide show.”
 The project, which began in 1999, is administered by the
Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute.
    Questions? contact Peckham at 892-2681.