Bicycles Change Lives
Carry this bag to show your support!
As part of their Good Business Journey, Woolworths is proud to support initiatives like Qhubeka. Through partnerships with their customers and organisations like Qhubeka, Woolworths is increasing awareness of the social issues in South Africa, while actively supporting social upliftment projects in South Africa. Through the sale of each bag, Woolworths donates R10 to Qhubeka.
WHAT IS QHUBEKA?
The non-profit Qhubeka takes its name from an Nguni word that means “to carry on”, “to progress”, “to move forward”.
Qhubeka is part of World Bicycle Relief. World Bicycle Relief is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation. Since World Bicycle Relief’s founding in 2005, it has delivered more than 275,000 specially designed, locally assembled bicycles to people in need.
Qhubeka helps people move forward and progress by giving bicycles in return for work done to improve communities, the environment or academic results. Having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, what they can carry, where they can go and how fast they can get there.
Qhubeka’s strategic objective is to create a sustainable cycling culture stimulated at community level to improve livelihoods and lifestyles.
About Qhubeka
Qhubeka helps people move forward and progress by giving bicycles in return for work done to improve communities, the environment or academic results. Having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, what they can carry, where they can go and how fast they can get there.
We are World Bicycle Relief’s programme in South Africa. World Bicycle Relief is a non-prot organisation transforming individuals and communities through The Power of Bicycles. We accomplish this mission by designing, sourcing and manufacturing bicycles created to withstand rough terrain and load requirements while meeting the needs of students, healthcare workers, farmers and entrepreneurs.
We strengthen local economies and promote long-term sustainability by assembling bicycles locally, training mechanics, improving the spare parts supply chain, and providing high-quality, aordable bicycles to people in need of transportation.
Why Bicycles?
Many people living in poverty struggle to overcome daily survival barriers, such as limited access to water, food and fuel. Often lack of transportation makes their suering worse as they are unable to access education, economic and healthcare opportunities.
Bicycle transportation multiplies an individual’s eciency. Compared to walking, bicycles increase carrying capacity and accessible travel distance while decreasing the time it takes to commute to and from schools, clinics and markets.
How?
At Qhubeka we believe in empowering people and giving them dignity. Because of these principles, all of our programmes have a work-to-earn element to them. Whatever method is used to earn a bicycle the result is always the same: improved access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity.
Qhubeka provides a robust, purpose-built bicycle to close the transportation gap between needs and resources. Our bicycle, developed by World Bicycle Relief and branded the Bualo Bicycle, is designed, tested and assembled in Africa with close attention to end-user feedback and rigorous quality control.
Qhubeka also builds local infrastructure for bicycle maintenance, promoting long-term sustainability and ensuring that owners can keep their bicycles working. By working with a network of local distributors, bicycle owners have ready access to replacements.
HOW WILL YOUR SUPPORT HELP?
Funds raised through the purchase of these bags will go towards funding bicycles for people in programmes implemented by our partners throughout South Africa. All of our programmes have a work to earn element whether this is through improved academic performace, bartering recyclable waste for trees or a community project. With a bicycle a person has 5x more carrying capacity, can go 4x further than a person walking and can save 3 hours for every 16km travelled.
Qhubeka currently runs a number of projects into the provinces of South Africa. The biggest of these is our Bicycle Education Empowerment Project where learners receive bicycles in exchange for academic performance and school attendance. This project is implemented through World Vision South Africa. Over the last 2 years 12,300 bicycles have been delivered to learners who all have to travel long distances to access education.
We also distribute bicycles into a tree-preneur project where community members of all ages get the opportunity to “earn” a bicycle. The Wildlands Spier tree-preneur project is hosted at Spier Wine Estate and implemented by Wildlands Conservation Trust. The project works into surrounding communities by educating community members and learners on the environment and teaching them to propagate and grow indigenous trees. In line with our core values of not giving anything away each community member or learner, who is part of the project, has the opportunity to “earn” a Qhubeka Buffalo bicycle by successfully nurturing 200 trees from seedling to 200mm in height.
We have a third project, set in the community of Khayemandi in Stellenbosch. The aim of this project is to increase academic performance and mobility of leaners enrolled at the Vision Afrika after-school centre. Learners earn bicycles through a points reward system that encourages school attendance, better academic performance, care and maintenance of their bicycles, increased use of their bicycles and involvement in community projects. On average it should take each student between 7 and 12 months to earn their very own bicycle.
WHEN WAS THE PROJECT INITIATED?
The Bicycle Education Empowerment Project has been running 2 years and shows significant impact amongst South Africa’s learners.
Our project implementation with Wildlands has been running since 2012 and to date we have distributed 6586 bicycles in the project
Our work with Vision Afrika has been going for 6 months and we are seeing good results and impact around educating learners on the need to earn their bicycles through focused school work and community projects.
Timeline
1998
Qhubeka starts a Corporate Social Responsibility programme to put internetinto rural areas.
2005
Qhubeka changes focus from internet provision to focusing on supplying bicycles to school children in exchange for growing trees to meet a need for children to access education.
2005
Qhubeka partners with Wildlands Conservation Trust to roll out the Bikes4Life programme.
2006
Development and testing of the Bualo Bicycle by World Bicycle Relief.
2008
Qhubeka partners with Shova Kalula National Bicycle Partnership project in South Africa.
2008
25 000 bicycles distributed.
2011
Launch of Bualo Bicycle as a wholly-owned for prot subsidiary of World Bicycle Relief. Prots from the sale of Bualo Bicycles help fund World Bicycle Relief philanthropic programmes and build a sustainable bicycle infrastructure in Africa.
2012
Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung becomes Africa’s rst ever UCI registered Professional Continental cycling team.
2013
Qhubeka and World Bicycle Relief announce the formalisation of their relationship, whereby Qhubeka becomes World Bicycle Relief’s programme in South Africa.
2013
Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Programme (BEEP) launches in partnership with World Vision South Africa. This educational initiative distributes bicycles to students (70% girls), teachers and education workers.
2014
44,000 bicycles distributed to date
OUR CAMPAIGN LEADERS AND SUPPORTERS
Qhubeka’s principles are:
Sarah F. PHAWENI – Qhubeka Executive Director
Anthony A. FITZHENRY – Qhubeka Founder
All our work into communities is done through local implementation partners. Our current implementation partners include: World Vision South Africa, Wildlands Conservation Trust, Vision Afrika,
HOW TO OFFER FURTHER SUPPORT?
The best involvement we could ask for is for people to buy these bags – every 320 bags sold allows us to give one more learners or community member the opportunity to earn a bicycle.
On top of this Qhubeka is a registered MySchool charity and by making Qhubeka the charity of choice people can support Qhubeka every time they shop at a MySchool partner.
Corporate partners who are interested in being part of our projects should speak to us about opportunities to brand bicycles going into our programmes.
MEDIA & OTHER LINKS
For more info on the Bags4good project, go to:
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Bags 4 Good