Help Bikes Not Bombs Send Bikes To Quatemala

On Saturday September 27th Bikes Not Bombs volunteers will load a 40′ shipping container full of bicycle aid for the Maya Pedal organization in Guatemala. Start at 10:30 am and work until finish, which is expected to be 3:30 or 4:00pm. Thanks to City Feed and Supply for donating coffee. We’ll take a break around 1pm for a pizza lunch (provided) and a short talk about the project. Volunteers can come for any part of this time that works for you. Experience not required. We’ll be moving, sorting, and loading bikes, wheels, and spare parts. You may wish to bring work gloves.

This shipment is a joint effort with Working Bikes in Chicago (see http://workingbikes.org/), who will be financing the shipping costs, while we provide the bikes. In addition to full bikes, we will be including many bicycle frames for Maya Pedal’s production of bicimaquinas (pedal-powered machines). These bicycle-based machines are used mostly for agriculture and food production: the grain grinder, blender, and water pump remain popular models. Their newest machines are a peanut and nut sheller, and a masa mill (which turns soaked corn into tortilla dough). Some of you were lucky enough to meet Carlos Marroquin, the lead designer and engineer at Maya Pedal, when he visited BNB at the end of July along with other engineers attending the MIT International Development Design Summit.

See http://mayapedal.org. For more information on appropriate technology designs and projects, see http://www.bikesnotbombs.org/app_tech

Bikes Not Bombs has shipped 6 containers totaling 2,670 bikes so far this year. This shipment to Guatemala is one of 4 more shipments planned for 2008 with a projected total of over 4,250 bikes. The bikes sent so far were received and distributed by 5 different organizations working in 4 different countries: Guatemala, Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa.

DIRECTIONS:
This event does NOT happen at Bikes Not Bombs, but is just around the corner. We will be loading from a big parking lot at 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, 2 blocks from the StonyBrook T stop on the Orange Line. Exiting the StonyBrook stop, turn left, you are on Boylston, cross Amory, and you’ll see our 40 foot container parked on the righthand side.

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