Coming Soon: Wooden Bike Classic 2009!

What: Rwanda's annual Wooden Bike Classic festival
Where: Amahoro Stadium. Kigali, Rwanda.
When: November 25, 2009

The Wooden Bike Classic is held every year in Rwanda to increase awareness of the country's tourism and cycling features as a destination for tourists. Three events take place throughout the day including the mountain bike race, single speed race, and Corporate Cup. Project Rwanda is proud to sponsor Team Rwanda in the Corporate Cup, a race which also includes teams from ORTPN and SFB. Project Rwanda will provide a cargo bike for this event as well as t-shirts and other merchandise for the top 5 winning teams. Project Rwanda will also award the winner of the single speed race with a signature cargo bike.

This is a fantastic opportunity for volunteers who want to come out and experience Rwanda first-hand. Project Rwanda will pay to ship you bike parts in the U.S. which they ask that you bring with you when you come to Rwanda. You can volunteer with Project Rwanda as well as visit the famous mountain gorillas and enjoy endless bike rides through the mountainous region in Musanze, the project's home base.

For more information about volunteering, contact Project Rwanda here.

Gisenyi: 10 More Cargo Bikes!

Bike Sales director Kimberly Coasts has just reported the safe and successful delivery of ten Ritchey-designed cargo bikes to the lake region of Gisenyi, Rwanda. The bikes were purchased by COPAC, a coffee Co-Op located in Gisenyi, through a generous donation by Heidi Morgan from Equal World Coffee.
During the team's visit in Gisenyi, they recieved a lead that several taxi co-ops wanted to use Project Rwanda's cargo bikes to transport people around the town. After speaking with the police commissioner and recieveing a his legal blessing, Project Rwanda made the trip out of town to speak with some representatives at a local taxi stand/auto repair shop. After Felix, Project Rwanda's liaison, spoke with several taxi drivers at the co-op, Project Rwanda left Gisenyi with an order for 80 cargo bikes!

I had the opportunity to visit Gisenyi several times during my stay in Rwanda and I can surly attest the beauty of the majestic hills rolling into the calm blue Lake Kivu. The small town could definitely use the cargo bikes as a means to cheaply transport people along the dirt and rocky roads.

It Started with a Bicycle

Project Rwanda was founded in 2005 by bicycle design superstar Tom Ritchey, owner of Ritchey Design International. Upon visiting Rwanda, he was touched by the effects of the devastating genocide that took place only a decade earlier. He goal was simple: to improve the Rwandan people’s standard of living by giving them a simple means to earn their pride. The product of his efforts was an yellow and green, eight-speed cargo bike designed to increase the amount of crop farmers could bring to market. Each bike is purchased through means of a microfinance loan, which is what gives the farmers a sense of ownership and pride. The success of the cargo bikes is self evident in the dramatic three fold increase of each farmer's annual earnings and as Project Rwanda pushes forward into the future, so do the hardworking, humble people of Rwanda. The progress stimulated by the introduction of Ritchey’s simple design is truly the actualization of his dream