Bikes To The Rescue in Zambia

Step aside, Freddie Mercury. Thanks to a Chicago-based charity organization, he's not the only one who wants to ride his bicycle (bicycle bicycle).

The charity, World Bicycle Relief, distributed its first of 50,000 bikes Wednesday to children in Zambia, in southern Africa. The bikes are intended to help the kids get to school easier.

"We (at World Bicycle Relief) are utilizing what we in the west know as, let's face it, as a toy or a recreational thing," World Bicycle Relief Communication Manager Chris Strout said. "We're applying that in a way that really lifts people up."

About 310 kids from the Ndapula Community School were involved in the distribution of about 100 bicycles.

Before receiving her bike, 14-year-old student Rita Daka regularly woke up at 5 a.m. for her 8-kilometer walk to Ndapula. Thanks to her bike, she said, she’ll now be able to get to school more often.

Over the course of three years, World Bicycle Relief plans to spend about $7.5 million to reach its goal of handing out 50,000 bicycles. Partnered with World Bicycle Relief is the non-profit group World Vision, which is funding 75 percent of the project.

"The reason kids in these 'bottom of the pyramid' areas were getting pulled out of school is not because they didn't want to learn, but because of the 10- to 12-mile commute they had each day," Strout said. "In the world of aid, it's kind of amazing to think that the impact we're going to have with bicycles only costs $7.5 million."

World Bicycle Relief also plans to give bikes away in Zimbabwe, Kenya and other third world countries.

In the words of Queen, “On your marks. Get set. Go.”

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