Gender Equality Vietnam Project #13980

100 Bikes for 100 Girls

by Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund

Project Report | Aug 3, 2015
The Start of Our Bike Repair Program

By Sara Nerone | Founder

Dear Donors,

Thanks to you, we have given 121 girls new bikes since January 2015. A group of volunteers from the U.S. and myself just returned from Vietnam, and while we were there we were able to meet some of the girls receiving Rock-Paper-Scissors Bikes. It’s a great experience and joy to see the girls when they ride off down the road on their new bikes. Please check out this short video to see for yourself the sweet and happy smiles on this group of girls. They are from a small ethnic minority village called Suoi Cat. They were all quite characters and having a lot of fun as you can see!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-mMt2oV-WY

This year we are very excited to be setting up a new program to maintain and repair the bikes that we have given to the girls. Obviously one major problem with handing a girl living in poverty a new bike is what happens when it breaks down. How do they have them repaired and pay for new parts and tires? So our plan is to find two local women in need of income, hire them, and train them in bike repair. Once trained we will have them visit the schools where we have donated bikes and work on any needed repairs and maintenance while the girls are in school during the day. Women don’t typically work on bikes in Vietnam, but we say, why not? Once we get this program started, it will be the first of its kind in Vietnam.

We plan on piloting this program in 2015-2016 by starting out small and gradually increasing the number of women we train to repair the bikes. We have started to interview women for the position, and will keep you updated on our progress!

Do you remember My, one of the girls we met at our bike giving a few months ago? My has kidney disease and comes from a very large, and poor family. She has been sick for eight years. This summer, while in Vietnam we visited My and her family. We learned more about the medical care My needs, and will be raising money to help her family pay for her $10 monthly medications and additional medical care as she needs it. She was so happy to host us at her house for a visit. Life is very hard for her and her family, and her parents struggle to keep her and her six younger siblings fed and in school. My is still the top of her class at school and last year did not miss one day! She is so enthusiastic and loving, we are so happy to have met My and to be able to help her.

Since January 2015, we have given 121 bicycles away and in 2014, 200 girls received new bicycles. We plan on giving 50 bikes through our new partners in Hue at the beginning of the school year. Each of you receiving this letter has volunteered to help encourage these girl’s to continue to go to school to improve their lives through their education, and of course provided them with the simple joy and pride of being able to own and ride a new bike to school.

Thank you so much,

Sara Nerone

PS: Please follow us on Instagram and/or Facebook where we post and share many more photos of our Bikes for Girls program. And please email me at: sara@rockpaperscissorchildrensfund.org if you would like to know more about our program, if you would like to volunteer, or you just plain want to say hi!

Links:

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May 5, 2015
New Bikes, New Stories---An Update from Vietnam

By Sara Nerone | Founder and President

Receiving a new bike!

On Monday morning the Rock-Paper-Scissor’s staff arrived at Cam An Nam High School, in south central Vietnam to give 20 girls their new bicycles. All of the girls waited patiently as the new bikes were unloaded from the truck, and lined up perfectly on the makeshift stage, set up for the giving event. One parent or grandparent sat with each girl on small red stools lined up neatly in rows. The girls wait patiently to be told to take a place next to her beautiful new bike.

The ceremony was simple but formal, with members of the school and local government present. Every ceremony begins with a short speech by one of the local government officials about the importance of staying in school and studying hard, and the gift of a bicycle. Then one of the girls is always chosen to give her own speech, thanking us for the bicycles and promising to stay in school and continue to work hard.

Each of these beautiful, young girls have special stories about their lives, and this day we meet one very sweet girl receiving a bike. Her name is My. My is 13 years old and is the oldest sibling of 3 girls and 4 boys, ages 1-13. We learned today that My has kidney disease, and that although she takes medicine year round which has helped to keep her out of the hospital, her health is still quite poor. My says that “this year is the best year because I have spent the least time in the hospital, and I can go to school regularly. Normally, I have had to take a lot of medicine and go to the hospital and I can’t attend school as regularly as I expect” Despite her difficulties and poor health, My is nothing but optimistic and enthusiastic about life.

We meet many girls with similar stories, some with health conditions like My, some who have lost their parents, and of course all these girls continue to struggle in a life of poverty every day. Often times we have met girls through our Bikes for Girls program and have invited and accepted them into our music and art after school programs. There we are able to provide more one-on-one support for them through mentoring, being involved in a supportive community of students and young adults, just plain having fun away from the stresses of their daily lives, and of course for us to provide for them, their siblings and family through tuition payments to their schools and other needs.

This summer, I will be traveling to Vietnam and will be visiting My and her family. I hope to learn more about the medical care My needs, and raise money for her family to help care for My and her siblings as much as possible.

Since January 2015, we have given 80 bicycles and in 2014, 200 girls received new bicycles. Each of you receiving this letter has volunteered to help encourage these girl’s to continue to go to school to improve their lives through their education, and of course provided them with the simple joy and pride of being able to own and ride a new bike to school.

Thank you as always,

Sara Nerone

Please email me at: sara@rockpaperscissorchildrensfund.org if you would like to know more about our program, if you would like to volunteer, or you just plain want to ask me more!

My and her siblings

My and her new bike

New bike joy

Girls heading home in Suoi Cat Village

New bikes on their way home

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Feb 3, 2015
100 Bikes for 100 Girls Update February 2015

By Sara Nerone | Founder

Dear Bikes for Girls Supporters,

We are happy to be updating you on the progress we have made in Vietnam. First of all, thank you all for buying bikes for the girls! Everyone in Vietnam thanks you. Please see the link below to a short video promoting our Bikes for Girls program and see some of your bikes and the girls who have received them.

As you can see on the faces of these beautiful girls, receiving a bike is incredibly special for them. Although I am not able to attend each and every ceremony, I have been to many and for me the most wonderful part is to see the girls climb onto the bikes and head off down the road together. It’s an unbelievable site.

This year, depending on funding of course, we would like to try and give at least 20 bikes each month. We have already started with 20 bikes being distributed at the end of January, and another 20 planned for February.

We also have plans to bring another group of volunteers to Vietnam in July 2015 to work with us on the bike program, as well as take part in our art and music camps in ethnic minority villages. As you may know from previous reports, our staff in Vietnam, along with the employees from local bike shops, visit the girls 2-3 months after giving them their bikes. We provide a check of the bikes and repair what needs to be repaired. This approach has worked out OK so far, but as we provide more bikes, we definitely need a more sustainable plan for bike maintenance and training.

So this summer, we hope to team up with a U.S. group who teaches high school students here in the States to repair and conduct bike safety checks. Our goal is to provide similar training to some of the girls, and at least one woman in each village or school system so that we have someone local that the girls can go to if their bikes need repairing, or they need supplies. We are excited to get this part of the program off the ground.

Lots of people ask why give bikes only to girls, and why train a woman to repair the bikes and not a man. Well, the answer is simple; we want to empower girls and women to be self-reliant, especially when it comes to something as simple as their transportation. The more knowledge these girls and women own, the more likely they will have the tools to help themselves through life, and hopefully, eventually out of poverty. We want to give them a bike to be able to travel to school, but we also want them to know that we have confidence in what they can do!

So, we hope to put the “Bike Repair and Safety” team together for the summer to begin the training program and make this a permanent part of our Bikes for Girls program.

Again, we would like to thank all of you for buying bikes, and for helping sustain this program now for almost two years! Please let us know if you would like to volunteer somehow with us.

Thank you again,

Sara Nerone (Founder)

sara@rockpaperscissorschildrensfund.org

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