100 Bikes for 100 Girls

To each of you who have supported us this year, we want to send our thanks and best wishes for the holidays! By the end of December 400 more girls will have received new bicycles and helmets!

Over the summer my two daughters and I lead another group of volunteers to Vietnam to teach art, music, run our summer camps and take part in giving bicycles. While we are there we always spend time visiting new communities with our Vietnamese staff, and this summer we visited a small, ethnic minority village called Cam Tan. The families living in the village are very, very poor, we learned that the school in the village only goes to 5^th grade, and that after 5^th grade the majority of girls drop out and begin working in a fish packing plant near the coast. We spoke to some of these girls about their dreams and desires to return to school, and the difficulties in working 6-7 days a week, and very long, long hours packing fish. This job is very hard for anyone to endure, no matter young 14 or 15 year old girls…but this is common in Vietnam.

All of us feel so helpless when we hear these stories, it’s overwhelming to know that as a small non-profit that we are so limited by our funding. That being said, we still had funding to be able to buy 20 new bicycles and deliver them to some of the girls and families in the village. We wanted to share this joyous day with you all, and remind you of the incredible joy that your donation brings to these beautiful girls.

Happy Holidays, and if you would like to continue to help us support the girls, please spread the word by sharing this report for us on your Facebook page.

Thanks again everyone!

Sara, Sophie, and Phoebe Nerone

Links:

• Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund YouTube Channel
• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Instagram

Dear Friends,

After living and spending a great deal of time over the years in Vietnam, and of course creating  our Bikes for Girls program thanks to all of you, my daughter’s and I started to realize that we can’t obviously just give new bikes to girls and then not provide any follow up with tune-ups and repairs. So, over the past year we have been piloting a small program in Vietnam where we go to schools in poor, rural areas and repair student’s bicycles who are in need, spending up to a week or more at each school. Although we decided to include boys in this program as well, the girls who receive our bikes can bring their bikes to school to have them repaired as needed.  We call this the “Love your Bike” program!

 While in Vietnam, leading a volunteer trip during the month of July, we finally got to see our program in full swing. Although school was out, a local Red Cross office invited 60 poor children from a small, rural, village to bring their bikes to us for repair, and over the course of three days, along with our volunteers, and our bike mechanic, we repaired all 60. The kids rode their bikes in, some without seats, only a few with working brakes, some with no brakes at all, and even some without chains, and rode home on a safe, working bicycle.

Also, while we were in Vietnam we held four bike givings and gave 80 girls new bikes. No matter how many times we attend our bike giving ceremonies, they are still so wonderful. As you may already know, we give 20 bicycles out at a time so that we can make sure that we learn about each girl, and make sure that the bike that they are receiving is adjusted properly for them.  At the end of each bike giving we also provide a quick bike maintenance training to the girls so that they know exactly how to store their bikes, how to clean their bikes, and make sure that they know how to adjust and pump up the tires. We also discuss safety with them and how to properly wear their helmets.

So far this year, because of you, 240 girls have already received new bicycles, pumps, tubes and helmets!

Please help us to continue to give more bikes to girls in need, consider sharing our story and/or give the gift of a bicycle to a girl in the name of a friend or family member on their birthday, during the holidays, or just for love.

Thank you everyone! Happy soon to fall!

Sara

Links:

• Learn more on our website
• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Instagram