The world has taken many roads and turns—some we are not too proud of—all in the name of change and progress.

This month, The Menagerie interviews Joel Uchico, an LSGH graduate and the man who started Bikes for the Philippines—proof that progress need not come at the cost of the planet.

 

Bikes for Change

Bikes for the Philippines (BfP) is alocal, non-profit organization that began in Bohol in March 2010. The group gives used bikes to students in the region for free, where underdeveloped roads, isolated villages and rough terrain combine to make it difficult for students to get to school.

Having bikes significantly cuts the travel time to school and the dropout rates in the region, and boosting the literacy rate, says BfP founder, Joel Uichico. Without bikes, it would take children hours to go to school and as some schools are on islands, bad weather and rough seas make it impossible to do so.

Joel’s original plan was to develop a community-based Ecotourism program in Baclayon, Bohol; he pioneered the first terrestrial tours and a dive shop there. Bezo Initiatives and Baclayon Aquatic and Recreational Activities helped small fishermen, through micro-finance, turn old boats into ones fit to lure in tourists, instead of threatening marine life.

Such projects have lately been the subject of controversy – as in the recent ‘No Mining to Palawan’ campaign – pitting civil society efforts against local authorities and well-entrenched fishing, mining or forestry companies, who cite job creation and construction of public infrastructure, roads and village schools, to defend their hold on an area. Where government-led development programs have repeatedly failed to deliver, both non-profits and for-profits stepped in to develop the poor rural communities.

After four years of stringing together workshops, tours and partnerships with the Baclayon community, the project folded up in 2010 due to the lack of funding and support from the local government. “We could not push the program without their implementation,” says Joel.

And so he turned to bikes.

The idea for BfP first came to Joel on one of his eco-tours. Together with the tourists, they often passed by kids who would wave at them. Joel remembers, “They [tourists] asked me where the children were going, and I guessed, to school. But to confirm this, I asked the principal and she said, yes. So I said, I will source free bicycles for these children”.

With the help of a cousin, Joel contacted the American charity Bikes for the World (BfW), which helped them start the endeavor. “BfW donated 545 bicycles; we got Peacock Garden Resort to sponsor the shipment, volunteers to repair, donations of food and refreshments, warehouse  donations for spare parts, and mostly out of pocket (money) from me for trips and visits to Bohol.”

Joel interviews the children and their families before they could enter the program. Those who receive bikes are often kids who have to walk at least three kilometres from their home to school, with no access to public transportation, and are neither working students nor at risk of dropping out.

BfP trains them on bicycle maintenance, riding, safety and first aid, a task usually done in three days with help from professional cyclist groups from Tagbilaran, Bohol.  Long-time bike champ Parabanne Mendoza even pitched in a lecture once.

The project is highly systematic, requiring screening and interviews of potential recipients. Partnering with the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) program made it easier for BfP to match the bikes with the kids who need them.  Joel recommends the use of the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS), which tests individual households for core poverty indicators, which includes access to sanitation, child and maternal mortality rates, malnutrition, employment, average income, illiteracy,etc. The results of the questionnaire are then fed into a database, which guides development projects, and helps monitor the impact of the project on the communities that receive them.

He stresses the importance of taking an organized approach in dealing with complex issues like poverty through measuring the needs of every family, and public institution in the country, according to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

“That is why PDMS is important. I read something that if it is not measurable, it cannot be solved. So if we do not measure poverty, we cannot solve it,” says Joel.

Access to education is just one of the serious developmental problems that plague the country; widespread underemployment, crime, corruption, the absence of a working welfare system and the poverty that comes inevitably as a result continue to plague communities.

Current government projects also lack proper foresight, Joel adds, that the government favors a “shot gun approach” at development over depth and sustainability. “We give free toilets to the poor but some of them have no water…. Or we give free education but they have no way to get to school… We build schools on islands but they have no electricity and water. And school is dependent on weather. If the waves are big, the teachers cannot get to the island,” he points out. As in other rural towns, a single teacher forced to juggle three subjects and two classes at a time is the norm in Baclayon.

For the students of Baclayon at least, the bikes are theirs for good, so long as they graduate from high school. “After graduating 4th year, the bikes are theirs, but cannot be sold. We will return to see the impact on their lives after two or three years,” says Joel.

BfP has donated nearly a hundred bikes so far, to students and select volunteers.

For now, Joel braces for the future and hopes for the best, despite looming funding shortages. With no formal salary and staff, he has pondered on selling a few of his collector’s item bicycles to cover his expenses.

“What drives me is the stories of these children and knowing that the bicycles can make a difference…We have 400 more bicycles waiting in Dallas. Too much to do with too little resources, but this will not stop us. It must be done,” Joel ends.