Dear friends,
First of all, we would like to apologise for the fact that nothing has been heard of us and the planned actions for so long and that everything has taken so eternally long.
When we launched the fundraising campaign for the bike/wheelchair/PV training project in Zambia in 2021, we still firmly assumed that we would be able to carry out what we had planned with the donations we received.
The restrictions imposed by Corona had eased somewhat, travel etc. was possible again – albeit in a limited way – and our partners worldwide were also in good spirits that we would be able to intensify our work again.
Then the consequences of the delay on the world market caused by the container ship blockade in the Suez Canal had a dramatic effect on logistics/ and gradually on all prices. Container and shipping costs exploded, halfway estimable time planning was impossible. Throughout the autumn, we tried to find ways to implement our plans after all.
The fundraising campaign did raise quite a bit,
MANY THANKS TO ALL DONORS!!!
But these enormous additional costs could not be reflected in the budget at all.
At the beginning of 2022, we had found new approaches with other partners to share the costs, but then came the war in Ukraine. And with the war came further uncertainties and another cost explosion. You know all this yourselves and cannot excuse the fact that we did not inform you. We are really very sorry about that.
Now for the pleasant update:
With our partners from EURIST e.V. (www.eurist.info) and their African E-Bike programme (www.african-ebike.de), we are now starting a training programme for the pupils of the Fountain Gate Crafts&Trades School (www.fgcats.com) in Lusaka/Zambia. The mechanic workshop there already repairs bicycles and wheelchairs and will now enter the field of e-bikes.
The school also already has a Solar Academy: https://www.fgcats.com/fg-solar-academy-1
Extensive information on the development goals to which e-bikes and the associated use of renewable energy will contribute can also be found here:
https://african-ebike.de/dokumente/
In the first step, two bikes from African E-Bike ( https://african-ebike.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AfricanEBike_Flyer_2021.pdf ) are currently being brought to Lusaka. There we will train the students in the assembly, operation and maintenance of the bikes with specialists from African E-Bike.
The bikes are then used and tested in different ways. In the further course of the project, it is then planned to purchase a larger number of bikes and also use them to generate income (cargo bikes etc.) for the school. The shipment of wheelchairs for the wheelchair basketball players will also be re-planned as soon as the cost situation allows.
As soon as we have photos, we will post them and inform you about further plans and actions.