No grant for summer jobs throws spanner in Africycle’s wheels

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A photo from Africycle’s Facebook page showing volunteers loading donated bicycles onto trucks, destined for Malawi. Photo from Facebook

On a hot day recently, Ben Voss was working in what could literally be called a hot box. Voss, one of the original founders of Africycle, was working alone, stacking and arranging the scores of used bicycles in the two containers the outfit has stationed near The Second Wedge Brewing Co.

For the past 15 years, Voss has had students help with the work as part of the Canada Summer Jobs program. However, Africycle was not included in the program this year,

"If we had five guys, we were okay," he said.

Africycle accepts used bike donations and sends them to Malawi in the shipping containers they use to store them. The founders sent their first container in 2006 and in 2007 became known as Africycle. Each container carries upwards of 400 bikes; this year Africycle sent out its 70th container.

The organization has opened four repair shops in Malawi, where locals are trained to repair them for resale to locals. Voss said a bicycle for many Malawians can be a life changer. The bikes also provide jobs for a number of Malawians.

Now, packing those hundreds of bikes into the containers has become a one-man job. Rev. Sean Astop recently brought a group of young people from St. Andrew's-Chalmers church to help out, but Voss needs ongoing help.

Any students wanting to help out can contact Voss at africycle@africycle.org

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