Estimating the Cycling Economy in Europe

Many of us who ride know the inherent positive health, economic and environmental benefits of biking.

But it is always reassuring to have the hard facts to back it up at the next dinner party you go to…so here is some ripper data from the EU you can wave under the noses of any annoying your non-riders who pooh-pooh cycling’s economic contributions to society.

Estimating the Cycling Economy in Europe

A report entitled The Cycling Economy in Europe was produced in 2013 by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF).

The ECF is a preeminent cycling advocacy group, whose work centres around progressing cycling via a range of themes including economic, policy, tourism, health and environment, technology and safety and infrastructure to name a few.

This report is interesting because from what it looks like, it was the first European attempt (definitely ECF’s first calculation) to monetise the internal and external benefits that come cycling in the EU-27 (EU 2007-2013 when it had 27 member states).

Download the report here: ECF Economic Benefits of cycling in EU-27.pdf

This report was based on:

Health benefits of cycling
Congestion-easing due to cycle use
Fuel savings due to cycle use
Reduced CO2 emissions due to cycle use
Reduced air pollution due to cycle use
Reduced noise pollution due to cycle use.

The ECF calculates the annual economic benefit of cycling in the EU-27 to be at least € 205 bn.

Report Highlights

Here are a few highlights from the report as outlined in a presentation by Chloe Mispelon (ECF):

Current economic benefits of cycling are huge (over 500 billion € for the EU 28, more than 1000€ per inhabitant each year)
The economic potential is important as cycling modal share today is way below its mid XXth century levels in most EU countries.
Cycling economic benefits are spread over a wide range of fields making the case for cross-sectoral strategies on cycling at local, national or EU level
Lack of data prevents research to explore many other cycling related economic benefits

This report is ECF’s second calculation of the internal and external benefits of cycling linked to the current level of cycling in the EU-28. It is an extended and updated version of the first report published in 2013. The calculations have been updated with the latest available figures; in some cases, the methodologies for calculating the benefits have been refined taking into account the feedback received; and more benefits have been added in a systematic way.

So what are the estimates?

Summing up the calculated and estimated benefits of cycling in all these sectors, ECF arrives at the following aggregate figures:

The present report clearly shows that the benefits of cycling occur not only in specific, isolated fields like transport or environmental policy, but in many other areas where the EU has competences as well, like industrial policy, employment, health and social policy.

An integrated EU cycling strategy that includes these fields and considers cycling in all relevant policy areas will therefore enable the whole EU to reap these benefits in the future, including the countries which currently have low rates of cycling.

In some areas, ECF identified benefits of cycling but were not able to give any calculation or estimation yet.

More qualitative and quantitative research is needed in those fields to quantify these benefit.

The aim of this report is therefore also to encourage further research on the subject in order to draw a more precise picture of the economic benefits of cycling in the future.

All images and data in this post come from ECF or the ECF”s Economic Benefits of Cycling in EU-27 Report.

27/07/201830/07/2018

Bernard’s exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center

A big thanks to Papa Al for passing on this inspiring story to share! NG.

There can be few better examples of where bicycles create more positive community change than through the bicycle work of Bernard Kiawia.

Bernard Kiwia started out as a bike mechanic in his home country of Tanzania.

While repairing bicycles, he began applying his skills to use pedal power to create products and tools that directly improve to the lives of people in his community.

In 2011, Bernard made a bicycle-powered cellphone charger (see below).

Since then, he has continued to invent.

Now, Bernard is called “the father of rural innovation” in Tanzania.

Bernard is now a well-respected social entrepreneur – and bikes still feature prominently in many of his new inventions.

His current work is now focused on applying his (and other people’s) mechanical and technical skills towards addressing manual labour and technology issues in his area.

Bernard's exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center. Bicycles Create Change.com 27th July 2018. — Source: GCS: Episode 2 – Bike-Powered Cellphone Charger – Bernard Kiwia (Screenshot)

Bernard says:

What we want to show people is they have skills to make their own technology that they can afford, they can repair, they can find the spare parts that they need

With local people, their income is always small and the kind of machines you can buy in the shop are not made for these local people because they’re expensive. That’s why I’m focusing on local.

I create technologies because I realise it’s something that can help my family and the community.

Twende – Accelerating Social Innovation

Bernard established Twende, which is a community inventor’s workshop. Twende is a creative workspace for people to come and use tools, problem solve ideas and experiment with making prototypes.

In this way, Twende functions similarly to a Men’s Shed, as it is an open workspace that has tools, resources and people there to support projects.

It also runs three workshop streams

1. Creative Capacity Workshop -entry-level workshops for any level.

Affordable Flashlight (~6 hours)
Automatic Switch (~7 hours)
Solar-Powered Phone Charger (~10 hours)

2. Built It Workshops – mechanically-focused workshops which include:

Spirit Stove (~3 hours)
Bottle Opener (~2 hours)
Electronics Workshop for secondary schools
A few of the Build Its Workshops are also integrated into some schools electronics curriculum.

3. Advanced Offerings – requires some advanced skills and tools (like welding)

Drip Irrigation
Bicycle-Powered Maize Sheller

So far, over 800 local innovators have used Twende, of which most are secondary school students, small-holder farmers, women, and microentrepreneurs.

Bicycles are ubiquitous and versatile (especially as a means to produce energy-efficient power) so it is not surprising that they feature in many of Twende’s inventions.

The Twende innovation hub was established as a space to “collaborate with students and community members in Tanzania to identify their challenges and design & create their own solutions to their problems will contribute to a world with improved access to technologies that improve people’s lives, a stronger local economy, and a nation of innovators and problem-solvers.”

Hence, Twede teaches people how to create technologies that:

address their own needs.
utilize locally available materials,
are inexpensive and affordable,
are able to be repaired locally.
are designed with (not just for) communities & partners
…and they make some of their own inventions for use and sale as well

Twende is such an important grassroots social venture.

It fosters creative ingenuity, recycling, upskilling, empowers local skills, is cost-effective and addresses locally-identified issues – as well as providing a welcoming space for people to test mechanical and technical ideas that have an immediate positive impact.

And all this grew out of one man’s exploration of how a bike could make work and life better – awesome!

BBC News 1 images inlucded are still from the BBC video: Bernard Kiwia: Tanzania’s bicycle mechanic turned inventor.

23/07/201824/07/2018

Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver – Dale Bracewell

Nina Ginsberg and Dale Bracewell (Manager of Transportation Planning. City of Vancouver, Canada).

Recently I attended a very interesting event hosted by BikePedTrans. It was a presentation by Dale Bracewell, Manager of Transportation Planning for the City of Vancouver.

For many years now, Vancouver, Melbourne and Vienna have been jostling for the top positions in the top 5 ‘World’s Most Livable City’ rankings.

Vancouver has a particular sustainable and social interaction angle for its urban improvements that has created incredible positive change towards biking and active transportation – to a point where Vancouver is an exemplary urban cycling role model almost without rival.

As a bike enthusiast, this is very exciting! I wanted to hear more!

So here’s a quick overview of Dale’s session. It was called ‘From a Trickle to a Stream: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Canada’.

Ambitious Plans: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver

In 1997, Vancouver’s Transportation Plan identified there would be no increase in road capacity for cars and that walking, cycling and transit would be prioritised.

It also set an active travel mode share target of 40% to be achieved by 2008.

Significant progress has since been achieved and the plan was updated in 2012 that increased the targets even more – to 66% of all travel to be via walking bike or PT transit by 2040.

Remarkably, Vancouver achieved these goals well ahead of time – whereby 50% of travel set for 2020 was actually achieved by 2015.

Implementation of an impressive protected bike lane network and an Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan saw daily cycling trips in Vancouver increase to over 50% from 2013 to 2016.

Vancouver’s vision is to support happy and health living by inspiring and enabling people of all ages and abilities to walk or cycle as their prefered way of getting around Vancouver.

Vancouver’s mission is to be leaders and partners in creating and promoting a world-class Active Transporation network in Vancouver.

Vancouver is looking beyond transport and mobility as the foundation for their Active Transportation policy. Their focus addresses and prioritises other eco-socio-cultural dimensions of urban living, to include health, safety, accessibility, economy, public life, environment and resiliency.

Vancouver has 5 Key Cycling Directions:

Upgrade and expand the bike network with routes that are comfortable and convenient
Improve integration with other modes, including via public bike share
Provide secure and abundant paring and end-of-trip facilities
Focus on education and safety
Promote cycling as an everyday option

The implementation principles for Vancouver’s Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan are:

Think Big Picture
Be Opportunistic
Work Together
Invest Wisely
Innovate
Learn and Adapt

Data and Monitoring is key to everything!

Monitoring is key to tracking changes, recording data and observing trends. It is also imperative as evidence to prove positive changes and to encourage (stubborn?) politicians and administrators to act on increasing active transportation.

Vancouver’s monitoring program is impressive. Dale said a number of times that ‘you need to love the data!’. For example, evidence on the time spent sitting and being sedentary can be used to demonstrate causal impacts on health and physical activity outcomes. Dale also stressed the importance of female participation rates as an indicator of achievement of all ages design. Collect data and use it as evidence of success and to justify future initiatives.

What were some of the most interesting ideas?

Dale’s presentation was filled with interesting facts, ideas, learnings, suggestions and insights about Vancouver’s 2040 Transport Plan for biking. There was so much that was interesting, more than I can share here (contact Dale for more!). A quick review of some of the most interesting ideas include:

All ages and all abilities design – the end goal is for all Vancouver cycling infrastructure to all AAA standard. What a great idea!

Must have solid policy backing. Policy needs to recognise and drive issues that are broader than just mobility, for example, safety, health, accessibility, housing affordability, liveability and environment.
High-frequency mass transit is critical in shifting more locals towards using active transportation modes and away from private vehicles. To achieve this, having a minimum grid, forward-thinking strategic decision making and close consultations with stakeholders were key to building interest and momentum.
This presentation was the first time I heard the term ‘conversational bike lanes’ as a way to describe the width of a bike lane. This is used to describe how some bike lanes need to be wider in some places where two bike riders can ride alongside each other (to chat conversationally) as well as having room for one rider coming in the opposite direction (as opposed to just one bike width going both directions). What a lovely ‘social’ way of understanding bike lane usability.

It was inspiring to hear from Dale what could be achieved with political will and a clear strategic vision. What a brilliant model for other cities – a bikable city is achievable.

I am sure I was not the only one in the audience thinking why/how Brisbane could get to this same kind of state.

A trip to Vancouver anyone?

Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver - Dale Bracewell's Presentation. Bicycles Create Change.com July 23rd 2018 — Twitter: @Dale_Bracewell

All images my own and/or from Dale Bracewell’s PPT presentation.

18/07/201819/07/2018

Nelson Mandela – 100 years

Today is Nelson Mandela’s centenary commemoration.

If he was alive today, it would be a very Happy 100th Birthday.

Nelson (Madiba) Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18th 1918 and died aged 95, five years ago on December 5th 2013.

Internationally, Nelson Mandela was well-respected and admired for his courage, honesty and integrity.

He was a family man, a lawyer, a politician – and most memorably (and as best expressed in the immortal words of Rage Against the Machine), he was a ‘Renegade of Funk‘, whose philosophy and action unequivocally changed the course of history.

Equality, human rights, education and freedom were key fundamental principles that underpinned Mandela’s work.

Mandela was an incredibly eloquent man – and has left us with a bounty of inspirational and humbling quotes like:

“The purpose of freedom is to create it for others.”

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”

Freedom Ride

The Freedom Ride was a social everyone-is-welcome 35kms bike ride that celebrates the spirit and legacy of Nelson Mandela – as well as to raise awareness about cycle safety, and bicycles as a form of transport and recreation.

The first Freedom Ride was held in 2013 and from what I can see online, it had a good turn out for a few years. The original route linked together the communities of Johannesburg and Soweto, which were historically divided by apartheid.

So I went online to see what was happening for this year.

There are many Freedom Rides online, but they are for other issues, like human trafficking, homelessness and abandoned animals. Some are on bikes, some are on motorbikes, but none were ones I was looking for.

It seems that there were no commemorative 2018 Freedom Rides in South Africa. However, I did find some other Mandela inspired bike events like The Mandela Day Marathon MTB Dash (KwaZulu-Natal, RSA) and the Cycling South Africa’s Cycle Jozi Week, which included Freedom ride in their program. But these were all from 2016 – I couldn’t find any event listing for 2018.

I wondered if this had anything to do with the unfortunate 2014 official event t-shirt fiasco.

In 2014, the event T-shirt had one of Mandela’s famous quotes on the back. However, 5,000 of the official T-shirts had a serious misprint/typo: the word “freedom” it was instead “freedoom’.

Oh dear.

This meant 5,000 of the T-shirts (see below) read:

“The purpose of freedoom is to create it for others.”

I am pretty sure that oxymoron is NOT what Mandela meant.

But I doubt a typo is why there is no 2018 Freedom Ride.

Freedom Ride aside, today is the day to celebrate Nelson Mandela.

I am going on my own Commemorative Mandela Freedom Bike Ride!

For my ride, I will be pausing and reflecting on the legacy, courage and change that Mandela stood for and achieved.

I will be thinking about Mandela’s principles, hopes and actions and how I can use them to create more positive change in the world – one ride, one day, and/or one action at a time.

I see it as our global challenge to continue what Mandela started.

Happy 100th Madiba!

13/07/201825/04/2022

NAIDOC Week – Where are the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander cyclists?

NAIDOC Week - Where are our indigenous cyclists? Bicycles Create Change.com 13th July, 2018. — Artist: Cheryl Moggs “tarmunggie-woman”. NAIDOC Week Poster 2018

This week is NAIDOC week in Australia.

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is held every year in the first full week in July. NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’, but the NAIDOC acronym has since been adopted as the name of the national event.

Click here for more about NAIDOC Week .

This years theme is Because of Her, We can! This theme celebrates the essential role that women have played – and continue to play – as active and significant role models at the community, local, state and national levels.

Bicycles Create Change fully supports greater recognition and understanding for the contributions and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Islander peoples.

In the past this blog has covered:

For NAIDOC Week 2018, I found myself once again scouring the internet for some interesting stories about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bike riders.

It was disappointing – there are very few to be found.

When I typed in ‘cycling’ (despite other keywords), Tour de France material dominated the my feed. This is not surprising as the Tour de France is the largest international cycling event and is on currently. What was odd though, was that it would come up even with the main keyword ‘indigenous’ included in the search. Very few of the 176 riders from the 22 teams riding this year are not Caucasian or from a European or Scandinavia background.

This got me thinking.

Where are Australia’s Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander road riders and cyclists?

Australia is considered a pro-cycling country and more and more Australian’s are cycling. But rarely does Australian cycling planning, debates or statistical data mention indigenous participation in road riding.

I’d like to see Australia invest and take action on this year’s NAIDOC theme and increase female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in cycling.

In January this year, Jens Korff published a list of “A surprisingly long list of successful Aboriginal sportspeople and role models across all disciplines of sport”. This article listed the names and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes – some of whom are now household names, like Cathy Freeman.

The sports listed included:

Track and field
Basketball
Bodybuilding
Boxing & Wrestling
Cricket
Figure Skaters
AFL (Australian Rules Football)
Rugby League
Golf
Harness Racing
Horse-racing (Jockeys)
Hockey
Jui-Jitsu
Motorsports
Paralympics
Sailing
Soccer (Football/Socceroos)
Softball
Surfing
Tennis
Touch Football
Water Polo
Weightlifting

…..But no cycling.

It seems that road riding in Australia is like many other Western countries where the “unbearable whiteness of cycling” prevails and cycling continues to be the domain of rich, white men.

Australia and its cycling industry has a terrific opportunity here to make a difference – to be proactive in making cycling, road riding and biking in general more accessible for First Nations peoples.

Here’s to hoping that in the future there will be greater recognition, more support and sincere inclusion of more First Nations people in cycling and biking.

As I watch the Tour highlights after posting this, I think: How awesome would it be to see First Nations cyclists in the Tour de France? NG.

09/07/201801/09/2018

Introducing Nao: BCC’s Research Assistant

It is my pleasure to announce that Bicycles Create Change is breaking new ground!

I have many exciting plans for this blog and making these ideas into reality will take a concerted amount of effort, organisation, research, networking and resources.

As many of you know, it is a principle of Bicycles Create Change to collaborate with Griffith students and graduates to support and develop advanced personal, academic and professional skills.

These forays have been highly successful so far – such as:

The Bicycles Create Change Summer Internship (2016) which was an 8-week intensive program I designed and ran in conjunction with four wonderful international students – Gabriel, Sachie, Juliet and Mauricio. Not only did we have a challenging, wonderful and productive time, this program was also recognised by English Australia for its innovative approach to academic and professional skill development by being awarded the 2018 Bright Ideas Teaching Award.
Bella Turner (a Griffith Design (now) graduate) and I worked on a few projects together before she graduated and left for the UK, including the Go Ride app she and her team were working – and our collaboration to create the fun short film LEKI, which won the People’s Choice Award at the Brisbane Bicycle Short Film Festival 2018.

Introducing Nao -BCC's Research Assistant. Bicycles Create Change.com 9th July 2018 — Nao’s assignment: What is the current status of Australian female MTB participation?

Project: Australian women’s participation in mountain biking

Currently, I am working on a number of bike-related projects and initiatives.

One of these is a public lecture investigating the issues and aspects relating to Australian women’s participation in mountain biking.

This is a big research project.

To help with this project, I am delighted to introduce the newest member of the Bicycles Create Change team – Nao Kamakura.

Nao is joining us as a Research Assistant and will be responsible for the background work for this investigation.

Introducing Nao Kamakura

Below, is a little bit about Nao in her own words….

Hello Readers!

My name is Nao and I am from Japan.

I came to Brisbane to study English and study at Griffith University. I want to learn about Australian business culture. After my English studies and a semester at Griffith University, I am now a research assistant for Nina and Bicycles Create Change.

The focus of my research for Bicycles Create Change is investigating aspects of women’s participation and perceptions of mountain biking – with a particular focus on the Australian context.

I’m a Chemist and an Environmentalist.

I believe the past development of the field of Chemistry has unfortunately destroyed our Earth a lot, but further, that future chemical innovations will be able to create a better world!

Therefore, I would like to be a person who contributes to a future where Chemistry can facilitate a more sustainable world.

Here is a link to my website called Enjoy the World. This is where I sometimes write about my greatest hobby – travelling and Australian life. I will let you know now though, it is all written in Japanese!

The BCC Research Assistant role

Nao and I have worked together previously. She is a DEP graduate of my class and for the last 13 weeks, we have been working on a PhD writing course as well while she was completed a semester of Griffith Coursework. Now she is looking for a new challenge.

Nao brings a remarkable set of skills to BCC. She has a science background so has a particular analytical approach to work, which offsets my more global and creative approach to work. She is great at the detail, I work best with the big picture. She is also a thoughtful and proactive environmentalist.

As well as having excellent English skills, Nao is also incredibly well travelled. For the last 8 years, she has kept her own travel blog, which is an amazing record of all the places she has travelled, people she has met and wonderful insights she has garnered along the way.

For this BBC role, Nao ‘s has been charged with finding and collating data, reports and research about the participation, motivations and perceptions of why women either do – or do not- ride mountain bikes in Australia and then to synthesis this information.

You will be able to hear about Nao’s work as she will also be presenting her findings as part of an upcoming Bicycles Create Change Public Symposia I have planned – the details of which will be released very soon. Stay tuned!

05/07/201810/07/2018

The Cyclo Knitter

Dutch cycling enthusiast and designer George Barratt-Jones has created a human-powered automated bicycle-knitting machine called the Cyclo Knitter.

The Cyclo Knitter is essentially a bicycle-powered loom that is activated by light exercise.

George’s modification of a standard bicycle attached to a wooden frame and loom is such that when a rider cycles, the automatic loom attached to it will knit a fully completed scarf in 5 mins.

To launch his invention, the Cyclo Knitter was installed on a Dutch railway platform – as homage to the original inspiration for the machine, which was how to use the spare time waiting for a train in a productive manner.

A train platform is also an ideal place to showcase the Cyclo Knitter given that many commuters are already waiting on the platform for trains to arrive, so they had a spare 5 mins – and the novelty bike was a welcomed curiosity.

Best of all, those who trialled it were also rewarded with their very own ‘bespoke’ cycle-made scarf (*Aww DAD!! Not in front of my friends!!*).

Design and functionality

The Cyclo Knitter is a remarkably neat and compact invention. It is functional, quirky and innovative and is also very beautifully crafted and skillfully designed.

The Cyclo Knitter is set-up so that when the pedals turn, the spinning front wheel powers a knitting machine placed on top of a wooden tower at the front of the bike. As the rider pedals, they can watch in real time, as the knitted fabric comes from the top of the tower and is woven into a brand-new custom-made scarf. Awesome!

When George set up the Cyclo Knitter, the sign alongside it read:

Bored? Cold? Create!

Genius!

Here’s a quick video of what happened on the train platform…

Cyclo Knitter by George Barratt-Jones from George Barratt-Jones on Vimeo.

Of his video, George states:

“Imagine it’s the midst of winter. You are cold and bored waiting for your train at the station. This pedal powered machine gets you warm by moving, you are making something while you wait and in the end, you are left with a free scarf! That you can decide to keep yourself or give to someone who needs it more. Its all about spreading joy and making those boring moments more fun.”

To see more of the Cyclo-knitter and how it was made – click here.

Why is it so good?

Go Dutch – lead the way!

It is great to see such an innovative design, fun and functionality coming together in this unique bicycle modification.

It has a sleek design and aesthetic, but the whole assemblage also folds down into a convenient and portable flatpack item, which is ideal for moving between locations (see below).

It is wonderful to see such a refreshingly new utilisation a bicycle – and an approach that makes cycling AND knitting more interesting -and accessible – to the general public.

The added bonus of a free rider-made scarf is genius.

I hope we see more creative and community orientated bicycle projects like this in the future.

Image: Colossal

All images are still from the Vimeo video, except last two as indicated.

01/07/201810/07/2018

The Afghani teacher who bicycles books to rural villages

Image: From Now This/The Daily Motion (video still) — Image: Global Giving

Education in rural Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, only 28% of the entire Afghan population 15 years and older is literate and poverty has risen from 36 to 39%.

In Afghanistan, many children do not go to school. Literacy and school are especially limited in the rural areas, where distance and a lack of access and resources mean that education is unrealistic for many families who live in villages where the closest school is 3 hours away.

Education is paramount to reducing poverty and increasing quality of life.

One local, Saber Hosseini is trying to rectify this.

Every weekend, Saber loads up his ‘bicycle library’ and travels to six surrounding rural villages to share his library so that the locals (who have no access to books) can learn to read and have an opportunity to read.

Saber is a schoolteacher in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. Bamiyan is one of the poorest provinces in Afghanistan, which continues to be hamstrung by conflict, poverty and instability.

Adding to this, Afghanistan has a mountainous geography and vast tracks of barren land, which make travel to school impossible. Even if travel was possible, so many schools were destroyed and education was so severely restricted, that rural children from remote villages were forced to drop out.

The Afghani teacher who bicycles books to rural villages

Saber has been riding his bicycle library since 2016. Saber bought his first 200 books with fundraising support from his friends and local literary circles.

Saber had to travel to the Iranian border to buy most of the books as previously, most publications, literature and books were essentially forbidden.

Over the years, Saber has been supported by friends and local volunteers – as well as people overseas. Now his library has 3,500 books and Saber has since been able to open the first ever public library in Bamiyan.

Reports are that literacy rates in the area are rising as a direct result of Saber’s bicycle library.

At the start, the books were simple, but now, more advanced titles have been added as local reading rates have improved.

The library is now so accepted and popular within these communities, that adults are coming to use the library and are borrowing advanced level children’s books.

Saber uses the opportunity to talk to the locals about peace, avoiding drugs, and being more understanding of different people’s beliefs, lifestyles, culture and choices.

The following story about Saber is from the Global Citizen: One time, Saber spoke to children about guns, and used the slogan:

“Say no to guns, Say yes to books.”

The next time he returned to the same village, the children collected all of their toy guns and handed them over to Saber.

This was a heartwarming gesture, but the kids wanted to bargain: they would forfeit their guns if they could be the first village in the next round of book deliveries so that they could get the first pick.

Saber has brought joy to many communities, but there are costs to his endeavor. He has received many threats and many have opposed his caring works.

Even still, Saber continues to make room for the opportunity to learn. A library is more than just a pile of books, it is also a community of individuals willing to learn and discuss and grow

“When I hand the books out to them, I can see their excitement and joy,” Hosseini said. “It is the joy of being able to learn. I am also inspired.”

Below is a video about Saber’s bicycle library.

High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan

Saber’s efforts are particularly important given that illiteracy is a major issue in rural Afghanistan.

A recent Joint NGO Briefing Report of Girls Education in Afghanistan entitled High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan reports that female education has faced significant obstacles in Afghanistan, yet there have been enormous gains since 2001. Under the Taliban, the majority of girls’ schools were closed and gross enrollment fell from 32% to just 6.4%.

The report also states that:

Female students have high aspirations for their educational achievement.
Many schools do not have the infrastructure needed to provide a quality education.
Poverty was seen as the single biggest obstacle to girls’ access to education. Poverty as a major barrier to girls attending school.
Poverty is also linked to early or forced marriage, which is an additional major obstacle to girls’ education.
The number of available female teachers is insufficient to meet demand.
Availability of education is insufficient to meet demand.
Distance, along with attendance in mixed classes or interaction with male teachers, becomes increasingly problematic as girls approach adolescence, when cultural norms regulating their behaviour become more restrictive.
Decision-making around whether or not girls go to school, and for how long, is complex and extremely varied from province to province and even household to household.

The World Bank’s 2017 Poverty Status Update Report on the socioeconomic progress in Afghanistan, indicates that the last 15 years of growth in Afghanistan is now being undermined by a recent rise in insecurity.

Let’s hope Saber keeps riding his bike, sharing books and helping others – and that his commitment inspires others to do the same.

All Images: Now This/The Daily Motion (video still) unless otherwise indicated.