March 2020 - Bicycles Create Change

26/03/202029/05/2020

Pedal4PNG Bike Ride

Pedal4PNG. Bicycles Create Change.com 26th March 2020.

While looking at some pacific community bike projects, I came across the Pedal4PNG Bike Ride.

It sparked my interest as it was relatively small and specific and offered a unique riding opportunity through Papua New Guinea. It also provides some ideas for other organisations (like Village Bicycle Project in Lunsar, Sierra Leone who I have just returned home from) might consider as a way to increase exposure, contacts and fundraising.

Pedal4PNG Bike Ride

The Pedal4PNG Bike Ride was a 6-day event held in 2018 and run by Australian Doctors International (ADI) to raise funds for PNG‘s Healthy Mums and Healthy Babies programs.

ADI provide support in PNG which is only five km north of Queensland. But unlike Aussie kids, 6% of Papuan children won’t live to reach the age of five. ADI explain this in simple terms: for every soccer team of kids, that’s one not making it as far as kindy age.

Children die in PNG every day from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, measles and pneumonia. Meanwhile, their mothers face a mortality rate of 250 mums per 100,000 live births, with under 50% of births medically supervised.

Proceeds of the ADI Pedal4PNG Bike Ride went to supporting the critical work Australian Doctors International carries out in PNG to provide better health outcomes for young children and mums.

Currently, ADI is working on the frontline with local authorities on a COVID-19 PNG taskforce.

ADI Integrated Health Patrols

Australian Doctors International has a unique model: conducting monthly patrols to rural and remote areas, where healthcare is generally inaccessible.

This is locally sustainable health care in action – prevention and treatment in the isolated communities where over 85% of the PNG population lives.

ADI teams provide a mix of skills and staff to deliver hands-on health care and save lives.

ADI doctors deliver clinical capacity building for front line PNG health workers to improve health service delivery in the areas of child and maternal health, malaria, TB and lifestyle diseases.

The Bike Trip

This bike trip was from Namatanai (in the north) down to Kavieng (in the South) covering a total of 260kms on roads throughout the New Ireland Province.

The trip was advertised as a ‘bike adventure’ and given the tropical heat (30C +) and physical challenge of riding through some varied terrain including some hills and it was best the riders knew about the conditions. But the riding was mostly on sealed roads, so the actual surface was not that difficult. There were a couple of longer days (up to 100 km), so doing some training was advised.

As with any international in-country charity bike ride, built into the itinerary was time for cultural events, meeting locals, time to explore local surrounds, have R&R and opportunities to surf, relax and visit some handi/craftsmiths.

This ride had a few other perks I hadn’t seen before, particular to only PNG of course, which was the option to go and watch chocolate making at Rubios as well as do some local scuba diving and fishing and explore the WWII sites and history along the island.

What I appreciated is that the trip number was capped at ten which is a good number for an adventure ride – enough to have some diversity in personalities, but not too much that the group is so large that it takes hours to get ready or do anything.

Trip Details

Sunday 13 May: arrive in Kavieng, welcome dinner and overnight at Nusa Island Retreat
Monday 14 May: transit to Namatanai, with visits to several different health clinics, afternoon visit to hospitals, unpacking of bikes and overnight at Namatanai Lodge
Tuesday 15 May: ride to Rubio’s (40km)
Wednesday 16 May: plantation tour, chocolate making, ride 110km to Fissoa
Thursday 17 May: 100km ride into Kavieng, visit giant eels, final dinner Nusa Island Retreat
Friday 18 May: depart (although we recommend staying the weekend for some diving!)

Along the way, riders stopped to visit healthcare clinics and hospitals that were supported by ADI, so they got to see first-hand some of the health issues and programs that were underway to meet the needs of locals.

Overall is looks like a great adventure ride to do. What appeals to me most is the small group number and how riders can go and visit clinics to better appreciate local health issues. ADI noted in their Annual Report 2018 that the ride had been a success.

It might take a lot of work to organise and I know these rides are not for everyone, but it is good to some diversity in charity bike ride offerings beyond the (dare I say ‘stale’) mass rides for cancer research events.

Best of luck ADI!

All images courtesy of ADI.

21/03/202015/06/2020

Becoming Ruby: MTB, inclusion, identity & heros

Becoming Ruby. Bicycles Create Change.com 21st March 2020.

A Mountain Bike film about inclusion, identity and hand-drawn heroes.

Becoming Ruby is a personal portraiture of an MTBer, family, diversity and community.

This 18 mins film centres on Brooklyn Bell who is a mountain biker, skier and artist. In the film, she speaks about her experience of being a woman of colour in MTB and the alter-ego hand-drawn Ruby she created to help better face the world.

The film explains how Brooklyn was ‘not seeing herself reflected in the community she loves, mountain biker, skier and artist Brooklyn Bell created her own role model: a hand-drawn hero called Ruby J. With Ruby J as a guide, Brooklyn spent the next few years trying to “live like her, breathe like her, be unapologetically black like her,” and in the process shaped her own identity, one that intertwines her love for dirt, snow and art—and a voice with which to advocate for diversity and inclusion.’

As Brooklyn chats with her sister, they muse how MTBers are ‘often annoying, stuck up and rich’. Brooklyn also notes that even if you have money and access, but come from a family that doesn’t value MTB, then you are spending a tonne of money on a new bike or new skills or a climbing rack … that you are a person and part of a culture that has a ‘cognitive dissonance’ – and how isolating that can be.

Brooklyn’s narration of what it is like to be a woman on colour in MTBing is well worth hearing. I find particularly salient her comments about music choice being a (differing) point of inclusion as opposed to acceptance.

MTB is definitely ‘white-dominated’, but ultimately for Brooklyn, ‘all that fades away and that what really matters is being connected to the dirt’.

Oh, and the beautiful cinematography of being outdoors, riding bikes and MTB trails – (*sigh*).

Brooklyn’s closing poem says it all:

Dear Ruby,

I am strong

I am fit

I am beautiful

I am fast

I have a huge heart

And I will not give in

And I will not give up

I am comfortable in my own skin

I love to ride.

I deserve to be heard and I am here

I am here

And it is just wonderful.

All images in this post courtesy of : Becoming Ruby (film stills)

16/03/202029/05/2020

Free Cycling Lessons Empower Immigrants in Finland

I always find it inspiring to see governments, councils and local community groups welcoming new arrivals and supporting them to access bicycles. Many locals take bike riding for granted and we often forget how empowering and significant riding a bicycle can be – especially for refugees. Previously on this blog, I’ve shared stories about how one former refugee’s life was transformed when a kindly local gave her a bike and then more widely, some considerations and biking activities held on World Refugee Day.

Bicycles transcend language, culture and personalities. Bikes are the perfect entry point for refugees to explore a new community in a cheap and familiar way that everyone understands.

For this post, we travel to Finland to look at the Immigrants on Bikes Project. This article is written by Federico Ferrara, the Project Manager for this initiative.

In February 2018, the Finnish Cyclist’s Federation (Pyöräliitto) started the Immigrants on Bike Project. It is funded by Finland’s state lottery and gambling monopoly for the next three years. The project aims to teach immigrants to cycle, which also promotes a green lifestyle change. The new cyclists benefit from increased mental and physical strength.

In the first 20 months of the project, the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation organized courses for beginner riders, basic cyclists and maintenance. On top of that, it offered short bike tours. So far, the initiative counted 65 courses, trained 330 new cyclists and 40 new cycling instructors. Twelve Finnish cities participate in the project.

In the beginner courses, participants learn to balance on a bicycle, to pedal, to use the brakes as well as the basics of controlling a bicycle. One group consists of four to five coaches and ten participants. Around 90% of the participants learned how to ride a bike successfully. Motivated by this great experience, they are eager to learn more. And the courses are equally enjoyable for coaches!

It’s wonderful to see such big changes! At first, the participants arrive stressed, insecure and afraid of riding a bike. But three hours after, they are already biking with a big wide smile and look happy. It’s incredible to see their transformation as they become empowered!” stated one coach.

The Finnish Cyclists’ Federation relies on a clear teaching methodology, proper equipment (smaller size bicycles, folding pedals etc.), motivation and well-trained coaches in a calm but easily accessible environment. It is important to create a safe space where new cyclists can overcome their fears in their own time.

Additionally, cooperation with NGOs and integration actors are crucial to reach people in need. The NGOs work with groups of people that have already spent time together. Therefore, they can come to the lessons together, which lowers the number of absences and creates a great group dynamic. This accelerates the learning process as trust has already been established beforehand. It also helps to overcome language and cultural barriers very easily found in groups that are so diverse.

Biking can have a positive influence on independence, empowerment, equality, mobility as well as physical and mental health. It’s something Europeans take mostly for granted, but the same doesn’t go for immigrants not used to good city infrastructure.

This project taught me that knowing how to ride a bicycle can be of great importance for immigrants that didn’t learnt it in their childhood and can positively influence their integration process. Especially if the society that welcomes them also values cycling.

This article was first published in entirety by the European Cyclists Federation on 23 Oct 2019.

11/03/202013/01/2022

Celebrating Isata Sama Mondeh – IWD 2020

Celebrating Isata Sama Mondeh

A central theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020 is celebrating women athletes and increasing their visibility.

For this year’s International Women’s Day, I’d like to introduce you to Isata Sama Mondeh.

I met Isata while in Sierra Leone in February doing PhD Fieldwork.

I was keen to meet Isata because not only is she Sierra Leone’s long-standing National Elite Women’s Champion – but she is also the first-ever female bike mechanic in Sierra Leone AND the first female bike mechanic to run their own bike shop. OMG!

Isata learned bike mechanics and shop management through Village Bicycle Project.

I travelled out to Makeni (Bombali District) where Isata is based to meet her and see the shop. We hit it off and ended up seeing each other a few times after that, including going for a (long!) ride together – which was a real highlight for me.

I was humbled and inspired to hear how she got into bikes and how she is trying to get more females riding bikes.

Isata Sisters Bike Shop

Her business is complementary to her riding. Asa Sierra Leone’s first female mechanic, she is breaking stereotypes and working hard to build up a business that might support her and her family. Just as she was initially helped by Village Bicycle Project to get started, Isata is also paying it forward. She has trained up another female mechanic (who Isata mentored) who also now has her own shop – the second female-owned bike shop, as well.

Isata is 26 and has had her Makeni bike shop business ‘Istata’s Sister Shop’ for three years now. She was able to start the workshop due to a microcredit scheme and in collaboration with Village Bicycle Project.

How did she get into bikes?

When Istata was in school, she would rent other kids bikes to learn how to ride. Despite having no bike of her own, she was talent scouted at a local high school sports carnival when a coach saw her in a bike race. He was impressed by her natural ability and speed – and wanted to see more.

And so she started racing. This was a lonely and unforgiving time, but it did give her valuable experience. In her first race, she was the only female. In her second race, there were three females and she came 2nd. In her third race, she was (again) the only female riding against 18 males – and she finished 10th overall. People started to notice her results and consistency.

She made it onto the National team and has never looked back. She has been the National Elite Female champion since 2006.

Overcoming negative cultural beliefs.

When she rides, Istata is challenging long-held local cultural beliefs that riding a bike is taboo for females. Many still believe that if a female rides a bike, they won’t be able to have a baby. This belief has prevented many girls from taking up riding.

When she first started riding, it was a concern that Isata herself had to face.

Isata loves riding, but was remaindered continuously by others that riding was not for women.

It was a problematic mind-trap to shake.

She found it hard to fully believe it, especially as she already had a ten-year-old son. So she had an inkling that those old views were not correct – but they were so prevalent and so constant!

It was only when a friend showed Isata profiles of some of the UK’s top elite female track and race cyclists who have children. This was all the convincing Isata needed.

Bravely, Isata is a very positive role model to encourage other females to get into cycling. She convincingly uses her experience as evidence when she talks to girls, families and community members and she addresses traditional cultural view head-on. She uses the fact that she has a 10-year-old son and a bike business to challenge limiting local beliefs about girls and bikes.

But for females, riding bikes in Sierra Leone is hard.

The most challenging thing for the female riders is that they don’t have bikes. Isata is the only female rider in Makeni who has a bike. She and the other female riders don’t have sponsors so cannot afford to buy the bikes they need. To this end, Isata continues to work tirelessly.

Isata – we celebrate you!

Isata loves her bike and loves her bike mechanic business. Despite great adversity, she is doing all she can to promote women’s cycling in Sierra Leone.

For these (and many other reasons), I’d like to acknowledge and celebrate Isata this IWB 2020. She is the epitome of all that IWD stands for and a fantastic role model for us all.

We wish you the best of luck – both on and off the bike!

If you would like to contact or support Isata, her bike shop or her riding – please email Nina via the contacts page to be put in touch.

06/03/202015/04/2020

Social Science Research in COVID-19

Hello, bike nuts! Thanks for dropping in. As you have noticed, it has been incredibly hectic since my return from Sierra Leone. Not only has it been a profound shift returning from my PhD fieldwork and all the emotions, work, people and activity that entailed, but COVID-19 has taken complete hold of the world to which I returned. Just like everyone else, for the last month, all my time and energy has been consumed with transferring to remote work. For me, that means all managing and adapting all my teaching, learning and classes to virtual spaces – as well as supporting my international and domestic students (116 in all) do the same. The COVID-shift, as I have come to call this phase, has taken precedence over updating this blog. Rest assured, I will be updating as I get the chance, but it might not be as regular as we are used to – but I will continue uploading content – after all, it seems more critical now more than ever to celebrate life and keep positive (on and off the bike!). NG.

Social Science Research in COVID-19

It’s a crazy time to be a (social) scientist – and an even crazier time for fieldwork.

In addition to my own direct experience of recently travelling and researching overseas, I have returned to a world that has significantly changed since I left.

COVID-19 was a threat as I left for my fieldwork in Africa – and it was a reality when I returned.

Everyone has had to make sacrifices, changes and adjustments for family, work and research.

These adjustments take weeks if not months and there is no avoiding it – but as Victor Frankl reminds us, we do have control over how we chose to face challenges.

I have been heartened to see some academic proactively moving to meet the challenge of researching during COVID-19.

For those researchers who need a little lift and motivation – this post is for you.

Here are 3 ways social scientists are productively responding to COVID-19.

1. Alisha Ahmed

I found the advice given by academic Aisha Ahmed (who has experience living and working during war, poverty and disasters) on ‘Why you should ignore all that Corona-inspired productivity pressure’ was not only timely but it also provided some solace.

2. Deborah Lupton

Deborah Lupton This Sociological Life has posted some resources for social researchers working in a COVID society saying ‘I’ve put together a few open-access resources concerning what an initial agenda for COVID-related social research could be and research methods for conducting fieldwork in the COVID world’. Her post includes the links below:

Conducting Fieldwork in a Pandemic (Google Doc crowd-sourced resource)
Social Research for a COVID and post-COVID World: An Initial Agenda (blog post)
Conducting Qualitative Fieldwork During COVID-19 (PowerPoint slides) (Webinar presentation with voice and slides)

3. The COVID-19 Social Science Research Tracker

This is an open-source global spreadsheet that collates COVID-19 research projects. This impressive repository includes large and small projects from some of the leading universities in the world and showcases the range and significance of COVID-19 impact. All hail GitHub! The organisers state: ‘Social scientists have an important role during a pandemic. We can do this much better through cooperation. This international list tracks new research about COVID 19, including published findings, pre-prints, projects underway, and projects at least at proposal stage.’ What a gift.

COVID-19 and my PhD research

Once my transition to full remote working and teaching has ‘settled down’ (whatever the hell that means?!), I’ll be making space to sit down and reflect.

I’ll be taking stock and considering how and where I’ll incorporate this unique encounter into my academic work, my dissertation and beyond.

Best of luck to us all.

01/03/202013/03/2020

Just back from Lunsar – people, terrain and jetlag

This February I’ve been away in Lunsar, Sierra Leone completing my PhD fieldwork.

I had a furious time leading up to going away organising visas, vaccinations and equipment.

Then I was away for a hectic couple of weeks, and on return, I’ve needed some time to reset and process all that has transpired.

Considering the difference in culture, location and time zones, I am feeling quite discombobulated – as you can imagine.

The trip was fantastic.

Humbling, inspiring and challenging – and wonderfully successful as far as my research was concerned.

I am still piecing it all together and will need some time to reorient. It is always returning that is the hardest.

But here are some initial thoughts.

Amazing people

I stayed with Stylish (who works for Village Bicycle Project – my PhD research partner organisation) and his fiancé Kissime in their house. Kao, a Japanese intern who has been there for 4 months already was in the room next to mine. The local community was amazing and our neighbours were so welcoming. Our accommodation was safe and comfortable and like everyone else in Sierra Leone, we had no running water. The house had a generator, but it often clapped out so we had electricity for only 4 nights during my stay – which was awesome because we had lights and I could charge my phone, Go Pro and other devices- which was much needed! Plus it meant our house got swamped on ‘power nights’ with friends who took the opportunity come and watch TV….a real treat for all!

I was blown away by the friendliness of everyone I met who worked with VBP, in VBP bike shops, other riders and supporters – and the incredible The Lunsar Cycling Team. I always had someone to ride with, a friend to go to market with, an aunty to explain women-business, farmers who showed me subsistent agriculture, educators who welcomed me into their schools, mates who took me to local events – and there was always someone to answer my seemingly never-ending questions about culture, food, biking, education and the environment.

I loved where we stayed. Our neighbours were endless enthusiastic and helpful and there were always people coming and going – dropping in for a visit, hanging out for a chat, or getting ready for a ride. Like everyone else, I was up early in the morning to help with chores. Kao showed me how to sweep the front of the house and get the twice-daily water from the well. Many times during my stay, Kissime showed me how to make the local dishes she was preparing – like informal cooking classes. She patiently taught me how to cook local meals like Crain-Crain, fried fish and rice (one of my favourites), which she expertly made for 12 people 3 times a day.

I had the pleasure of working, learning, laughing and riding with so many inspiring and entertaining characters -too many to mention here, but I will be sharing some of them on this blog. The resourcefulness and positivity I encountered in the face of extreme poverty have – and will continue to – have a profound impact on me.

Riding the surrounds

The riding was varied and challenging. When I was in Lunsar, it was 42C and 96% humidity. It took a day or two to get used to the humidity, but I had come straight from Queensland’s tropical summer, so the heat was okay for me. I did one ride in the middle of the day and was floored by the oppressive, sweaty humidity – lesson learnt.

The terrain is dusty, dry and gravelly. I had a hybrid bike that handled the trails well. Many of the trails changed depending on how close they were to Lunsar. The closer to town the trail was, the more well used, flatter, wider and more even it was. But as soon as wound your way even 2kms out of town, the trails often changed and were more difficult. Sometimes muddy and waterlogged, other times, bumpy and eroded. There were many log river crossing where you would have to carry your bike or take your shoes off and wade through flooded areas.

In the mornings, the trails were busy with foot traffic. There were women walking to town with their heads precariously laden with massive plastic tubs of food to sell, groups of kids walking the long way to school, old men weaving in and out of the side tracks that crisscrossed the main trails, and sometimes motorbikes ferrying loads of people between the intermittent communities.

Travelling and being a researcher

I have previously travelled overseas for research, but this trip was completely different. This time I was travelling by myself, working on my project and taking in the surrounds of the ‘here-and-now’. This meant I was a walking ‘data lighting rod’ – everything I saw, learnt, felt, smelt, tasted, heard, read, visited and did was unusual, meaningful and useful for my research. It also meant it was exhausting being ‘on’ all the time – especially in a highly-social place where you are not only a guest, but also a curiosity, so everyone wants to meet, talk and show you things. Even when I wasn’t ‘working’, I had groups of local kids around me wanting me to play Skip-Bo (a card game I had brought with me from Australia) with them. I loved the interactivity and company of being so social, but I also needed some downtime to process, write my field notes and reflect on all I was encounters… which was a lot! I found the only time I could get this was when I woke up early at 4.30-5 am. At this time, it was still dark outside, so with my head-torch on and under the cover of my mosquito net, I would update my fieldnotes and journal, knowing full well that as soon as I left my room, there would be no other time by myself for the rest of the day.

Travelling during Coronavirus was also a new experience. I took my health seriously and certainly wasn’t taking any risks given that this trip was central to my PhD research and I had been working towards it for the last 4 years. I wore an N95 respirator face mask and gloves the whole time I flew there and back (28 hours there and the same return), used hospital-grade hand sanitizer and the same to wipe down all my aeroplane seat buckles, hand rests, touchscreens and tray table surfaces. I felt a little conspicuous, but there were heaps of other travellers in face masks, although I was the only one in gloves as well. But this turned out to be a blessing as I got triaged to the front of many of the health checkpoints because the people (in Hazchem suits) could see I was taking precautions (ie I was quick and easy to process, so I was ushered upfront) and I got processed before anyone else. So I spend very little time transiting through airports, while other passengers waited in very long lines to have their temperature tested. I was very glad to arrive back home just before many major international airports implement travel bans for certain nationalities. There and back safe and healthy – thank you very much!

There is much more to tell, but for now…I need to rest.

I’ll share more once I get over the shock of jetlag and the fact that clean drinking water runs out of taps.

Stay amazing all.