Essentially, the purpose of this blog is to identify, collate and share my critical ethnography research of International Aid Programs that give bicycles (in particular to girls) in order to bring about positive social change. I also want to see if such bike aid increases female participation in education. Ultimately, I am working towards exploring the stories of the lived experiences of female bike aid recipients in order to identify the functionality, outcomes and sustainability of these programs.
I aim to use this blog as a way of tracking and processing the initiatives, projects, research and ideas I consider during this exploration process.
A brief overview of previous relevant research.
NGOs supply bicycles to girls and women as a means of community development. Bicycles were hailed as a literal ‘vehicle for change’ (Furness, 2010; Walks, Siemiatycki & Smith, 2014). Despite dwindling popularity, there are still a small number of NGOs dedicated to this initiative in operation. They include: Bike-Aid; Bike not Bombs and the Australian NGO, Bikes4Life. For example, World Bicycle Relief, have so far distributed 238,474 bicycles worldwide. Their Bicycles for Empowerment Project has donated 24, 212 bicycles of which 70% went specifically for girls to attend school. This project increased local academic performance by over 59% (World Bicycle Relief, 2015). Although momentum and publicity for Bike Aid have waned, Biketivism (Furness, 2005) projects and research initiatives are continuing to address equity issues (Wu, 2009; Bijker, 1997; Hanlon & Smart, 2008). There is an ongoing need to supply bicycles for vulnerable girls in order to provide opportunities for greater access to education (World Vision, 2015; Bianchini, 2015).
Objectives of the program of research investigation.
Initial research questions:
- What are the current personal experiences and educational impacts for girls and women who are recipients of Bicycle Aid?
- To what degree are female Bicycle Aid recipients included and consulted to achieve greater educational outcomes?
- How can research insights be shared and applied to future projects in order to make Bike Aid programs more sustainable and effective in enhancing educational opportunities for girls?
This is the broad overview – but I am looking forward to seeing what Bike Aid projects are out there and how they have created change.
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Bijker, E. (1997). Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs: Toward a theory of sociotechnical change. USA: MIT Press.
Bianchini, J. (2015). A Bicycle Built for Two Billion: One Man’s Around the World Adventure in Search of Love, Compassion, and Connection. Ludela Press; USA.
Furness, Z. (2005). Biketivism and technology: Historical reflections and appropriations. Social epistemology, 19(4), 401-417.
Furness, Z. (2010). One Less Car: Bicycling and the politics of Automobility. Philadelphia, USA: Temple University Press.
Hanlon, J., & Smart, T. (2008). Do bicycles equal development in Mozambique? James Currey Publisher.
Stocker, R. (2012). Research Methods for Community Change: A project-based Approach. California, USA: Sage.
Walks, A., Siemiatycki, M., & Smith, M. (2014). 13 Political cycles. Driving Cities, Driving Inequality, Driving Politics: The Urban Political Economy and Ecology of Automobility: Driving Cities, Driving Inequality, Driving Politics, 237.
World Vision (2015, April) Bicycle for a girl. Retrieved 22 April, 2015, from http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to-give/by-category/girls-women/bicycle-for-a-girl.
Webster, L., & Mertova, P. (2007). Using narrative inquiry as a research method: An introduction to using critical event narrative analysis in research on learning and teaching. New York; London: Routledge.
Wu, J. (2009). Bicycle-powered attachments: designing for developing countries. Massachusetts, USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54536.