Cycling for Change
Connecting bicycling directly with our work in Rwanda, The Women’s Bakery has long dreamed of teaching our women in the bakery to ride bicycles which they can then use for more efficient bread deliveries.
On March 11, over 30 cyclists set off from Byumba in Northern Rwanda on a 70km bike ride to Rwanda’s capital city Kigali.
Aside from the oddity of seeing so many amateur cyclists flying down the narrow s-curve roads at once, the group stood out because almost every rider was female. In Rwanda, this is not typical. Though some girls do learn to ride bicycles as children and there are some communities where it is less unusual to spot a woman pedaling a bike, the general trend is that older girls and women do not ride bikes. This is based on myths surrounding the ill health effects cycling has on a woman and stereotypes about the sex drive of girls/women who ride bikes.
The ride was hosted by current Peace Corps Volunteers as part of the Let Girls Ride Campaign, and was meant to challenge these ideas – not only through the visual of 30+ women rode proudly throughout the countryside, but also through education. The group took three stops in community centers to teach lessons on girls’ empowerment, gender equality, and challenging myths and stereotypes about women cycling.
The Women’s Bakery was honored to participate in this event, as well as to be chosen as the recipient of funds raised during the Let Girls Ride Campaign. Connecting bicycling directly with our work in Rwanda, The Women’s Bakery has long dreamed of teaching our women in the bakery to ride bicycles which they can then use for more efficient bread deliveries.
Currently, most deliveries are made on foot and the bread is carried by hand in baskets or buckets. With a bicycle and custom designed bread box attached to the back, more bread can be delivered faster and further!
In the coming weeks, the Remera Bakery group will start bicycling lessons on the new delivery bike that was given to them at the end of the Let Girls Ride event. Our hope is that over time some of the women will embrace cycling, empowering themselves, growing their business, and challenging stereotypes.
#letgirlsride #cyclingforchange #womenonbikes #breadbike
Women Can!
We believe that teaching women to ride bikes and to use them for the development of their business will empower other women who are still shy to try to do something different. We believe in women’s capabilities. We believe in empowerment for all.
As in many other countries, Rwanda celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th.
This year’s theme was “Women in the Changing World of Work”.
The current workplace (globally) is changing each day, with significant implications for women. If they don’t have potential support they will be staying behind men, especially in job markets. Many women are in the informal economy and domestic work, and are concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skill occupations with little or no social protection.
The Women’s Bakery is playing a vital role in creating jobs opportunities for women and empowering them, especially for those who are from underprivileged families. At TWB, these trained women get permanent jobs and participate in family and country development.
Women can change the world once they have means. Women can do everything men can do. Women have changed their mindset and are keen to contribute to development and making changes in their communities.
At TWB we have started inspiring other women by using a bike in our sales; a woman will be riding and selling along the way.
In Rwanda, riding bikes is traditionally only done by boys and men, due to stereotypes and myths about the effects bicycle riding has on a girl’s virginity or a woman’s sex drive.
We believe that teaching women to ride bikes and to use them for the development of their business will empower other women who are still shy to try to do something different. We believe in women’s capabilities. We believe in empowerment for all.
#breadpower #womencan #womensempowerment
