Durban North duo repairs bicycles for learners in need

FOR many school learners in Msikaba, south of Port Edward, travelling to school is an arduous journey that spans over an hour on foot.

In a bid to uplift and assist, two Durban North residents, Paul Melville and Gary Williams, have the ‘ride’ idea.

They have teamed up to repair second hand bicycles and distribute them to the community’s children, encouraging them to cycle to school.

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The bicycles, which are destined for the landfill, are shipped to Africa from an American organisation called Bicycles for Humanity (B4H).

According to the B4H website, 10 million bicycles end up in landfills in America every year. B4H ships about 25 000 bikes a year and by the end of 2018 they had sent over 160 000 bikes to Africa.

“My wife, Sharman and I often visit the Wildcoast and Msikaba in particular. We noticed how many children walk to the local high school and back each day. The trip from Msikaba River Mouth to Ndindini, where the high school is located takes on average one and a half hours to walk each way, that is three hours each day and often starting in the dark,” said Williams.

During the year that he has been involved in the Msikaba Bicycle Project, Gary Williams has distributed 50 mountain bikes to high school learners and, recently, another 50 children’s bikes.

“We were introduced to Bicycles for Humanity through Rotary and managed to secure mountain bikes for the school children through them. We service each bicycle through Melville Cycles’ Paul Melville, ensuring that each bicycle is in good riding condition before distributing it to the high school children. The commute to high school now takes only half the time,” he said.

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The distribution area is restricted to Msikaba where the couple can assist with maintenance and repairs during their frequent visits. The bikes are shipped to Durban from the US and Williams collects them from Empangeni.

“The response has been overwhelming and the demand has far outstripped the supply. We are steadily supplying bicycles to high school children as more become available from Bicycles for Humanity, our target being next year’s grade 7’s,” said Williams.

Melville, who services the bikes at his cycle shop in Durban North, said typical repairs include mending punctures, and testing the bike’s brakes.

“Typically the bikes are not 100 per cent user friendly for children. We make sure the brakes and gears are working and give the bikes an overall assessment to fix anything they require,” said Melville.

The Rotary Club of Umhlanga recently made a donation toward the bicycle repairs.

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