In small communities such as the Aldea del Niño Junípero in the High Jungle of Peru, a bicycle can make a world of difference in a child’s education. Bicycles facilitate access to education for children and youth in areas where quality education is not guaranteed. Below, we show you some of the latest “Solidarity Bicycles” upon their arrival in 2023 at the Nopoki Shelters (Atalaya, Peru), created with the intention of welcoming young students who come from remote native communities and lack the economic means to cover their studies in Atalaya. As those responsible for the Madre Coraje NGO explain, “Bicycles are very necessary and very well received. Students use them to travel from the shelter to the city where they can go to the library or connect to the internet. Sometimes, as the shelter has cultivation fields, they even use the bicycles to move around within them.”

Due, among other causes, to drug trafficking violence in certain areas of Peru, some children sheltered by homes and villages like the Aldea del Niño Junípero are orphans, so their schooling, healthcare, and maintenance depend on the villages and shelters themselves. On occasion, the bicycles also serve so that young people can, for example, deliver the bread baked daily in the village or the crafts and homemade products with which the villages are locally financed. In other cases, the sheltered minors spend the school season far from their families in villages or foster homes such as the Casa Santa Teresita de Jesús in Puerto Ocopa (Peru) due to the great distance separating their home from the nearest school. Press Release published by El Mundo Financiero: View Press Release.

Access to Education

• In an area where access to education is not guaranteed, a bicycle allows minors to travel long distances to school or the library more quickly and safely.

Safety on the School Route

• Increased speed: reduces time on the road and exposure to dangers or adverse weather.
• Safe return: allows for returning before dark, avoiding the lack of light.
• Efficient transport: facilitates carrying books safely.
• Vital logistics: functions as an emergency vehicle in isolated communities.
• Group protection: “fleets” foster a sense of belonging and mutual care.
• Health and Well-being
• Energy saving: Reduces physical effort, allowing students to arrive with vitality for studying.
• Child development: Avoids the extreme exhaustion of hours-long walks, protecting their health.

Reduction of Absenteeism

• Attendance: Eliminates chronic fatigue as a leading cause of school dropout.
• Academic success: Ensures that each student reaches their desk with the energy to learn.

Access to Training Workshops

The Solidarity Bicycle not only facilitates access to school, but also makes it easier for young people to travel to their Training Workshops, where they acquire essential practical skills for their autonomy. In regions where access to university is very limited, these productive workshops represent fundamental training for the students’ future. Upon returning to their communities, young people apply what they have learned, generating a real impact on their environment:

• Practical Education: Farm-workshops are an integral part of their educational curriculum. Through them, students learn skills highly valued locally, such as carpentry, sewing, chicken farming, or fish farming, among others.
• Village Self-management and Sustainability: Thanks to these workshops, young people produce food for their own consumption and generate income that ensures the maintenance of their training centers. The youth also use the bicycles for logistical tasks, such as delivering bread and crafts.