It鈥檚 a simple goal, really. Paul Paridaen just wants to 鈥済et a trailer full of bikes.鈥�
The trailer he hopes to fill sits outside the Jasper Fire Hall, and Paridaen is asking Jasperites to donate their old bikes, bike parts, tires, tubes and anything else bike-related so he can ship them to Uganda.
The affable man is a volunteer with Bicycles for Humanity (B4H), an organization devoted to providing bikes to communities in developing countries.
Paridaen explains that, in communities where there is little or no reliable transportation, owning a bike can change someone鈥檚 life.
鈥淎 bike in the hand of a health-care worker or doctor or schoolteacher: that can make a huge difference,鈥� he said.
Riding a bike can change a one-hour commute into a 20-minute one. It can also allow the rider to carry four times as much weight.
In regions where people have to travel mind-boggling distances to accomplish everyday tasks, a bike is a major asset, especially when roads are often in bad condition.
Whistler, B.C. natives Pat and Brenda Montani originally founded B4H in 2005 to help healthcare workers suffering from AIDS in Namibia. The workers were walking for miles to take care of patients sicker than themselves.
It鈥檚 a grassroots organization, with no paid employees, which allows it to accomplish a lot without much red tape. In just eight years they鈥檝e shipped 75,000 bikes to communities in Africa. This year alone they plan to send over 30,000.
One of those bikes will be a green beater with a rusty chain and scratched paint. It鈥檚 the first bike Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem ever bought in Jasper.
鈥淚鈥檝e got mixed emotions,鈥� Van Tighem said with a chuckle. 鈥淚 was going to fix it up as a townie.鈥�
Despite his reservations, he had little problem pitching it into the trailer last Friday. After all, he said, it鈥檚 for a good cause.
One of the things that makes the cause so great, Paridaen explained, is that the organization does more than simply ship bikes to Africa; they also provide training and employment in the communities their bikes reach.
When the bikes Paridaen collects arrive in the Karamoja district of Uganda, not only will B4H give them to local people, they will cut open the container and turn it into a makeshift bike shop.
The organization鈥檚 partners will then train people to repair and maintain the bikes so they can work in the newly created bike shop.
The Bicycles for Humanity trailer will only be in town for a week, so anyone interested in donating should do it as soon as possible. To donate, just stop by the fire hall.
Trevor Nichols
[email protected]
