Free Bicycles for Women Cycle Training, Ethiopia
Donation protected
Cycling in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa is a big challenge.
Little bicycle lanes exist, the streets are uneven, and next to cars driving carelessly, other road users like motorists, pedestrians, and even dogs, sheep, and donkeys cross the road without caring for cyclists.
Around 80% of Addis’s active cyclists are men.
According to a study done by Institute for Transport and Development Policy (ITDP), women in Addis are hindered from cycling cause of little acceptance of cycling by family and community, too little street lighting and security, and most of all, harassment also by motor vehicle drivers.
The number of women who can cycle is only around 20%.
We, as 'Egre Menged እግረ መንገድ', want to change that!
We want to bring more female cyclists on the streets. We want to provide them with free bicycles and helmets and train them in a safe space on how to cycle. Ultimately, we want women to experience the freedom of using a bicycle for everyday use, reaching their jobs and markets, and being part of the non-motorized transportation movement. With an increased number of female cyclists, we want to reach more acceptance in the society and government level to tackle the problems they face.
Egre Menged እግረመንገድ is a Community-based Cycling Activity where members cycle to places in and around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, meet and cover peoples’ stories along the way, promote green/non-motorized transportation, and develop a bicycle-friendly community.
Egre Menged has been functioning in Addis Ababa since February 2021 on a weekly basis, every Sunday morning.
We are a group of 170 members with around 40 active cyclists. Only 4 of us are women!
For our idea, we started teaching female friends how to cycle and be safe in the streets (currently, we are training 2, and they are soon to join us on Sunday rides), but we were hindered by the lack of helmets and good bicycles that are safe and suitable for women and beginners in general.
Right now, we have 3 bicycles only which we use for training, and therefore we are in need of more bicycles.
For our dream of a Women’s Cycling Project, we aim to buy 5 functional bicycles and helmets.
A good quality bicycle in Addis Ababa costs around 28,500 ETB/545 Euro and a helmet 3000 ETB/60 Euro.
Therefore, we aim to raise 3000 Euro to reach our goal of training Addis’s women on how to cycle and bring them on the streets, and all this is provided for them freely!
See what our group of happy women cyclists is up to every Sunday on our social media pages and help us to achieve our dream!
50% men and 50% women cyclists!
Thank You, Danke, አመሰግናለሁ!
CONTACT: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
EMAIL: egremenged.cycling[@]gmail.com
Telegram: https://t.me/egremengedcycling
Instagram: www.instagram.com/egremengedcycling
The Campaign's organizer Maren Ahlers is Co-Founder of Egre Menged እግረ መንገድ Community-based Cycling Project and coordinates the GoFundMe page.
Fundraising team: Spendenteam (2)
Maren Ahlers
Organizer
Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Ephrem Bekele Woldeyesus
Team member