Bikes Not Bombs / EEFSA Ghana - David's Blog

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2009-09-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

August 18th, I passed through airport customs, immigration, more bag searches, until I sat in the red plastic chairs overlooking the airplane yard. I called each member of Ability Bikes on the phone, to let them know I am safely beginning my journey, to hear their voices, and to acknowledge with them that I’m leaving their country, but that our work will continue, that I’m so proud of them, that I’ll call them when I reach the US. Now sitting in the café in Somerville, I reflect, recount, and project.

Back in July, Ability Bikes experienced the smoothest container clearing to date. Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago sent us a box of 520 bikes, primarily 26” Mountain Bikes, our product with highest demand. Ability Bikes hired a private clearing agent at an acceptable rate. Since Ability Bikes was not yet registered as a cooperative, there was no certificate, no legal entity and therefore no tax id number. Emmanuel agreed to let Ability Bikes use the name and number of his organization EEFSA, which was a tremendous support at a critical time. The container got shipped June 2nd. Around the time we were expecting the Bill of Lading (original container document) by courier, I called Martin (EEFSA administrator) to ask if it’s in. He said not yet, but that he’ll let me know when it comes. I relax, but call every few days to check. Not yet, still time. Wednesday evening comes, he calls, it’s in. I come to Accra the next day, meet the clearing agent, pick the Bill of Lading, send it right to the destination inspection company to value the goods detailed on the bill. Submitted, this could take a week. Timing is still good, the container is due to arrive in about 5 days. The agent planted a few critical bribes which we gladly provided. 5:00 pm the same day, I’m in the car traveling back to Koforidua, and the agent calls me, and tells me its done. I say are you kidding me?! Its true. We were ready to clear before the container even hit the ground.

The next week, the day the ship docked, we got the invoice, processed the customs fees, paid them, paid the shipping company and cleared the container two days later. It took two days because we were too early, the container was not yet ready. I waited for something dire to happen and it didn’t, we rock. This last container clearing required very little work from me actually, because Torsutsey (Ability Bikes administrator) was the primary Ability Bikes representative in the process. I explained to him the expected process, guided him through the paperwork and the Tema offices, he carried the money, dealt with the clearing agent and did all of the talking. I actually got pulled away from the port due to other responsibilities of working on my visa in Accra, and on the last day because an overzealous port security guard saw me with my camera out. I then spent three hours in the office of the head of security explaining that I don’t have the hundred dollars I was being fined and that he should let me delete the footage taken related to the port rather than confiscate my camera. Finally, due to his need to go to a meeting, he agreed to fine me 40 dollars for indecent behavior, let me delete the footage, and take my camera go. I got out, met up with Torsutsey, the container just out, on the truck, we got it. Took it up to Koforidua.

The next morning, we meet at the shop at 6am, and started the unloading. In order to fit a higher quantity of bicycles in the container, Working Bikes removes the front wheels and packs the bikes tight, the wheels fitting in remaining space. 520 bikes, mostly adult mountain. For the unloading, Ability Bikes had their first official Ghanaian volunteer, Ben from Abompe, a bamboo bike framebuilder, currently in secondary school for mechanical engineering, a great friend. Ben took the helm inside the container, in the heat of dis-integrating the density of bikes and wheels. Some of the paid assistants conveyed bikes to the mouth of the container, with Sule and Torsu just outside bringing the bikes and wheels down to the ground. Then other paid assistants, the pseudo-volunteer bike sellers, and myself carted the bikes back to the courtyard next to the shop. Agyen was on front wheel organizing duty, and did an awesome job. The bikes were arranged and piled by wheelsize. Once unpacked, we sorted the bikes for the shop and the bikes for the wholesale. The wholesale then commenced, with Maud in the chair, calling the names, Torsu in support, Mirriam, and Julius in general security and support roles. The wholesale quickly erupted into the usual arguments over the prices, which resulted in a heated negotiation that inevitably turned in acceptance, AB standing firm of some prices, relaxing on others. The bike selection was orchestrated by Maud, who maintained control despite arguments among the sellers. I supported Maud and Torsu when the tension became overly challenging. Then, almost suddenly, the wholesale became peaceful, orderly and efficient. Every bike seller just accepted how it was going, ceased to forcefully exert influence, and just moved with our system, which we set up very well. Once each seller had their bikes, we put front wheels on them, matched to the quality of the bikes. Late in the day and we were done. We sold about 230 bikes and fetched an average of 30 GHC per bike, which has consistently been the wholesale average, making over GHC 7,000. This money went right toward paying back the bicycle sellers who made advanced payments helping Ability Bikes to clear the container, toward paying back the debt to the landlord, and to paying back the start-up loan made by Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah (which is now more than 50% paid). The remaining money was kept to pay for other things – internet connection for the front store (critical for the physically challenged administrators, because traveling to the internet café each day is unrealistic), the purchase of new parts in the Accra market for resale at Ability Bikes, the payment to the sign-painters for making our signboards and painting a mural in the front store, and the Grand Opening Ceremony that we held just a few weeks ago on August 8th. Major thanks to Working Bikes Cooperative for helping Ability Bikes to pay these critical expenses, leaving the business with roughly 290 bikes in store for individual build-ups and sales, building the functional operations of the business.

Since the wholesale, Ability Bikes engaged in continued basic operations, with a focus on developing continually more effective systems of operation. The mechanics built bikes, Maud and Torsu sold them. As a group, we worked on improving workshop/retail store communication regarding bike sales and repairs as well as developing a paperwork system for any customer bikes (sold bikes / repairs), we established thorough systems of controlling the quality of build-ups and repairs, and set bike pricing based on bike quality and the local market.

As another push for operational efficiency, I focused on workshop leadership. My advice to the workers was that the shop needs leadership and some form of structured management. Some person must be responsible for scheduling bike builds and repairs, managing the flow of customer bikes through the workshop, organizing the shop space, making sure that every done bike is fully done, controlling quality. The alternative is that these responsibilities can be shared cooperatively. If all the workers communicate well, take initiative, and hold each other accountable, then maybe they can cooperate effectively enough to make the shop run well without a person in any formal management role. At subsequent meetings, the workers decided to continue working cooperatively, one member one vote. They unanimously don’t want a boss and don’t want structured management. I told them that this will work only if they can cooperate and communicate well and if the rate of production and quality are maintained at high levels. The efficiency and effectiveness of the workshop and sales operations relates directly to the amount of money the business will be able to make. At this point in the business, making money is not optional, its necessary, its survival. The workers are now independent. Now is their time to work, to cooperate, to build the business, to make the money to pay for the extra storage space and shipping obligations.

Ability Bikes is working toward renting two additional stores for extra bike storage. The two stores directly adjacent to the workshop are available. The landlord has agreed to rent the stores to Ability Bikes and to receive the 10-year lease deposit gradually. (It is customary in Ghana to receive this deposit in full before keys are given to the renter.) The landlord has repeatedly emphasized his commitment to support Ability Bikes to grow and to have an ideal workspace. Ability Bikes has made a small deposit on the stores, but is waiting for the arrival of the next BNB container to make a more substantial payment. Once the two stores are acquired, Ability Bikes will have the capacity to easily store at least one full container of bikes. Once the storage space is fully paid, Ability Bikes will be freed from the necessity of wholesaling bikes upon container arrival – the wholesales are currently required to generate bulk cash for large expenses while reducing the quantity of bikes so that they can fit in the current storage space. Long-term vision: Ability Bikes will have two workshop stores fleshed out with workbenches, tools, parts and fluid bike storage as well as two stores for storage that will have the capacity to pack down a full container (and in times of less bikes, to organize bikes accessibly), a concrete patio with roof extending the length of all four stores enabling space for outdoor bike organizing, bike parking, and space for outdoor workbenches and bikestands, all with 6-8 mechanics employed. Ability Bikes will also have one street-side retail store and office with at least 2 employed administrators, stocked with bikes inside and out, with bikes on display packed along the driveway leading to the workshop, drawing more customers, making more sales. Ability Bikes is considering the possibility of establishing additional sales locations (as funds allow) to strategically increase the number of bikes sold in one day, which would include accepting additional salespeople into the cooperative. More jobs for physically challenged people could potentially result in the build-up and sale of bicycles at a significantly higher rate and more overall profit for the business.

Finances will be very tight for the next six months. All of the shop developments are important, but more importantly, Ability Bikes needs to focus on paying shipping costs to Bikes Not Bombs, which will be sending another container to Ability Bikes in the end of August, to arrive in Ghana mid-October. Finances must be regulated, production goals must be met, budgets must be kept.

One week later:
The next BNB container for Ability Bikes Cooperative has been packed, and now is sitting in the yard of Building N to be picked up tomorrow morning by the trucker, to be shipped on September 8th, and to arrive in Ghana in mid-October! Thanks to all of the relentless BNB volunteers who consistently make this happen! I’ve communicated with Maud and Torsu regarding the payment schedule for the overseas shipping costs due to Bikes Not Bombs, and they have committed. We will be in discussion regarding a fiscally responsible way of dealing with the pending rent payments on the additional storage space.

I’ll back-track briefly.

Ability Bikes now has signboards and a beautiful mural. Toward the end of July, Ability Bikes contracted out some local artists to make signboards and a mural. We were originally going to print a digital signboard, but realized that in a short period of time the color would fade. The alternative is sticker cut-outs for the letters over high quality paint that will retain color for many years. We went with that, sent the sheet metal and square tube to manpower for welding, who was still working off a trade we made with him. As a way of receiving his services while not having a lot of cash flow, we traded him the Schwinn tandem for his welding services. Now his two children ride it to school each morning. The signboards then went to the artists. One will be posted along the main street above the retail store, and one will get hung high above the competing signboards on the side street leading to the workshop. There was a great open wall directly behind the desk in the retail store, perfect for an inspiring mural. Together, we put our ideas together, made some rough sketches for the artists and they set to work. The idea was an empowering image that is beautiful and communicates dignity and strength, with bicycles and tools. We took a picture of Agyen in a wheelchair, arms stretched out, strong, to use as the model. Over the course of two weeks the mural was completed. There was also a bare white wall on the carpentry shop right next to the workshop that was perfect for a large painted sign. We asked permission from the main carpenter and before we finished asking the question he responded: absolutely. That sign was painted, and now Ability Bikes is seen from the street, bold and bright.

Just after the signboards and mural were completed, Ability Bikes held the grand opening ceremony, a gathering of supporters, friends and family to celebrate the development of the business, and to publicly consider its nature, as owned and operated by physically challenged people. It was also a time to publicly show gratitude to Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and the members of his organization for the role that they played in supporting the development of Ability Bikes Cooperative. This role included initial project development work in Koforidua, such as identifying the stores and negotiating the lease with the landlord as well as offering a business start-up loan, and general project support such as letting Ability Bikes clear containers using the name and tax id number of EEFSA until Ability Bikes gets registered and gets and their own tax id number (Ability Bikes is now registered, but it has been a beurocratic challenge to acquire a tax id number as a Cooperative – the Department of Cooperatives says the Registrar should provide it, the Registrar says the IRS should provide it, the IRS says the Department of Cooperatives should provide it, and so on. My own research, after talking with the heads of these agencies before I left Ghana, is that the IRS is responsible. Torsu is on it, but Emmanuel is helping in the meantime.)

The Grand Opening started well – the signs were painted, the t-shirts were printed in an all night job for the artist, the malt drinks were flowing and meat pies for everyone. The workers were excited – this was their program. We used the church building directly opposite the workshop, which along with the church was decorated in elaborate balloons and ribbons in red, white and blue. The chairperson for the event was Kofi Wayo, friendly bicycle seller, who also happens to be a pastor. The guests start coming – first the Koforidua bike sellers, then some of the food seller friends that sell near the front retail store, family members, other friends and then Emmanuel with the members of EEFSA. Once we had about 70 people, we began. There were extravagant formalities, which go along with most Ghanaian events, that included introducing each important guest, rounding up the important guests to sit at the head table, and then the speeches. Emmanuel and I shared the podium. He spoke first expressing his pride in the project, and his commitment to support it. Then I came in with a brief history and a formal statement of gratitude to Emmanuel and EEFSA. We shook hands and felt positive. Then I introduced the workers and described the work that they do. Everyone then went over to the workshop, where a beautiful ribbon was tied across the entrance to two of the metal pipes holding-up the roof. Emmanuel and I held the scissors over the ribbon, and cut, formally opening the business. There were media folks there – one television station and a newspaper. Finally, I handed over the business to the workers with a symbolic gesture, which for me was the most important part of this event. As a group, Ability Bikes and I needed a ritual to signify this transition. I spoke briefly on the capacity of the workers to carry-out the operations of the business, I held up the huge 15” adjustable wrench, symbolizing the work we accomplished, the business we built, and handed it Sule and Torsu, who accepted it on behalf of the workers. They received the wrench with heightened emotion. Then interviews with the media, chatting with friends, and that malt and meat pie.

Lastly, the event we were all working toward, the formal registration of Ability Bikes as a Cooperative with the government of Ghana. Toward the end of July, Ability Bikes and I pressed the Department of Cooperatives more urgently to lead us through the paperwork processes of registration. It seemed that for previous months, the Dept. of Coops was not giving us a clear path toward registration. There were ambiguous applications that we had not yet seen. Finally, we were transferred to a different Coop officer who laid it all down for us. We needed 10 members to be formally registered, and currently had six. We needed to fill out a basic application, and needed to provide financial reports for 6 months of operation, among other documents that needed to be drafted and signed to make the process official. We got to work on the first condition of 10. Since there are six full members of the cooperative with the intention to increase, we considered it valid to open the coop membership to four new members who were part of the original training group and who can benefit from membership as well as contribute to the growth of the business. One of these members is Kwame Fosu, the next in line to be hired as a mechanic. Kwame missed half of the original training, and I was uncertain of his seriousness, so he was not originally selected. I later learned that Kwame’s absence was in part due to financial burden and communication challenges. Kwame does not speak English, lives off the beaten path, does not have a cell phone and is in a wheelchair. During the training, however, Kwame was excellent with tools, has enormously strong arms, the propensity to DJ reggae music, and was unabashed to get deep into the bike, on the ground if need be. Kwame is not financially independent, depending on his family members for even the 35 pesewas it takes to join a car into town. This job would be an incredible opportunity for Kwame. As soon as the coop is stable financially, Kwame will be welcomed to join.

Next is Dorothy Tutuwaa, the seamstress and bike cap-maker. Dorothy works in a seamstress shop at the top of the hill of Koforidua, near the Chief’s Palace and near the huge Roman Catholic Church. Dorothy works there with her elder sister and about 4 other young women. The shop is close to her house, so she can get there independently. There is also a wheelchair ramp going up to the shop. It’s a good employment situation for a young woman in a wheelchair. Dorothy’s family house is also nice, but is built into a hill, so the courtyard of the compound is about 13 steps lower than the doors to the rooms. If Dorothy will enter or leave her room, she must use her arms to walk herself up and down the steps. She manages it though. I last visited her to discuss putting the BNB logo on the caps. I met her in the common space of her two rooms. We chatted with a DVD playing in the background, some low budget US action flick. I asked Dorothy what she will do the rest of the day (Saturday no work), and she said she is just going to relax, watch films, talk to friends. During our conversation she had a few calls. Dorothy is interested to be a part of the coop to maintain the cap-making connection and also to run a satellite sales location at her seamstress shop. It is an excellent place to display bikes, and Dorothy could get a commission on bikes sold there. If Ability Bikes can increase the productivity of the workshop, and build bikes faster than they can sell them from the shop, it is a marketing strategy to increase the locations where bikes are sold each day. Ability Bikes therefore plans to work with physically challenged people in different areas of the city to sell bikes, giving an income opportunity to them as well as establishing the potential to sell significantly more bikes per day. The other two coop members that were included were Elizabeth Viditor, who is interested to be a mechanic, and Daniel Nyarko who would work with sales.

We held meetings with the ten members that would be registered, and after discussing issues of roles and shares, were in agreement. Then the ten met with the coop officer, asked questions, received explanations, and we were given the details of the application from the officer, and over the next few days, filled it and signed it. We also began preparing our financial reports, digging into our financial records. We prepared a trial balance, profit and loss, and balance sheet that were very complicated, even for us who prepared them. We tried to include all of the relevant financial info, including the stores for extra storage that Ability Bikes intended to pay for within the next year. When we gave this to the coop officer, he smiled and said we need it to be more simple. If we wanted the application to be accepted by the national registrar without further inquiries and delays, we needed to essentially give them what they wanted which were clear and uncomplicated financial reports. Over the following two weeks, Maud, Torsu, the coop officer and I worked to develop appropriate financial reports. It was an excellent training that the coop officer indirectly gave Maud and Torsu in the process of developing these reports. There were many areas of accounting that were clarified including the process of using the trial balance to develop the trading profit and loss, the profit and loss and then the balance sheet. After these reports were finalized, other documents were drafted and signed, and all were submitted to the coop officer. In order to expedite the four-week process to a few days, Ability Bikes gave the coop officer GHC 100 to send the application to the registrar personally (a large portion of that money undoubtedly going into the registrar’s pocket), to ensure that the registration is done without delay, and to personally return with the certificate. On the day that I flew from Ghana, the coop officer received the approved certificate of registration for Ability Bikes Cooperative.

Moving forward, Ability Bikes Cooperative is legally recognized and is approaching financial solvency. The workers collectively make decisions and rely on each other to maintain and continue to grow the business. They rely on each other to overcome challenges, and must take the necessary action to keep this business moving. They are trained, they are empowered, they are able. Bikes Not Bombs supports their independence.

15 july 2009

2009-07-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all. New pics on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnbghana/
Just finished clearing and unloading the container sent from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago. More description to come.

June 9

2009-06-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

pics to come pending fast internet....

The sustainability of Ability Bikes Cooperative is gradually becoming more practical and realistic. Future uncertainties such as containers of bikes, extra storage, financial solvency potential are gradually being defined. And the tools to envision this future and practically build it are being utilized, which include the system of cooperative meeting and decision-making, the financial accounting system for the business, the increased skills and efficiency of the workshop mechanics, and the recognition that Ability Bikes Cooperative is not alone, that there are networks of support that will engage Ability Bikes to step up to new levels of effectiveness and professionalism.

Ability Bikes will be given the opportunity to independently manage their cooperative sometime in August or September, when I return to the US. There have been open reservations about this among the AB members, doubts if they can stay together and cooperate well without supervision. I responded to them that they will by all means face challenges. Learning to ride a bike requires being allowed to swerve and maybe crash. They will swerve and may possibly crash. And they will pick themselves back up, get on the bike and keep trying. They will learn to steer their direction and keep that bike moving and upright. Because the local and international project relationships have become too strong, the personal investment has become too important, the motivation and skills have developed too far. Not allowing Ability Bikes the chance to ride on their own may withhold from them the right to their own empowerment, self-reliance and confidence that could grow in that situation of uncertainty and challenge. I am entirely confident that in 2 or 3 months Ability Bikes can ride without a hand on the seat, a bit swervy, with minor crashes, but will grow stronger with greater resolve in their ability to lead themselves. I am also not naive of the issues within the dynamic of the workers that could destabilize the cooperative, such as difficulties making decisions, potential clashing of certain male personalities, and any one member (or group – aka administrators) claiming more power than appropriate. These issues must be brought to the surface and creatively and positively discussed.

An enormity of changes and developments have occurred in the past two months. There were times where it felt that I was working hard everyday on so many things, but not getting substantial work accomplished, and other times when all of that work matured and accomplishment was tangible. Time when I felt overwhelmed and disillusioned, and times when I clearly understood my role and acted without regard to adversity. All in all, we’ve made substantial progress toward our goal of financial and operational self-sufficiency in relationship with an international bicycle community.

In the beginning of April, Maud and Torsu (Ability Bikes administrator/salespersons) along with myself received training in small business accounting and basic administration. The training was 6 days spread out over 2 weeks. It was very effective in the sense that it introduced us to a business accounting system that effectively works. It was less effective in the training style – the majority of the time spent with the trainer reading and copying notes on to the flipchart, Maud and Torsu assiduously copying the notes into their books, me scheming on how to apply these systems in practice and writing questions. Once the copying was done, there was explanation and questions. Practical exercises were interspersed in the latter 4 days of the training with more intense practice in the 4th and 5th days. It was during these days that the cash book was used to record transactions from a hypothetical business month. The cash book is a very large book with 17 columns on each page. Opposing pages displaying the oppositional relation of income (left side) and expense (right side). Income and expense broken out into separate accounts (eg. for income: used bikes, used parts, new parts and accessories etc). Each page tracking either the income or expense from the cash and bank accounts, which get resolved at the end of a cash book period (1 week) detailing the amount of money that is in cash or in the bank at that given time. A comprehensive collection of source documents (receipts for both income and expense, payment vouchers, sale and repair invoices, vender invoices, timesheets) back up the cash book details. All of these documents get files in the new filing cabinet in a system of labeled and organized hanging folders. Once the cash book is totaled, the totals from each account get transferred to the ledger book, that has different sections for each account. These totals accrue over the weeks and months, and after a specified period, get totaled, and detail the amount spent or earned for each account. These ledger totals are used as the source data to produce the trial balance, the trading account, the profit and loss account, and the balance sheet. We learned how to do all of this, but currently, we are at the level of the cash book and ledger. Once the data accrues, we’ll practice preparing the more complicated reports.

Around the same time as the training, we set our minds and hands on the development of the front store. Drew up some plans, had discussions with Manpower *the welder*, finalized the design and set to work. By this time, we had already built a nice desk, set up the filing cabinet and small porcelain sink (the one sent in the first container bought from the Building Materials Coop near JP). The plan was to build a structure that can hold lots of wheels, lots of tires, and a row of bikes along one wall. We decided it best not to break into the walls to anchor the structure, but rather to support it with 4 legs of 1 ½ inch galvanized pipe with heavy metal plates welded to each foot to protect the floor. The frame hangs 68 wheels high to the ceiling along perimeter, hangs 100 tires on four lengths of pipe that fill the inside area of the frame, and hangs 15 bikes on a galvanized pipe extending 7 ft high along the left side of the structure welded to each leg with a central supporting leg and foot. We took two days and built it. Then we packed it, clearing up huge amounts of space where the wheels and tires were packed. This still left large amounts of overflow parts for sale. (We have separated out the nicer parts organized and stored in the workshop for bike build-ups and repairs, and the overflow of unnecessary parts to the front store for individual and sometimes bulk sale.) The plan was then to build a freakin heavy duty shelf to organize and hold these parts. We had a large pallet of some of the heaviest wood I’ve ever experienced in the back of the store. A few weeks later, Torsustey and I set to being carpenters. We bought a crowbar (useful in many applications) and disassembled the pallet with more testosterone than necessary, and big hammers, and teamed up to measure, cut, and nail wood. The result, a mega shelf unit with three shelves that can hold 2 milk crates deep and about 7 long. There’s more plans in the mix to build a good sales display for parts and accessories. Currently, the majority of the purchasers of these parts are bicycle sellers, the minority individual customers. It is intended that with better advertising (the finalizing of the signboard) and with a customer accessible sales display, individual customers without the time or the desire to sort through crates of parts can see what they need easily and buy it, increasing sales to individual customers.

Continued organizing of both the file cabinet in the front store and the parts cabinet in the workshop has occurred. For the front store, the filing system had previously been a pile of folders, papers, notebooks etc. When you need something, you sort through it and find it. We decided to improve the system with hanging folders categorized with subcategories of manila folders inside to make everything have a place, which it now does. We’ve separated the drawers into four sections: information, personnel, operations, and invoices/receipts. This is a system that I masterminded, and worked with Maud to create. If it works well for Maud or Torsu into the coming years, wonderful. If not, at the very least it offers a model for organization and could be adapted to the changing needs of the office. Our previous organization of the parts cabinet had ended with cartridge and loose assembly bottom brackets, leaving five open drawers. We left crates of other small parts waiting in the corner. After a discussion of the best way to subdivide the drawers, Sule, Julius and I realized that we need to use thicker plywood that can be nailed into place through the thin metal walls of the drawers. We set to work, Sule cutting and shaping the wood, Julius and I organizing and measuring the space needed for drawer divisions. Currently, we’ve thoroughly organized headset parts, 1-piece bottom bracket parts, bearings, axles, stem bolts, seat clamps among others. The workshop is doing fine. Awaiting the construction of a fourth bench for Agyen, and also a matrix shelving system for organizing seatposts by size and another one for spokes, as well as a work order board, another bench and a local material bike stand for the outside roofed area.

For the past two months, the bike stock has been low, and has recently finished apart from about 8 frames. I’ve encouraged the mechanics to practice truing wheels, which Miriam and Julius were enthusiastic about and Agyen and Sule less so. Miriam had been truing wheels for Agyen and Sule’s bike builds, so she has gotten very good. One day I was replacing major rusted spokes on a wheel for a bike Sule was building, and Miriam observed. She said let me do one. I said sure. We got out the spoke ruler, found some spokes from our spoke box (pending organization) and I helped her set up the wheel. When she finished, she did another on her own. Yeah, I was impressed.

The second week of May, Arik Grier the office manager at Bikes Not Bombs came to visit for a week. Arik moved right into Ghana as if he had been here for years. Together we were immersed in intense Koforidua experiences and together we learned a lot. Arik came to visit Ability Bikes Cooperative in order to see the project first-hand, to enter into relationship with the workers giving the workers a friend and contact person in the BNB office, and to aid in developing the administrative procedures of the Ability Bikes office. The visit was very effective on all fronts. It started however with a first night at the beach – time to chill, talk, breathe, see one of the most beautiful night skies ever, watch a kora player practice, stand in the shallows with a cider and shout down the foundations of Babylon. Next morning with a bath in the ocean and up to Kof. Dinner with Maud and Torsu, good times. The next day spent with an impromptu lunch party at the house, everyone from Ability Bikes but Julius. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at the shop, in the office. Arik helped us to look critically at our cash book procedures and the payroll system and offered advice on how to improve them. There were also many discussions between Arik and I about the history of the project, various analysis of project dynamics, of future growth potential. We discussed at length the development of the cooperative system of accounting and the process of the first annual meeting. Since Maud and Torsu still need to fully understand in practice the complexities of the business accounting system, how can they be expected to process the cooperative accounts on their own at the first annual meeting? This meeting is critical, because it will be a presentation of the years profit and loss, balances, and the distribution of the profit (or loss) to both the business account and to the individual worker accounts. Potential dividend amounts will be decided upon, with the remaining amounts in the worker accounts to be reinvested in the business. The previous year’s financial performance will be analyzed, decisions will be made regarding the next years budget and any other policy decisions will be made. To be done well, it’ll be a lot of work, and could use some guidance. The question of guidance for this annual meeting will be revisited in BNB / AB discussions. A cooperative expert, Ghanaian or other, consultant or volunteer… The last night in Accra, rooftop, looking into the sky again. Great to have Arik here, but I knew he was off to more goodness in his Ethiopian musical journeys.

There was a bit of a lull in the schedule of cooperative meetings for Ability Bikes. This was due to the intention of developing an action plan and budget to be presented at the meeting. One distraction after the other, one important work priority taking priority over the last. Time went. About a week and a half ago, we had the best coop meeting to date. It was a full day meeting. The thing that made it so incredible and extraordinary is that many things were discussed, many decisions were made, and there were no negative feelings expressed. The entire meeting was orderly and respectful. At certain points, criticisms of individual members were expressed in positive ways with positive responses. An important policy that undoubtedly influenced the peace and productivity of the meeting is that of a revolving chairperson. The coop has 6 members. Usually the 2 administrators chaired the meetings by default, developing the agenda, projecting un-intended hierarchy, increasing tension. Sule chaired the meeting and did an excellent job. Torsustey respected this position and assisted in Sule’s meeting role. Among the discussions and decisions were meeting schedule, meeting structure, preparation of meeting agendas, cooperative membership fees and dues, assessment of options for extra storage (land with containers or other rented stores), signboard and t-shirts, the pending container from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago!!!! (awesome new space – saw the pics, damn), hiring a contract clearing agent, the grand opening ceremony, and behavioral discipline in the workspace. We ended the meeting at 5:45, said peace to each other and felt good that another productive step was taken.

The system we’ve decided upon for the payment of the workers, the membership fee, dues, taxes etc. is this (***feedback welcome***): Each worker gets a monthly salary which is currently 70 GHC per month (better than average in Koforidua). Once taxes begin being paid, the gross salary will be increased to accommodate the taxes while maintaining around a 70 GHC net income. Taxes include 10% income tax and 5% Social Security, with 12.5% Social Security paid out by the business. The essence is that at the end of the year, the monies paid to each worker in salaries (not including the 12.5% SS paid out from the business account) are totaled and subtracted from the total income allocated to the individual worker’s account that year. The total allocated income per worker is based on the percentage of hours worked by that worker in relation to the total number of hours worked by the coop workers that contributed to the total profit for the year. (50% net profit for the year gets sent to the business account, and 50% gets allocated to the worker accounts.) If the allocated profit is more than the monies paid to the worker that year in salaries, the worker’s account will be positive. If the allocated profit is less than the monies paid to the worker that year in salaries, then the worker’s account will be negative. This potential loss will not affect the agreed upon monthly salaries for the workers the following year, but will just leave their member account in the negative. The number of enormous expenses this first year such as rent and payback of loans has reduced the business potential for profit. It is expected that any negative accounts will balance positive in coming years because profitability potential is strong. Regarding the membership fee, since it would financially affect the workers for AB to take a direct cash payment for the membership fee from them, it was decided that we can increase the gross monthly salary by 10 GHC, deduct that 10 GHC each month for 10 months making 100 GHC. This 100 GHC will be included in the total monies paid for the year and will be deducted from the workers allocated profit. After 10 months, the increased salary will remain. Dues will be cash payments made on behalf of the worker to pay for coop specific expenses (such as any expense incurred in printing, photocopying or refreshments at meetings).

About three weeks ago, Maud, Torsu, Sule and I met with a clearing agent and discussed the clearing of the next container. We agreed on a mutually beneficial pay rate, and we are currently waiting for the bill of lading. Due to the impossibility of Ability Bikes Cooperative getting a tax id number until registration is complete, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah graciously agreed to assist Ability Bikes Cooperative to clear the container under the name and tax id number of his organization EEFSA. Thanks Emmanuel! – offering this critical support to the project. Once the bill of lading is in, the clearing agent will set to work processing it with the inspection company, that will value the goods based on certain standards and will prepare an official document detailing these values. This document is taken to an independent clearing agency that has access to the customs online database. The values are processed in the database and an official document is produced detailing the bill to customs. Since bicycles are already exempt from customs, the taxes and duties will be minimal, however the taxes at the shipping line and the container terminal will be a significant amount. At the point that this customs document is produced, Torsutsey and I will meet the clearing agent in Tema, go to customs, pay the fees, go to the shipping line, pay the fees, and then go to the container terminal, pay the fees, get the container, the driver, and get the hell out of that industrial pollution back to the mountains man. It is expected that there will be no demurrage (late) fees to pay, as we are going to act on this bill of lading process with unprecedented speed.

This pending container is from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago (http://workingbikes.org/), which managed to pack and send us a container with 500+ bikes very soon after moving into a new space which must have required significant effort. These efforts are offering the critical support Ability Bikes needs at this time. AB still owes a debt to the landlord and has a significant loan to pay off before AB can begin to pay toward acquiring extra storage. Ability Bikes is not responsible for paying overseas shipping on this container. Thank you Working Bikes for helping us out critically.

Ability Bikes is managing financially, but for the past two months there has not been significant income due to the reduced stock of bikes for sale. AB has kept afloat through the sporadic sales of our remaining bikes, used parts sales, and repairs (which are increasingly more frequent). We also sold the fence!!, I mean, we as in Ability Bikes.. ok, Maud sold the fence. She rocks. 5 pieces of US quality 8’ x 12’ fence sold at 130 GHC each making 650 GHC. We been trying to sell that damn fence for the past year, and now in the time of need, providence. So this leaves us with about 1000 big GHC, and lots of wheels and parts that can be wholesaled, along with bikes (including about 4 high-end bikes we built up from frames made possible by our increased wheel building). We can get at least another 1000 GHC from that minus this month’s salary amounting to around 400 GHC. This money will not be sufficient to clear the container. We estimate that it will cost around 2,500 GHC to clear this container, but we need to have at least 3,000 accessible in the bank. Loans from the bicycle sellers. Ever since the last container was cleared 5 months ago, the Koforidua bicycle sellers have been trying to give us money that will be credit toward the next wholesale. We refused because we don’t prefer debts. But we are going to approach this strategically. Nearly every wholesale has major tension and heightened male aggression in the hot sun – arguments abound, potential fights barely averted, it’s a rough day yo, but enables AB to avoid potential storage problems and to make large payments on debts, which is a very freeing experience, so we love it. We are developing the Ability Bikes Distribution Network (ABDN) that will allow bicycle sellers having their own physical workshop and point of sale to register as a member to be an official buyer during the wholesales. Registration will be a contract relationship with certain policies that the bike sellers must abide by to maintain membership. One major one is that only one representative from each shop at the wholesale, final. This will hopefully build a positive and professional relationship between AB and the bike sellers and may possibly reduce the tension and challenge of the wholesale.

I’ve worked with Maud and Torsutsey to develop an action plan for the remaining three months. We are trying to critically look at all the goals that must be accomplished by this time, break that out into tasks and responsibilities. We are going to work through it systematically to make sure that enough critical tasks get done in time. It is a goal of mine that Maud and Torsu will make this planning process their own, and as a result of this planning, experience the results of systematic task accomplishment, which will be in the form of a financially and legally stable Ability Bikes, an accomplishment for them to behold and say they did it.

On the long-term agenda is the search for extra storage. There are so many possibilities, but none seemed to be ideal so we just kept moving on. The most promising possibility over the past few months had been a piece of land, owned by Ghana Railway Company, about a 10 minute walk from the shop. A bit far, but doable. Large enough to hold 3 containers comfortably. The land is easily accessible by a 40ft flatbed truck and a crane, but is slopes, so would require a significant foundation built up about 4-5 ft on the back end. This particular situation of the slope would probably require a crane, which is crazy expensive. We schemed how we could make it happen, but we don’t even know the cost of the land, and this could be a very long process to find out, requiring substantial bribes. In the back of my mind had been another possibility, that I did not feel ready to inquire upon until recently, until I could tell the landlord exactly when we will pay him the balance we owe him, now that the container is confirmed, and on some enormous boat floating over the Atlantic at this very moment. Next to the two workshop stores are three stores in a row that are connected without walls on the inside, a veritable warehouse. I knew that the landlord used part of that space for his own borehole water pumps (his personal business), and that a friend of his used the rest of the space as a storage facility. I called the landlord and asked about those stores, prefaced by the statement we will pay you in 4 weeks. He told me that his friend’s interest in the space dwindled and that he would call this person, and if he no longer needs the space, the landlord could give us two of the stores. Satisfied I discussed this with the other workers. This is the most ideal storage space ever. It’ll cost another load of money, but the lease is ten years with the majority payment up front. On the phone the landlord said he would agree to a gradual payment schedule. He informed me that he always wants to support Emmanuel’s work, and now that he sees the character of Ability Bikes, he wants to support the work for physically challenged people. So the next day, he called and asked if we want all three stores, I said, ideally, swallowing the words: but the money, and he said he’ll try to find another space for his goods and will get back to me. All three stores would allow Ability Bikes to operate so comfortably, so effectively. Oh the visions I’ve had since those conversations. Anyway, we’ll see how things work out.

These past two weeks have been particularly exciting for Ability Bikes, due to new relationships, new possibilities, new stimulus. We agreed to support Craig Calfee and a team of bamboo bike frame builders that work in a small town near Koforidua to build up 7 frames as part of a bicycle mechanics training for the framebuilders. A full set of parts got shipped through VBP for the bikes – all new parts, beautiful stuff. We plan to do the training the end of this week.

Also, we’ve begun to work with Wisdom, the man aka “The Boy” as he is known in Accra. He’s a damn good Ghanaian bike mechanic, now 46 years old. He joined the business in his youth – made a bike completely out of wood that he rode to school, later exhibited in Ghana and then moved to a museum in France. Bicycles became his life at an early age. Wisdom learned how to do virtually all his mechanics through practice, critically exploring the principles of each component, understanding its system. During his 2-day visit, Wisdom taught us many things, but we focused on wheels. Let me just say that I have been the principal trainer for the Ability Bikes mechanics. All other experienced Ghanaian bike mechanics in Koforidua are competition. Wisdom came to Koforidua as an experienced Ghanaian mechanic who knows his job, and who shared this knowledge openly to the AB mechanics. Fireworks. They connected so well. I asked Sule who said, Man… he’s a cool guy. Miriam and Agyen now call him Uncle Wisdom. Wisdom gave the nickname “The Girl” to Miriam. Good times with a great friend. Wisdom focused on wheels during the two day visit. He showed his methods of straightening pretzeled rims, truing wheels, building wheels, spoke calculation on the fly, and finally freehub overhaul and repair. This was my first time overhauling a freehub, and now I can repair them as well, psyched. A shaky freehub probably indicates wear on the bearing races. A set of 3 washers separate the cup and cone, one washer ultrathin. Depending on the degree of shaking, one of the washers can be removed to shorten the distance between the cup and cone thereby reducing the play and correspondingly the shake. Also worn pawls can be ground back to shape. Wisdom took his job of mentor seriously, the workers became his students, he set an example for work ethic, offered business advice. What a great visit, bringing new energy and new possibilities, let alone new skills. Miriam and Julius have taken to Wisdom’s method of wheelbuilding, as opposed to my own, and I’m cool with that, it works for them and I’ll help them with more theory. The wheels are well built, and they are cranking them out with joy. All of this wheelbuilding and wheel repair has increased the amount of usable 26” wheels and is allowing us to build up those remaining frames into some solid high end bikes. Anyway, looking forward to more relationship with Wisdom.

Ability Bikes is expecting two more nearly confirmed containers in 2009. Income from these containers should pay off debts and the potential expense of renting the 3-store warehouse next to the workshop, leaving Ability Bikes the opportunity to save subsequent income in an offshore dollar account to be used for payment of overseas shipping on subsequent containers. Further income will allow Ability Bikes to purchase new parts for sale in bulk and pack them down in the warehouse, making more profit per item. Ability Bikes will also be able to purchase new bikes in bulk (there is a high demand for Japanese upright 3-speeds), pack them down, assemble, and sell them in addition to the used bikes. If the time is right, Ability Bikes can accept new members as mechanics, and it the bike stock grows past the immediate demand of Koforidua, can develop a system of selling bikes in rural areas around Koforidua. If the money is there, Ability Bikes could potentially order higher quality tools from Taiwan for sale and distribution. Further income could mean seed funding another bike shop for disabled people. These are just possibilities. The real work is the day-to-day operations, keeping things moving, growing. The goal however is to do one thing very good (this one bike shop providing 6 jobs), before looking into any other directions. But we’ve got so much potential, it doesn’t hurt to dream.

new pics

2009-03-13T11:52:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnbghana/

March 13

2009-03-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

We been busy. I’m ultra excited about recent developments cause now we’re able to see how the structure’s gonna look – we’ve got a strong enough foundation and now we’re building above ground. We’re seeing our earlier visions of business and space design come to pass. We’ve been organizing and reorganizing, renovating, breaking walls, welding, repatching, brainstorming, building, taking action, relaxing, enjoying work. The workers are taking more responsibility and holding each other accountable to the collective. The stores are gradually, physically, becoming our ideal. Project relationships seem to be coming into place.

The week after the January container was unloaded, my body proceeded to adopt a mild cold, a welcome rest, but we had a meeting with Augustina, the Koforidua Department of Cooperatives Field Worker! So I braved the day with Maud and Torsutsey and went to the Cooperative office, which with Maud was like a 30 minute walk in the hot sun, but we collected oranges along the way. We arrived and then climbed 3 flights of stairs in this crazy organic government building that looks like a habitation for bats, with lots of big-leafed vegetation surrounding it. This was our first meeting with Augustina, and she stood at the top of the stairs looking very empathetic toward Maud, who courageously climbed the steps – her message to the world that she can do things most people think she can’t. We arrive in the office sweating, are offered water, and then begin the discussions. We explained the mission and purpose of Ability Bikes and emphasized our commitment to worker ownership and equal power in decision-making. We were told that our bike shop does not match the common model of cooperatives in Ghana, and that there are certain requirements for cooperatives that we don’t meet (such as a ten member minimum), but were given the opportunity to further explain the nature of the business and the system of cooperative accounting we wish to employ. We were promised a visit by Augustina. About a week later, Augustina came to the shop and met with the workers for a few hours. She agreed to register Ability Bikes as a cooperative, but only after we complete the business and accounting training and work with her to establish our cooperative accounting system. Its exciting for all of us.

We have begun to act as a cooperative during meetings and daily operations, but there is so much more to be understood and accepted by some of the workers about cooperatives. One of the major proponents of the cooperative system among the workers is Sule. He seems to understand fully that worker ownership is freedom and also an extraordinary chance to generate member income. He is also such an outspoken advocate for equality that the cooperative system matches his ethics, which corresponds with him being a great leader at meetings and in daily work. Sule will grab the important issues, talk about them and make sure that people express their opinions and that progress is made toward a resolution before the issue is put down. Decision-making at recent meetings has been a great development. When the workers meet, they have been peaceful, efficient and effective, as compared to early meetings where a difference of opinion would pose a social challenge resulting in tension, I suppose based on the norm that a different opinion aims to dominate its opposition. Constructive criticism is occurring more often among the workers than ever before – they are becoming more comfortable as a group – like a family.

Regarding cooperative accounting… money is cash that can be seen and felt and not money amounts written on paper or computer screens – some workers have expressed their distrust of conceptual money. This is the next challenge. We’ve got to establish our accounting system and detail the member shares. All the workers need to be involved to check on their shares and to review the accounts. The business needs to be looked upon as a form of investment. The average market tomato seller needs to continually reinvest cash into tomatoes, which are as good as money until sold and turned into a cash return. In this same way, the workers will be reinvesting in the business that will transform operations into member shares, which are split into monthly personal income and reinvested income, which is the member’s share of the profit and belongs to the member but is governed by an established system of accounting requiring the reinvestment, which helps the business grow and generate more profit. It’s a matter of trust. Once we set up the accounting system it will be easier to have trust.

We recently had too much fun on our trip to Kokrobite, a hip beach place just west of Accra, an Ability Bikes workers retreat. We had a meeting and simply enjoyed being together – it was so awesome. It was Agyen’s first time seeing the ocean. At night, he went alone out by the docked fishing boats, sat on the sand and just looked out into it. We arrived on a Saturday, chopped food together, rested, I took a swim, then had our meeting where the objective was to detail the cooperative policy toward the workers. We discussed many points such as meeting schedule, decision-making processes, systems for dealing with wrongdoing such as theft, new worker membership, penalty for lateness, behavior expectations, as well as other issues such as signboards, customer relations, etc. It was a good and productive meeting, but everyone’s attention was soon turning to enjoyment. We had beers, and then the reggae band came on, and we danced-o. At first, we had our little circle outside Maud and Miriam’s room, where we all danced free. Everyone bringin their moves. Then Agyen and Miriam grabbed me to dance in the pit. We found our space and felt the positive vibrations for a while, synching the pulse of blood and music. So awesome to be with the workers in this way. A different context of enjoyment and not of task accomplishment. The night led me to crash hard and sandy. The next morning was a walk on the beach, collecting shells, visiting the fishermen and eyeing their catch. I went out with empty bottles into the ocean to collect water for each of the workers to bring back to Koforidua (I think for medicinal purposes). Then chop (eat) time (food has been and still is such an enjoyment in Ghana). There’s a bunch of local vendors set-up on the beach – I opted for banku and okra stew and I chatted in my old Peace Corps language with the seller, who then gave me free fish.

Agyen, Haruna (our physically challenged friend), and I rode our bikes from Koforidua to Kokrobite, about 120 km each way. The ride to Kokrobite was great, but crazy going through northern Accra. Theres a whole stretch of road in Achimota that is under construction, and is dust, rough roads, no lanes, and about a thousand cars and trucks all trying to get “there” before the other. Yikes, adrenaline, survival – we got through the gauntlet after being coated with dust and exhaust externally and internally. Then through La Paz which is a major commercial stretch of road, an obstacle course of steel, concrete, street venders and awareness. Then out of Accra, facing a strong headwind, we pushed toward our future, the ocean. That Sunday morning, while saddling up our bikes, I chatted with an excellent guy from Ireland, Julian, who is on an incredible trek from Ireland to South Africa on his bike, a Thorn with a 14 speed internally geared rear hub, front generator hub. He and a friend he met on the road have been riding together since Mali or so. According to him there is a whole culture of people touring the length of Africa on bikes, and meeting up randomly and repeatedly in different countries. I try to imagine moving through countries and cultures rapidly like that for such an extended period. An awesome meeting. I decided not to bathe cause I was going to get dirty again. We posed for pictures, and then north. After Accra there was one stretch of road that just felt like it went on forever, until we reached Suhum, a town about 25 km away from Koforidua, which is the common destination for our regular training rides, a familiar face. We rested small and felt a surge of accomplishment over our journey. Did I mention that Agyen and Haruna are both physically challenged? And that Haruna carries his walking stick between his right hand and his grip when he rides, shifts both right and left grip shift with his left hand, and has only one strong riding leg? Haruna definitely slowed us down, but that guy is slow and steady. He doesn’t quit. Just keeps going. Last Tuesday, he embarked on a solo journey to the Northern Region, which takes five days one way. Incredible. He is going there because he has a group of physically challenged friends there who want to start a riding club. Agyen and Haruna are great friends, and intend to establish disabled cycling as an official sport of Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) and to train disabled cyclists in all of the ten regions of Ghana. I love it. So Haruna is probably in the Northern Region as I write this, but we have no idea how he is faring cause he lost his phone a few weeks ago and hasn’t called us yet. When he returns he will be a superhero. In Suhum, after our basking in the energy of fitness, we raced to Koforidua chasing the remaining light from the setting sun.

Since the beginning of the project, its been the plan to make major renovations to the stores to support bike shop operations. There were just too many expenses that drew our income after the first container, and it was necessary to conserve what we had to complete the training and save money to clear the January container. We recently have been sitting on about two thousand cedis (revenue from the January container wholesale) and have been using this money to make all of the critical store developments. We recently constructed a superb wheel and tire hanging structure in the workshop, capable of holding 64 wheels and about 90 tires. We also put money into the plumbing (the shared church toilet), into the electric wiring of the workshop and the front store, and we are now working with a carpenter to build a desk for the front office and a large sales-counter with display. This is all so critical. The workers are doing their jobs, and they need the physical space to enable them to do so. We’ve also been preparing to make beautiful signboards – in the design stage. Once these developments are made, it will change the public face of Ability Bikes, that will no longer be the nondescript bike shop in the back lot that people know as the best place to get a bike “if you know about it,” but will become the established professional bike shop in Koforidua that is publicly and authoritatively the best place to buy or fix a bike. It was an early reservation of mine that the shop would out-compete the small bike sellers. I absolutely see this now in another light. Ability Bikes has become the hub of the bicycle community of Koforidua. Bike sellers receive much of their stock from the AB wholesales, and come to us for the wheel or cassette to complete a bike. Each day, we’ve got about 5 bike sellers visiting us, hanging out, helping sweep in the morning and unpack bikes, joking, being friendly. There is definitely a business motive in these visits, but it doesn’t boil down to that – the bike sellers love Ability Bikes. Even when established physically and publicly, Ability Bikes will draw lots of customers, but I’m confident that the demand for bicycles is ever-growing and that each bicycle seller operates in his or her (one female bike seller in the lot) domain, and since (it seems) that many Ghanaians shop locally and are loyal to local businesses, the bike sellers’ businesses will not suffer but will thrive in relationship with Ability Bikes. In time we’ll develop our customer base and person-to-person advertising network, and we’ll hopefully maintain a mutually beneficial bike market symbiosis with the bike sellers.

Scrap metal yards are cool. I’ve been into them lately. The #1 place for affordable wheel and tire-hanging structure materials. We bought the heavy metal brackets and the long lengths of angle iron from the official store, but we got the heavy metal bars and small rebar pieces for the remaining hooks from the scrap metal yard in Manpower’s neighborhood (Manpower is our fantastic welder). The scrap metal yard is located on the outskirts of the neighborhood next to a huge garbage dump that is also used as an early dawn toilet, so there’s a mild scent but manageable. On the ground outside the place is strewn metal, from pieces of dead cars to white-coated refrigerator shelves. Then there’s the fenced-in lot (fence and doors made from welded scraps) that has the slightly more valuable metals (unorganized and strewn), heavy metal plates, bicycle frames, rusted gates, and then the inner room (that leads into the living space of the scrap metal yard owner) that has the organized stock of rebar, brackets, sheet metal. Manpower and I first came into the inner room and got this 1 ¼ inch by 4 ft solid metal bar bent into hooks on either end (heavy metal), and the small rebar lengths. We later returned for a thick and heavy flat bar (some old industrial artifact) that we found bolted to these huge lengths of wood. It was perfect for our needs – got it for ten cedis but worth it. The operation: we break into the high corners of the walls as well as the high centers of each side wall, expose the rebar, weld the brackets and pieces of the heavy bar for added strength, repatch the walls with concrete. We measure, cut and weld the long lengths of angle iron, weld the hooks (thanks for making the hooks that distant container loading ago – they’re getting used now) – we chose 7 inches apart, about the length of a long rear axle to space the hooks (alternating one low one high), and burn holes in the ends of the angle iron to bolt them to the brackets. We weld the flat bars to the center of the angle iron, and burn holes in one end to bolt into the center brackets. We weld three 2 ½ ft lengths of angle iron each perpendicular to two longer lengths of angle iron, and weld these (stretching across the front and back walls) to the overall structure for tire hanging. The structure is complete and very strong. The only weakness though is that we couldn’t find the rebar in the high center of one of the side walls, so we just welded an anchor to the bracket and used concrete to hold it in. Its holding fine (just a relative weakness). That done, we had a workshop in major disorder, and have been working day after day to order it.

In another scrap metal yard, I found metal cabinets with drawers, and bought two, one for the front store files and one with eight subdivided drawers for the workshop to organize smaller parts such as bottom brackets, headsets, axles, etc. I see this as critical for accessibility. Its not easy to pick up a heavy bucket of bottom bracket spindles, dump em out, sort through em and find what you need, refill the bucket and replace it on the shelf. It is easy to open a drawer and sort through the five or ten 3T spindles categorized and labeled among the other sizes, find one that works for the bike and close the drawer. For convenience and space efficiency, we’ve been categorizing all of our parts large and small and sending the ones we don’t need to the front store for storage and eventual sale, the ones we can use we keep and have been systematically tediously arranging them in proper containers, with proper access. We’ve still got lots to go on the small parts, but this will have to be a gradual development cause it takes time. Today, we will put enough away that we can clean up the benches and get back to building bikes. We’ve been getting more repairs lately, and freely doing them cause it seems like we’ve got enough money, but the reality is that we’ve got to make the most money out of the remaining stock in order to make the final payment to the landlord (which is now only 1000 Ghana cedis) as well as have enough down to clear the next container from Working Bikes in Chicago coming in April.

Need for finances is definitely an issue, but Ability Bikes is gradually becoming less in debt, and this is a very liberating feeling. As soon as the business is capable financially though, it will be responsible for paying overseas shipping costs, which will replace enormous debt repayment with enormous expenses, but combined with the revenue from the containers will make for a sustainable business. There will be enough profit after the shipping expense to pay the workers, to operate the business, and to save money down for gradual expansion. If Ability Bikes can hire a few more mechanics, the pace of production will increase as will the pace of profit.

Our front store is also reaping the benefit of our renovation efforts. We have hired a carpenter to build an appropriate desk with drawers for Maud and Torsutsey to sit, meet, work, and a sales counter spanning the breadth of the front of the store with parts display shelves. I brainstormed with Torsutsey a couple days ago about building a wheel, tire and bike hanging structure for the back 2/3 of the store with parts storage shelving and some open space in the center for bike packing potential. The structure we are planning will not break into the walls, but will be supported at the four corners and at the left-side center by 1 ½ pipe. It will hang about 100 wheels around the high perimeter and 17-20 bikes along the left side at an accessible height (this can serve as a finished bike sales display along with the 10-15 bikes we can display street-side). Along the right side and the back wall we will build heavy wooden shelving to pack and store parts. We may be able to integrate tire storage into this structure (dependent on space) but the ceiling is so high it may be possible to have a row of wheels, then a row of tires, before reaching the shelving along the right and back walls… If not (or in addition), we will build another structure utilizing the high ceiling in the front 1/3 of the store for tire storage. Such an exciting time, building our workspace, our work environment.

Back to building-up the remaining bikes in storage, and letting the money flow. Maud, Torsutsey and I will attend the accounting training next week (its frustrating cause its systematically rescheduled by the trainer, but is so critical, and this guy knows his work, and holds a key to our future, so we need to be patient while pressuring him to make it happen – he’s a great and busy guy, but we’re determined). After this training, we will work with Augustina, establish our system of cooperative accounting and become a legal entity.

Ability Bikes Rules! – themselves –

pics

2009-01-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

new container pics on flickr site

January 28

2009-01-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 20

Woah. Clearing this container is actually more complicated and difficult than the last. One challenge after the other. Strategic decisions that are second-guessed when luck seems to turn against us. But there’s light at the end of the very expensive tunnel – we’re almost through. One more day I believe.
The blow by blow:
Almost 2 weeks ago the container arrived. At that point, we believed that we could process the container exemption on customs duties and taxes under the nonprofit status of Emmanuel’s organization. On the 22nd of December, I submitted the exemption application letter with the bill of lading and the commercial invoice to the Ministry of Manpower that writes the initial letter recommending exemption for the organization. Due to the holidays and the presidential election re-vote on December 28th, we did not receive that letter until Wednesday, January 7th, the day the new president of Ghana was sworn in, and the day of formal administration change. I arrived in Accra through Achimota, a northern suburb, came down to Kwame Nkruma Circle, right about the center of Accra, and then needed to get down to the Ministries down by the coast. Grid lock traffic. Wish I had a bike. I walked (booked) about an hour (faster than the traffic) amidst NDC supporters also going toward the coast to the main square where the inauguration took place. I arrived soaked with sweat at the Ministry of Manpower, told them I walked fast, got the letter, took it right to Ministry of Finance, and they told me Friday. I came back Friday, and they told me Monday. At this point, I went back to Koforidua to wash clothes and prepare for the next week in Accra. Monday morning I go to the Ability Bikes shop and am feeling fine – everyone is on task, setting up for the day. I discuss the container clearing with the workers, also briefly discuss the accounting structure for cooperatives, share the new cable tips, housing ends, crank extractors, chain tool pins (thanks Carl!) that my friend Johanne brought to Ghana for us. I then called Ministry of Finance to let them know I’m on my way, and was told that the old ministers from the old administration have gone, and that we need to wait until the new ministers are appointed by the new president before we can get a letter exempting the container. Disbelief. No way. Oogh. (profanity of your choice).
Ok whats next. I call Hilda the Secretary of EEFSA and let her know that we’ve got to clear the container without the exemption. Reasons being that the first week the container is in the port is free- January 7th to the 13th, the second week is $24 a day- January 14th to the 20th, and from the 3rd week going the demurrage is $60 a day. There was no telling when the exemption letter would be processed. Also (making the exemption letter less realistic), after looking more closely at the letter written by the Ministry of Manpower, the Bill of Lading number referred to in the letter was incorrect. We would have to start over again at the Ministry of Manpower. Its better we just clear the container, pay the duties and taxes, and then avoid the heavy demurrage. I was told that the duties and taxes on the goods would be a minimum. (This container however is different from the others cause it has computers, books and wheechairs/walking aids.) Hilda tells me to call her friend Bebo, so I call Bebo, meet him, have slightly shady negotiations, and he agrees to help us expedite the process of valuing the goods at the inspection company before the duties can be paid at customs. He promises by Thursday. Then Friday. Then Monday. Eyes popping out of my head feeling powerless, waiting. Tuesday (today) at 12 noon, I got the paperwork, we make some corrections in the “long room” the main customs room in the Ghana Ports and Harbor Authority building filled with clearing agents, customs agents, unofficial cash transactions and paperwork. Then to a clearing agent office that processed the paperwork online. Back to the long room to finalize customs. We paid the duties and taxes (an exhorbitant amount) and then finalized our customs paperwork. Paying 10 Ghana Cedis to the customs agent for expedited processing – a half hour in what could ordinarily take between 3-5 hours. Yeah Bebo and Hilda for knowing the system. Hilda and I then rushed to the shipping line to pay the invoice, but were told to come back in the morning cause we were too late. Tomorrow is the day. We’re gonna pay the shipping line, process the paperwork there for clearing, go to the container terminal, pay them and bribe the officials, and get the container up to Koforidua. I’m hoping that the nonspecific physical weirdness I feel now is the result of dry heat, industrial pollution and comprehensive exhaustion with the slight residue of beer and coffee, my two stops after the shipping line, and not some devious tropical opportunistic germ. Saw the Obama inauguration today at the bar, with about 30 other Ghanaians hooting and chanting “Obama.” Left central Tema in a shared taxi listening to talk radio about Obama, with the discussion topic: “would two leaders of opposing parties in Ghana be able to sit next to each other in the same car? Oh America.” Got an early morning tomorrow, so I’m gonna have some water and crash.

Monday January 26

Woah again. Got the container Thursday, unloaded it Friday, fixed wheelchairs at the hospital on Saturday, crashed yesterday, still freakin tired today, but ready to continue the process. I’m in the house now after fetching some water, coffee cookin on the stove. I need to recount everything before more things happen.

Last Wednesday, I expected to get the container out. I arrive at the shipping line at about 7 am to ensure that we were the first in line. I enter the air conditioned void – a modern building with white walls, windows that don’t open, and uniform chairs. It was actually relaxing to just sit, but soon became a holding cell packed with frustrated (though confident looking) clearing agents, whose faces told the amount of time they were waiting there. Hilda came just before they opened and we submitted our paperwork and paid our invoice. We then waited. Then we bribed one of the workers. We waited. Finally we bribed the security guy to go put our paperwork on the top of the pile. In about an hour (about 3pm) we were out of there, rushing to the container terminal to start processing the paperwork to expedite the clearing process the following day. We hire a taxi and get there quickly. As we walk to the guard booth, we are told we can’t come in because we are wearing sandals, that we need shoes that cover out toes. We grab a taxi and rush around looking for shoes to buy, taking us all the way into central Tema. We stop at the market, jump out, separate. I find a jammin pair of used white sneakers without insoles, Hilda some brown leather shoes. Back to the terminal. We walk in, pay the one cedi fee, plus rent a reflective vest for 1 cedi. Hilda goes and talks to some people, and finds out that its too late to start the paperwork and that we must come back the following day. Hilda leaves the paperwork with one of the workers, as well as a 20 cedi bribe, to start the paperwork for us so that the following day we will rock the container. We each go our separate ways.
Next morning, Thursday, we meet at the container terminal at the same time as if synchronized – weird. Wearing our shoes, we wait to be let in. Upon entering, I go sit at the waiting area while Hilda works her magic, going from office to office, offering bribes with a smile (more bribes this time than the last. I think because we were told by some others at the container terminal that they had been waiting there 3 days to even get their container down for examination.) In about a half hour, we pay our fees, and shortly after are called to the container to prepare for examination. Amazingly quick. When I get there, about five guys are already pulling bikes out and packing them. I’m saying to them why are they doing this, let the customs official come and we’ll talk to him first, cause maybe he won’t make us unload. They relent. I sit and start thinking damn, all the bikes and computers and books will probably not all fit back in. I call George, the recipient of the books and computers, and I ask him to come to Tema, and to hire a truck when he gets here, cause they’re gonna unload it all. And I don’t want to leave any behind. George says he’ll be there very soon. The workers come back and Hilda tells me we could probably take out half, that the customs official will definitely want to see whats inside the boxes, and will want to see that there’s no more boxes behind the bikes, halfway will be enough. I say lets do it. The workers start unpacking the boxes, and we differentiate book boxes and computer boxes for an easier count. Bikes are also flowing out, the workers and everyone around eyeing them up. Asking me how much, cause they want to buy. I say not for sale. Random customs officials walk by, open some of the book boxes, sort through the books, take a few, walk on. We keep unpacking. George comes, we communicate information, he gets a truck. Finally we are about halfway in, and its good enough. Two customs officials come to examine our goods. We start cutting open all the boxes to let them see inside. They seem relaxed in some insane euphoria. Power. Hilda tells me that they probably want to count all of the computers (which puts us in an uncertain situation, cause the man we hired to process the inspection company paperwork did some guesswork on quantities to help the goods be valued, and if his guesswork doesn’t match the real deal, there’s either added fees or substantial bribes.) I keep opening the boxes with a zeal that communicates we’ve got nothin to hide. Finally one of the customs officers tells me its ok, I can stop. An internal sigh of relief. I hang out while they discuss the computers and books with George. I’m called over, and George tells me that the officials will be taking one CPU. I say, oh. The officials then tell me that they will be taking two bikes for their children, and asked me if I have a problem with that. I hesitate, and say, no problem. They select two very nice Gary Fisher 20” mountain bikes. Then one customs officer tells me that they will be taking a third for their colleague. I consent while resisting. Hilda tells me that this is how they survive, by getting these goods to supplement their income, which is not enough for their families. She tells me its all part of the system, there are formal payments and informal payments. They look in the container, say ok, and the workers set to packing the bikes in. Cool. Our driver arrives. In about 45 minutes, the container is packed, and then George’s goods start getting packed. At this time, I start chasing the crane operator. (The cranes are these enormous and amazingly agile machines, man, and they’ve got these crazy expandable electromagnetic pincers.) The terminal has two cranes. After about a half hour of waiting I realized I’m chasing the wrong crane, the one designated for pulling containers down rather than putting them on trucks. I find the other, give him the paperwork, show him the receipt of payment, and he puts our container in the queue. In about 20 minutes, our container is on the truck, George’s goods are packed, 2:30 pm. I met another woman (who I had seen waiting with us the previous day at the shipping line) chasing the first crane operator. She told me that she had paid and processed all of her paperwork the day before, but that she still hasn’t been able to get her container down for examination, that she was tired and hungry. I realize that we really moved fast, and I wonder if the bribes made this happen. In terms of finances, you pay less in bribes than you do in demurrage. We get out the main gate, George’s truck goes to his destination, Hilda gets in Georges car for a ride home, I hop in our truck. I relax into gravity. The driver tells me he’s going to do some small work on his truck before we go. I say ok, cause I’m hungry and this gives me the opportunity to rush into Tema and get my bag, as well as more money from the bank. I complete my movements, and the driver tells me to come back to the truck yard. I do and see that one wheel is off. I tell the driver that we absolutely need to get to Koforidua tonight, cause we’ve got people coming at dawn. I could only sit in the truck and be happy that at least we got the container. Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned to adapt to extreme disappointment and uncertainties, so despite the possibility that everything might go wrong, I knew that we could once again adapt to it, so I felt good. By 8 pm we were off. Stopped by the bourgeois gas station market, got a candy bar and a guava juice, and some phone credit, and we moved. I made calls to the Ability Bikes folks that we are on for the next morning. I also received many calls of excitement. We did it. About halfway to Koforidua, an air hose blew, and the truck stopped. Fortunately we were stopped for only 30 minutes. We moved on. Twice more the air hose blew, with the last 50 kilometers the incessant sound of escaping air, but we got there. Pulled in around 1 am. I leave my bag at the shop, grab a 3-speed, and go home for a nap. We did it.

Tuesday January 27

Woke up the next day with a call from Julius at 4:15 am. I told him, Julius I’m sleeping, I’ll see you there at 5:30. A few more calls from the workers before I got out of bed at 5:20. Threw on clothes, grabbed the bike and off to the shop. Arrive to meet a few Ability Bikes workers and some of the hired help. We make a quick plan of action, open the container doors, and begin. Soon everyone is there helping either to carry bikes or to stand watch.

This container was a breath of fresh air. It’s the first container that arrived at all for Ability Bikes that the workers were involved with. The early stages of the June 2008 container was mostly controlled by me and EEFSA, and at that point, the workers were not even selected, though Sule and Julius helped sort through the tools and parts and to organize the workshop early on. This container however marks an extremely important step for Ability Bikes. Now the workers themselves organized the cash to bring the container in, organized the stores to hold the bikes, organized the day of unloading, organized nearly everything related to this container. There is a certain sense of ownership that is now felt at Ability Bikes that was not felt before. The worker roots have extended and have taken a better grip of the soil. This container is theirs, they’ve earned it. And their going to make the best use of it. This “container” that so much time, energy and money has gone into reeling in, is no longer abstract hopes but physical, present.

We continued the unloading in great spirits. It was like a reunion between me and the workers, cause I had been in Accra and Tema for just over two weeks, seeing them only that one Monday morning that I got the Ministry of Finance news. One new development that corresponds with their sense of ownership is my own changing role. When I started, I was the organizer, then the trainer, then the manager and director, and now the stage crew, cause its not me on stage leading the action, it’s the workers, and I’m just making sure they’ve got what they need for a smooth performance.

Maud, Torsutsey and I sat down to discuss the wholesale of the bikes for us to get the critical money needed to pay back debts, or at least to exchange purchased credit for bikes. I don’t think that I mentioned it before, but the day I was running around Tema bearing the shock of how freakin much this container clearing is gonna cost us (after I got the bill from customs), I called Maud and told her yo, we need money if we’re going to be able to get this container out of the port, this is extremely serious. Maud said lets take advance payments from the bike sellers. In two hours 1,500 GHC (which is something like $1,300) was deposited into the account by Maud. I was amazed that this could happen so quickly and in such large quantity. I was impressed by Maud and Torsutsey’s quick response. I relaxed cause no matter how much over-budget we were, we had the money to do the job. The next day another bicycle seller gave Maud another 800 GHC to deposit in the account. So, these bicycle sellers who helped us seriously, need to have their credit exchanged with bikes as soon as possible for there to be peace, so, wholesale. It dawned on us that instead of packing the wholesale bikes and then unpacking them on another day, we should do the wholesale that very Friday, save ourselves the energy, and appease the sellers. We inform the 5 bike sellers that supported us. As we were separating out the wholesale bikes, about 15 other bike sellers showed up. Our system of group wholesale is this: everyone puts their name on the list, each person’s name gets called in order and they pick one bike. This prevents one bike seller from getting all of the high quality bikes. In this case however, we let those bike sellers that supported us with cash take two bikes at their turn. Then came negotiations on the price. We provided a price list that was turned down, and were given the sellers prices which were ridiculous. We reviewed our prices, adapted them, presented them. Again they were refused. We tweaked a few numbers, consensus, let the wholesale begin.

I then did a rough count of all the bikes and the prices we were selling them at. I estimated that the average price we were getting was 28 GHC per bike. This was 2 GHC less than the first wholesale. When we have more storage and more money, we can be more strict with our wholesale pricing, but selling 200 bikes (the lower-end half of the container) we were going to get 5,600 GHC. We ended up getting about 5,800 GHC cause we sold a few higher end bikes at on-the-street market prices, for the bike sellers’ personal use.

Man, this wholesale was tiring. We all were on point for the whole day, and there was barely a minute to eat. I ended up eating two pieces of fried yam the entire day (until I chopped heavy after the whole affair). Most of the workers also hadn’t gotten the time to eat. And it was hot and dry. We were running off of so much adrenaline and commitment though, that we could handle it. It was an incredible day. Once the bikes got sold and were moved out of the compound, we started packing our own into the stores.

Wednesday January 28

Last Friday was the first day that we moved into the new store. It felt like a new life for the business. Suddenly we had 50% more space, on a streetside with heavy pedestrian (and car) traffic. Things are gonna change. We’re gonna sell more bikes with our new visibility, and we are gonna gain a widespread reputation. We packed two rows of bikes two-high (for accessibility) filling about half the store. We then brought in tires, tubes, crutches, wheelchairs and all the wheels, just to pack them down so they don’t crowd our workshop space. There’s also an old sales counter in the store that we can rehabilitate and use. We are psyched for it – to get the front store operational – I’m dreaming developments, cause now we’ve got money to work with.

After that Friday of unloading the container, we had a weekend to recuperate. Saturday, I assembled some wheelchairs at a local hospital with Agyen, and chilled on my favorite corner in town. Sunday I crashed. Monday we organized the parts and packed them down for further organization, and Maud and Torsutsey accounted for all the money we made and spent. Yesterday, Tuesday, we had basically a day-long meeting (with a few hours break in the middle) at which we had important discussions on sales policy, employee discounts, current financial position of the business, and the pending registration of the business as a worker-owned cooperative, as well as the basic accounting system of cooperatives. These discussions were critical, but there was not always a uniform position. I feel that the most important system that can be developed is collective decision-making. I’m going to provide space for this to occur as much as possible, for the system to develop in practice, before I go. Yesterday, we also deposited all of the cash and made a deposit to the landlord on the front store. We had to reschedule the business admin training to the week of February 9th. It was scheduled for this week, but we rescheduled it last week due to the delay on the container. The 9th is the earliest NBSSI could take us. I see this as fine, and it will allow us to prepare more fully for the training, as well as initiate the process of cooperative registration, which will take a few months. We will visit the cooperative representative in Koforidua today.

2009-01-09T04:04:00.000-08:00

Jan 7

These past few months have been an evolution. Upon becoming more organized and efficient, the shop then progressed into a stage of consistent functioning, which for me is a welcome success – building patterns of operations that work. The mechanics are building bikes, communicating well with each other, playing a greater role in deciding which bikes to build and keeping the storage space organized, communicating workshop needs to and sharing strategy with the sales staff, who are gaining a more active vision of the business future and what needs to happen for this future to happen, beginning to bear more responsibility for business finances and daily operations, communicating well with customers, and gaining a greater confidence in asserting prices based on market values.

Both mechanic and sales staff are exhibiting a more apparent group identity. Developing a powerful group identity is actually one of my greatest challenges, because its not something that I can control. It is however something that I deem critical to the sustainability potential of the business. If the workers identify their own selves with the business, they will fight to protect it, work to nourish it, and ultimately bear the responsibility for its success – financial, personal, social. The project matched their needs and corresponded with their aspirations enough for them to willingly, voluntarily commit themselves, identify themselves with this organization. Its my job to be vigilant and adapt the project to the workers wherever possible out of total respect for them, to make it something that works for them, but to also constantly challenge them to work harder, think more critically and creatively, and to become better at what they are doing. Challenging them in this way doesn’t always make me their best friend, and that’s fine for me, because its not my job to be their best friend, but to give them the tools to make this business work, preparing them to run it themselves. I hope they will thank me later.

Since the end of November, the business has done fairly well, though had not made as much profit as intended. Customers are buying bikes but not as fast as we would like. There are a number of reasons for this. The workshop is in a relatively obscure location and there is no substantial signage directing customers. Bicycles are displayed on the roadside, and this is what draws the customers we do get, but we can definitely increase the visibility of the bicycles and the business in general. We will occupy the streetside store next week, and this will allow us to pack bikes along the main road, and also put a bright and beautiful signboard visible to all who pass, which would amount to many thousands of people a day. With the next container coming up to Koforidua in about a week, and already a large number of people laying in wait to place their order on bikes, I think that the finances are going to look pretty nice in about a month. Costs related to clearing this next container are going to exhaust the business coffers, but this money will be replaced quickly enough. I’m now working with the sales staff to project a budget on the next few months to prepare and plan for a few huge payments that must be made. One is the down-payment on the front store, two is critical workshop developments (wheel-hanging structure), basic office developments and good signs, three is the payback of the EEFSA contribution. The business also has to save some money down for clearing costs on the next container in spring as well as securing an additional storage space, which could either be in the form of land combined with one or two 40 ft shipping containers, or another rented warehouse space.

The holidays went well for us. We had a few days off, which helped us all to get fresh. I had a raging new years eve party for the workers and friends, but everyone pretty much left by 9:30. And I slept by 10. But it was still fun. Great food, good vibes, a celebration of each other. I laid low and strategized during my vacation. I considered all that needs to be accomplished for this business to be self-sufficient with high sustainability potential by the time I leave which will be in less than 5 months. I also considered the system of governing the business, and I realized that if I’m going to prepare the workers to take responsibility, I need to give them responsibility, if I’m going to prepare them to manage the business, I’ve got to let them manage it, if I’m going to prepare them to make decisions, I must give them the authority to decide. Back to work on the 5th, with a meeting that for me was a milestone. I proposed a collective model of business governance, where each worker has one vote. Since the workers have gotten into the habit of referring to me as their boss, I wanted to clarify our relationships, and to take direct action to begin to establish collective governance, which will decrease my power as decision-maker and will likewise increase their power in this respect. This will not change the role that I play as shop manager and trainer. I will still maintain this authority, but will be accountable to the collective and the decisions made therein. I believe this is the right time for this shift. The workers are ready for more responsibility.

We’ve got a small business administration and accounting training with the government agency NBSSI on January 26th through the 30th. This is really exciting for us because up until this point, we’ve been improvising, which is working, but we know we can be better organized and more systematic with accounting. This training is going to build the skills of Maud and Torsutsey, who are already brilliant people, and is going to make them feel major accomplishment and take ownership over the business admin and accounts. This training is going to give them the chance to feel confident in what they know, and will help them to bear the responsibility and challenge this independent business poses.

I’ve also got more formal training for the mechanics planned this February, which will include exams, yep, the dreaded exams. I’m going to work solely with them for a full day out of the week, give them a reference sheet with the information I presented, and then a written exam as well as practical exam. We’ll do this four weeks in a row, and then have the final exam comprising all that was learned. I’ll follow-up with each mechanic on a continuous basis as they build bikes and offer them constructive criticism. I believe that these formal training sessions will round out the training, and strengthen the core systems and knowledge to run the workshop without my presence. Though for the remainder of my time with the shop, I will find continuous opportunities for formal or informal training. Every bike is a new opportunity.

One area that I’m working on is criticism. At this point, every worker can take constructive criticism from me positively, but this is not the case with each other. There is a pride that the workers have, and certain boundaries they uphold, and when criticism among the workers occurs it is usually in the form of humor. It seems that any direct criticism is often taken personally with potentially negative reactions. I think that this is normal considering the circumstances and the cultural difference in expression. Everyone is still learning, and defends their skill level. Within a hierarchy, this skill level would differentiate those with more or less status and power. I’m hoping to counter this defensiveness by building a strong sense of equality as well as an embracing of the diverse skills of the workers in the collective. A self-sufficient community is a cooperation of diversity. I believe that we can train ourselves in the business to recognize this in each other, and also to learn to rigorously criticize while accepting criticism. This radical openness can build the trust and solidarity needed for the effective collective governance of the business.

I’m in Accra now. I found out today that the container is in the port as of today. This gives us one week to clear it without paying port penalties. The last time the port penalties amounted to about 20 GHC a day which is around $16. We are in an interesting situation now, weighing the financial pros and cons of clearing the container without a formal exemption letter from the Ministries. It is definitely advised that we get this letter because it gives us much credibility with customs in the port and I’m sure expedites that process with minimal fees and duties. The question now: is it gonna be financially beneficial to wait for the letter and pay the penalties, or just to go to the port, pay the fees and duties related to the goods, and avoid the penalties entirely. This decision definitely requires an estimate on the amount of time its gonna take to get this letter. Due to the holidays and the elections, it took two weeks to get the letter from the first ministry office. Three more to go. I’m estimating 6-8 working days starting tomorrow. I’ll do a bit more research and then the math over the next couple days…

The elections were incredibly smooth – NDC the victor by an incredibly narrow margin of about 1% of the popular vote. Its wild though, building up to the election, there were young people marching the streets dancing, shouting, having such explosive energy that its sometimes intimidating, and on the day the first vote was counted with NDC having over 50%, I witnessed NPP youth and NDC youth marching on opposing sides of the street celebrating their respective parties. Zero aggression toward the other. It was shocking and awesome. The same energy, dancing, shouting, a celebration of democracy. There is an undercurrent value of peaceful politics that is incredibly strong here.

I posted a few more pics to the flickr website- http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnbghana/

Peace y’all

Nov 21, 28

2008-11-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

(Spelling correction on Adjen’s name – its actually spelled Agyen – I didn’t change it for consistency – but here goes… Adjen is Agyen)

November 21

The training has developed to a new stage. I intended to bring more structure, which I did to a degree, but the training organically reverted back to work-mode based on the project demands. I see that this is good. I see that the mechanics are indeed learning in the process of doing. Whenever they have a question or encounter a problem, I come and work with them, and maybe call everyone together to teach them something new – semi-structured. I’ve had challenges getting enough concrete work for the sales staff, but they have recently become proactive in helping to organize the workshop. I know that once the business formally opens after the arrival of the next container, they will have more than enough work. We are planning a business administration and accounting training for them with a government small-business-support agency, which will help set the foundation for the books and establish the systems.

We’ve been busy with store developments. Since the training started, the level of organization of the workshop and storage room was on an as-needed basis. Since we started work-mode, we’ve experienced the need for more organization, so this became a major priority over the past weeks. We started by pulling out the boxes of seats and pedals, all the forks, organizing them, building a big wooden frame to hang the forks, repacking seats and pedals. Organizing wheels (unfortunately due to minimal funds, we haven’t built a wheel hanging structure, but this is #1 on the list as soon as the money flows in the new year). Organizing the remaining stock of bikes according to priority builds, with low priority stacked 2-high in a row along the back, then another row of next-in-line bikes, and separate stacks of built-bikes to be checked over, finished bikes, and customer bikes. In the workshop, we had a huge pallet to 2 x 6 hardwood. We took it apart, and used half of it to build a major strong workbench for the big vise. Unshakable. A galvanized metal sheet for the table surface, angle iron along the rim, a thick plywood toolboard (Julius and I joined forces on a Saturday to do the carpentry, finished with the metal on Monday). Fully operational. We’re using the bike stand we built early on before the training – 2” pipe welded into a T set in a tire filled with concrete, with old-school jaws for old-school small diameter steel tubing, padded for larger tubes with 6 layers of inner-tube. Currently we’ve got 3 equipped workbenches, 3 workstands, ready for more efficiency. Also built a table for the truing stand (way back), a frame for the sink, and two “companion” tool bin-tables (to keep essential tools and parts close by to the mechanic and easily accessible) – one on wheels.

We also organized all the parts. This is no small job. In the beginning we did a rough organization, and I suppose that our current state of organization would also be considered rough by many, but now we’ve categorized parts. Front derailleurs are divided by 2-chainring road and 3-chainring mountain, cranks are divided into cotter-pin, 1-piece, square-taper doubles and triples, seat posts by diameter, tubes by size, bottom bracket and headset parts, freewheels, everything, organized. We’ve reached a milestone this week, and next week will mark a new stage in our work – focus on efficiency in an accessible workshop, institute basic system of workshop operations – parts for the bike being worked on in a bin under the bike, put away tools at the end of the day, put random parts away or in a holding bin to be put away as time allows. We can definitely work well with our current system for a while, but further refinement will come.

November 28

For about a month now, the shop has been in need of money very seriously. We calculated our remaining bike stock, the other resources we can sell (fencing) and realized that we could meet our mark for generating the cash to clear the next container coming in January. Thanks to all the BNB volunteers and staff for making this happen! Then, we also realized that in order to build the bikes we need to sell, there must be more efficiency in the workshop (hence the developments described in the previous section). We put more time into shop organization than expected, but it was critical and the result is extremely gratifying. Last week was tough and bit of a reality check – no bike sales all week (though a few repairs). This week however has been consistent with one or two sales a day, and is an example of weird fluctuations in the demand. I expect that we will experience this very often, for shorter and sometimes longer intervals. The key to our success will be our name tied to the quality of our work. I realize that a name travels so far here. The best advertising is from people who recommend us, but we’ll also make a scene with our storefront and publicized bike advocacy. This past week was efficient, productive, and set a precedent for the positive rhythm this business can embody – something we’ve tasted at times before. It justifies our labor, makes us feel that we are good enough, that we are earning our living, makes us believe in our potential and in what all this could become.

Quick updates on the workers (we are phasing out of referring to the trainees as trainees, and instead as workers, because they are earning this title):

Miriam:
During the shop organization phase, Miriam took to cleaning and organizing parts – bottom brackets, headsets, hardware etc. She did an awesome job on a much needed task, but I observed that she felt kind of pushed out of the workshop by the men – not deliberately by them, but I think she felt “in the way.” At that time we had only two functioning workbenches, and the mechanics were working in pairs. (Though Agyen wasn’t around because of his shoulder injury, so it was just Miriam and the boys – Sule and Julius.) Miriam had told me that she would like to work on her own bike at her own stand. It became one of my goals to work and make this happen. This prompted the building of the heavy workbench. For the past week, Miriam has been working on her own bike at her own bench and stand. I wasn’t sure how she would do, because she never built a bike up completely by herself. The male mechanics were very supportive of helping Miriam to gain more experience and confidence in the workshop. Little did I know that she would build the bikes faster, cleaner and more systematic than the boys. Miriam never ceases to impress me. The two bikes she built this week (each mechanic averaging about 2 – 3 full bikes a week) were excellent. Her rotational system adjustments were right-on, cables routed well, good brake and derailleur adjustments. (The bikes, as the bikes built by all of the mechanics, need to be checked-over by me before they are released to customers. I usually put in about 30 minutes to an hour of fine-tuning adjustments, test-riding, etc., so there’s still a ways to go to increase mechanic skills, but more time at that. We’ve only been working on bikes for 3 months, and we’ve got about six to go before I leave.)

Agyen:
About one month ago, Agyen got into a bike accident with a car. Probably around 8:30 pm, he was cruising down the main road in his town and a taxi u-turned into him pushing him off the road – scraping the hell out of his arm and giving his shoulder a serious hit. He came into work the next few days, and I could see that he was troubled, though when I asked he told me he was fine. Then he didn’t come one day – he called me in the afternoon and told me he was in the hospital waiting to see a doctor. It turns out that there was injury to Agyen’s shoulder. He was advised to not use his arm for a few weeks. Agyen took a break from the work and only recently returned this week. Now he is doing better, back to his old antics – disturbing Maude and Miriam in good fun – everybody’s little brother. Also back to working on bikes. I’ve got the plan to work with Agyen to check-over built bikes before I look at them, because I don’t always have the time to put into the bikes. Agyen values precision in his work, also, he can test-ride the bikes. If he can check-over the built bikes, this is one more shop dependency on me that is reduced. After building the heavy bench, we set-up the pipe and tire bike stand – one jaw facing the bench, and one jaw facing a pile of parts. Well, this pile of parts has been put away and now is a clean space rimmed by organized shelves – just enough space to work on a bike. We now have four operating bike stands – each mechanic to a bike – beautiful efficiency. We are going to build a small mobile toolboard/box that will hold the core tools. Right now, Agyen is sharing tools with Miriam, which is working, but it would be better to set him-up with wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.

Sule:
During the initial training with the 12 trainees, Sule was working 24 hour shifts at the shell station every other day, so he could only attend about half of the that training, which was more like one-third. It was Sule’s character that made this appropriate. He is a fighter for Freedom and Justice – the words inscribed into the big Ghana independence monument in Accra. He’s got fire inside of him. At any one of our shop meetings, when I ask the question: does anyone have anything to say about that?, Sule is the first to speak, to open the discussion inviting others to join, he is an important member of our group. There is some small antagonism between him and Julius, though I see this antagonism becoming a playful expression of respect, which I’m grateful for. They are two strong personalities. I talked with Julius about it and he said he would never let it escalate to damage the shop dynamic (I trust Julius on this cause he’s so amazingly reliable.) As a mechanic, Sule has lots of intuition and enthusiasm to get bikes built. I am working with him each day on and advising him on the bikes he builds, to give him a demonstration and an explanation of bike systems, stuff he missed from the first part of the training. I’m feeling confident about his level of bike understanding at this point, but there’s a bit more to go, as with all of the mechanics. Since we’ve become more efficient building bikes, it allows more opportunities to learn more things and to develop understanding and technique with practice. This will hopefully lead us to a point of practical competency and theoretical knowledge that can be expressed, in, say, an exam (score only to test one’s own knowledge, not to rank mechanics). We’ll build up to it. I want everyone to do well, so I’ll help them to thoroughly know the work.

Julius:
From the first day that the trainees saw the shop, I knew Julius had my back. I remember it was July 1st, after the wheelchair basketball match – I was exhausted (the container un-loading happened well into the previous night) and as we were casually chatting, trying to imagine the drab brown metal door garage style stores with dirt, weeds and rocks in front become a fully functioning wheelchair accessible bike workshop. I was lightly overwhelmed, and Julius said to me, straight into my eyes from deep behind his own, if you need help with anything, call me and I’ll come. Julius did come, continually, reliably, even on a Saturday to build the workbench. When deciding the timeframe of the workday, Julius suggested 7am to 7pm. I was on the part of the majority that voted on an 8 hour workday. Often when I stay late, Julius will stay with me. In terms of mechanics, Julius is good and systematic, though there are still some areas that need to become stronger. Julius is a craftsman, a kente cloth weaver, an amateur metal-worker, a shoemaker, a carpenter, a designer, a problem-solver. Julius always tells me that he can make anything. He will just think about it for a few days, figure it out, and build it – with a ferver he describes as complete, to the point that when he starts his work nothing can pull him from it, not even his loving wife (a wonderful woman). He tells me that his small-boy sits down and watches him work, gradually learning, the same way that Julius learned from his father and uncles. Julius is my good friend. I work with him at times, advise him on problems he encounters with his bikes. I am extremely confident that in time Julius will become a tremendous mechanic, forming a backbone of skills for Ability Bikes.

Torsutsey:
The sales staff, Maude and Torsu, are doing their best to run the business, considering how extremely abstract this is until there is plenty of practical work to do. I am trying to give them a lot of encouragement to take initiative on determining what needs to get done to build this business, and whenever possible practical business related work, but so often I’m drawn into the workshop and the bikes, supporting the mechanics. Maude and Torsu have been dealing with most of the bikes sales and repair sales, asking me about final prices on bikes, asking my advice on repairs (though I’m bringing the mechanics into the pricing of repair parts and labor). I want them to feel the need to make money for this business as acutely as I do, and it must be a bit overwhelming for them, but I think that with experience and more personal investment they will make a good team and will be able to handle this responsibility well. They have been keeping thorough records of income / expenses, and are looking forward to the business training. We are gradually developing a system of pricing – its like some intuitive process of valuing based in part on market research but much on what customers are willing to pay, and what we are willing to accept. We have allied ourselves with another bike seller in town who has hosted us at his shop on a few occasions and advised our pricing. We currently have a handful of bikes built which Torsu and I send out and lock-up on the street each morning. Torsu and I have developed a symbiotic relationship between Ability Bikes and a cold store (meat and fish freezer), that only operates in the early morning and late evening, so during working hours, we’ve got a dirt lot right on the street that can potentially hold up to 30 displayed bikes. Torsu has a strong body, and has been my partner in lifting heavy things (Torsu has one very short leg that fits into a prosthesis which is straight as a pole from his hip to his shoe, but is allows Torsu to walk and carry loads very stably.) Torsu’s character is that of a salesman, and I know he’ll do awesome once we get things running. He’s smart, and very convincing. Its my job though, and his, to make sure he knows bikes inside and out. This past week, he and Maude joined the mechanics when the sales work was low. This worked well – keeping them engaged, and continuing to build their bike knowledge and experience.

Maude:
Great woman, great attitude, great laugh. When I visit her in the house, she is always working and smiling – cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, undeterred by her disability. She is a master of her legs, held straight when walking by her metal calipers, crutches naturally under her arms. I swear she could climb a mountain with those legs and crutches. In meetings Maude is very diplomatic and finds common ground between disputes. She was recently elected by the Ability Bikes workers as their representative, and will be part of a project management committee that will meet once weekly to plan and prepare for the project and business future. Maude has been instrumental in developing relationships with the local small-business-support-agency, with the church neighbors who let us use their toilet, and with customers who love and respect her confidence and kindness. I’ll tell you, we’ve got an awesome group of people at Ability Bikes. I’ll do everything in my power to develop the ideal conditions for all of this amazing potential to find full expression in the business. Maude and I have developed a no-fail bike pricing system. We just add 5 cedis to the price that we want, because psychologically, no self-respecting Ghanaian will pay the first price they are given – there must be a reduction. If we see a bike worth 50 cedis to us, its 55. We might sell it for 53 or 47, but in the negotiation, there must be a reduction. I’m going to try and focus more time with Maude and Torsu these next few weeks. If all goes well, we will be attending the accounting and business management training in mid-December. We need to prepare for the next container, get our finances in order, project a budget, so many things. I’ve made an effective push with the mechanics to develop the workshop and allow their work to flow. I’ll give them the chance to run with it during the next week while we focus on business development.

10/23/08

2008-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Definitely an interesting change of tone in the training for me, and I think also for the trainees. Monday we renewed our purpose and discussed the vision of the business – what it will look like in one year. Each person brought out their ideal, and I could see these ideals become resolve on the faces and in the general attitude over the past few days. Their new resolve has strengthened my own, as I hope mine will now strengthen theirs.

I see it as critical to be fluid regarding the structure of the training and start-up of the business. Fluid meaning that as a group, we regularly speak freely about and re-evaluate our direction, our goals, and the tasks involved to accomplish those goals, and then put the result of this re-evaluation into practice. Fluidity will keep our goals and actions better aligned with the changes happening in each individual, in the group dynamic, and in the general social situation, which I believe will add to the potency and desirability of the business to the workers, and then to a consistently renewed determination and resolve among them. We have shown some resiliency so far – reaching a plateau for a number of days, experiencing some frustration, and then overcoming whatever non-specific obstacle we faced as a group leading to a tangible feeling of accomplishment. I think that bringing the training back to a semi-structured learning focus has helped. Truing wheels.

For the past two days, we trued wheels – fortunately we happened to have six truing stands. This was the first time I introduced wheel truing, because it’s a delicate process that requires some patient controlled skill. I wanted to introduce it when I felt the trainees were ready. They told me they are ready, so there it is. Yesterday, each person was given a wheel that wobbled, and despite my thorough demonstration and ongoing individual support, the wheels seemed to wobble a bit more after a few hours. Hmm. I explained ways of remembering the direction to turn the spoke wrench in order to tighten and loosen spoke nipples, but it seemed that the trainees often resorted to trial and error, with at times unintended results, leading to a general sense of confusion. I was going from person to person, working with them, and was mildly bewildered. By the end of the day, the wheels looked better, less wobble, good. We continued yesterday with the same wheels – each person starting with fresh attention, and gradually the wheels became true – the confusion ceased, a pleasant relief. Then I grabbed some newer wheels that were already perfectly true, gave each one a specific (small) wobble ranging on six consecutive spokes, and let the trainees apply their technique. In a relatively short period of time, each wheel was true, and the trainees got the chance to try and true their technique. It was a generally positive day that felt like a small breakthrough. Each trainee did something that requires concentration and skill, and it’s not something that every person can do. I’m told that many of the bicycle repairers in Koforidua do not competently true wheels – there are specific repairers known for their skill who get consulted for the difficult jobs. The trainees have proven themselves.

Especially Miriam. The first day of wheel truing, Miriam finished first. This is partly due to the fact that I put a bit of time in to straighten her potato chip wheel – not sure how that happened. I gave her a head start on the others by leaving her with less intense wobble. So I wasn’t sure if she really knew what she was doing or if she was just lucky. I then gave her a new problem on the wheel that included radial truing. In 20 minutes, she was done. I check the wheel, perfect. I congratulate her, and she beamed. I think that Miriam had her confidence shaken about two weeks ago because she is the only female designated as mechanic, and that the other three male mechanics kinda take over the run of things in the workshop. The mechanics have been working mostly in pairs at this point, though sometimes individually. The men will tend to dominate the process, and let Miriam watch and assist where she can. We talked about this as a group and I appealed to the men to recognize Miriam’s position as the only female mechanic among men who mostly have previous mechanics experience, and to give her the chance to lead or at least have equal work, and for the entire group of mechanics, men and women, to actively learn from and teach each other. The dynamic in the workshop was more egalitarian after that meeting. Anyway, Miriam did an excellent job on the wheel. Yesterday, I gave her a new wheel which she trued in record time – I was convinced. She knows what she’s doing. I gave her a wheel to dish – 20 minutes later she tells me she’s done. I check it. Right on. I look at the other male mechanics, faces sweating, eyes squinting, hunched over their truing stands, trying to alleviate the incessant wobble, and I tell Miriam that she did a good job. Miriam then went around and helped the others to complete their wheels, which they did. We all talked about the experience of truing wheels, and we felt satisfied with the day.

We also are framing the shop budget – developing a strategy to manage the money we’ve got, to build-up and sell the bikes we’ve got at a rate that will allow the shop to finish paying the landlord for the two stores we already occupy, and to give us a comfortable cushion in reserve for the next container, while still paying training stipends and engaging in essential workshop developments. It is really cool to engage in this problem solving with Maude and Torsutsey. This is practical experience for them. I like not being the mastermind, and sharing the thought process. We’ll continue today, and keep this boat a’sailing.

Oct 2, Oct 11

2008-10-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday Oct. 2nd
Today, we were a bike shop. It feels amazing. The whole character of the training has changed since Monday. We are now a group consolidated down to only those who are serious about the work. Monday, we had a meeting about the norms and the plan for the rest of the training and we defined sales/mechanic roles. We also began fixing some bikes and I introduced the accounts to the sales folks – Maude and Torsutsey, both computer literate and mathletes. The mechanics started working on bikes. Tuesday was a Muslim holiday – the end of Ramadan. I heard on the radio that it was against the Muslim law to fast on this day. It was a party in the streets – big flatbed trucks rolling slow filled with sound systems and stacked speakers took over – young people dancing to the beat and to the elevated energy everywhere. Social control dissolved into the chaos of humanity – beautiful. I was working on bikes with Adjen, and left the shop at dusk – we pull out into the familiar streets now a flood of people not looking out for bikes, we walk the bikes a bit, and then cruised home. By the way, home for me as of next week will be a great little apartment at the foot of a mountain – plenty of land for a garden, peace, winding down after being wound up, at times. Yesterday was also good – we set out a list of critical responsibilities that need to be accomplished, bikes to be fixed, parts to be organized, and everyone got to work. There was also a torrential rain and a small flood. I began to outline the structure of the future accounts with Maude and Torsutsey.

Today though, Torsutsey wasn’t in, cause he sells beads at the bead market every Thursday, but since he is so good, we accept this day off for him. Everyone else came though (including Sule – he quit the Shell station) and we began the day with a discussion of the potential name for the business – a lot of good ones and we’ll chew over them the next few weeks before we decide. I imagine a conglomeration of words with some reference to peace, unity and joy – the popular suggestions. We then got to work – finished a bike left over from Wednesday, started and finished another one, and nearly finished a third. We had a good rhythm today, and a few customers. The trainees are beginning to become familiar with the current (temporary) workshop layout, and are cleaning up and organizing and planning the future layout. They are feeling comfortable in the space and I think that they will continue to grow into the business. I had to assert my alpha male control today with Adjen, when he was a bit out of control – we weren’t talking for about a whole five minutes afterward – until we gave eachother pounds and committed our friendship. Adjen then chilled out and focused – when he gets wound up he’s wild – super funny and energizing, but sometimes its too much. We chopped fufu together tonight as usual. We all witnessed what it is that we are doing. It’s like we’ve been preparing for something that we don’t quite know, but believe exists somewhere in the future, and today we tasted it, and we want more. I feel like I’ve climbed a mountain, and have reached the summit, and see what I couldn’t have seen on the way up. We’ve got tons more work to do, and we are preparing ourselves and taking it step by step. An amazing drive is there, but it is also mixed up with individual trainee needs and desires for financial prosperity. But that is also reasonably part of this business – meaningful, long-term employment. I don’t see the group as a single unity moving forward to some abstract goal, I see a group of different people who all have something to gain and who are trying to meet their personal and family needs. This business, though, needs to be established so that it can stand and continue without the continued presence of the initial employees. The employees as the caretakers of this entity that transfers functioning bicycles into money into the power to sustain the business and the power to do more for the disabled community in Koforidua and even Ghana. Its good to dream big but to act with a practical intention on the task at hand. Lets do one thing good first, getting this business successful, before we move in any more directions. The group is good – showing lots of initiative, and willing to work for what they want. I’m pretty sure we are developing compatible wants that makes us a team. Some days people are tired or irritable or less interested, but some days things just come together, like today.

Saturday, October 11
This past week was a rollercoaster – we made good sales, got into some good work rhythms, but also got stressed under the pressure of build-up deadlines. I realized that we are moving a bit too fast. I envisioned the second phase of the training to be like work-experience training – fixing bikes, setting-up the books, having small structured training sessions amid the wide-open chance for the trainees to get their hands on as many bikes and into as many learning situations as possible. The past two weeks of this work experience have been enlightening, and also a bit challenging. I’m expecting the trainees to take intense initiative in organizing the shop, discussing and deciding on sales and workshop strategy, and then implementing it. I realized that this is a one-of-a-kind bike workshop in Ghana, and that the trainees don’t have the reference of what this workshop can become like I do, so I may be asking too much of them too early. My experience working as sales staff at the BNB Shop in JP, working with customers, organizing parts, supporting mechanics, learning from Matt and Darrah as managers, has given me a vision of what we can do in the space that we have, which by Ghanaian standards is huge. (Most bike mechanics have little hole in the wall shops, or a box of tools under a tree.) We are already more organized and advanced than these other shops, so why not just work with it like that? (the hypothetical trainee mindset..) I now feel that I need to inspire the trainees to think bigger about the shop organization, but also about the level of skill and knowledge they aspire to. I feel that they have become comfortable with an adequate training, but I’m seeing more. I’m seeing every trainee scoring high on Alex’s Diepsloot mechanics tests, I’m seeing each trainee describing in detail and demonstrating the correct set-up and alignment of cantilever brakes, explaining the concept of brake-pad tow, measuring headset stack-height and identifying a suitable fork replacement, describing bottom bracket thread variations, chasing pedal threads on gnarly cranks, dishing and truing wheels, assessing bottom bracket spindle length in relation to crank profile for a given bike, assessing derailleur cable tension on index systems and confidently fine-tuning it with barrel adjusters, adjusting hubs and headsets with the perfect balance of pressure on the bearings, so many more skills to develop. The inspiration and energy to learn is definitely among the trainees now, and I realize that the way for me to channel this is through more structure, as opposed to less, which was a useful experiment these past two weeks.
I realize that we need to find a balance between the training and making money. Money is in high demand for us now, and it is critical that we don’t stop bike sales, however, at this point, bike sales should be secondary to the quality of the training. The training should not be directed by the bike sales, but should be run on our own learning schedule, and not on the schedule defined by customer pressure.

Today is Saturday and I’m off! I went with Adjen to visit a trainee friend (from the first phase who didn’t continue on with us) – Dorothy. An amazing girl. Dorothy rides a wheelchair with a Bikes Not Bombs sticker on it, and gets around. She is also extremely bold, dignified, strong, and fun. We chatted in her house at the top of Koforidua, literally on the base of a mountain. And Dorothy gets there and back with arm strength. Today was my first day visiting her – steep inclines, rocks, mud, uneven paths, into Dorothy’s compound. It must take her between 45 minutes and an hour of pushing to get from the shop to her house. Dorothy’s rooms are also located at the top of a 15 -step staircase. Yep, she’s tough. We chatted about the rest of the training, about family, work, about the fight that happened at the shop yesterday – very surreal and relatively benign – a drunk guy – in moments there were blows and we kicked the guy out of our space – crazy – different social norms – use force when applicable. Dorothy is a seamstress apprentice, and wanted to see if she could handle working with us in addition, cause her seamstress work is sometimes minimal. She also told me that she needs to learn how to repair her own wheelchair wheels, I agreed to work with her on this. I was strongly considering selecting Dorothy to continue the training, but she informed me that she wants to focus as a seamstress. We will invite Dorothy to join us during our wheel workshop next week, and we’ll let her come by the shop to work on her wheels whenever she needs it. Also, Dorothy sews a mean bike cap, if any of y’all are interested. Possibly a small business opportunity for her.

Gonna chill out the rest of the day and research cooperatives. I’m on some crazy wireless network in the workshop right now – with the excellent new laptop from Elizabeth Redlich – BNB volunteer extraordinaire who came to Ghana for a different program last week – Thanks Elizabeth! Tomorrow is a bike trek to two waterfalls with Adjen and another long-time Ghanaian cyclist, Richard. Shistosomiasis, I no dey fear am, a.k.a., I’m gonna swim under those damn waterfalls.

Sept 17, Sept 22

2008-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

a few more pics: www.flickr.com/photos/bnbghana

Sept 17

The training is going so well. We've moved through rotational systems, the drive train, and shifting systems, and are now on brakes. We'll finish brakes on Thursday, Friday will be a review, Monday will be another bike bulk sale (to small bike retailers in Koforidua), and Tuesday will be exams, certificates, and naturally, a party. I'm then taking a few days to chill out, contemplate the trainee selection and the way forward, and work on the numbers of the new and realistic business plan financials. The following Monday, we will resume with the reduced number of trainees for the intensive portion of the training, advanced mechanics and preparing to open the business.

I've identified six trainees who have demonstrated aptitude for bicycle mechanics, reliability and willingness to take initiative and responsibility, and the intellectual skills necessary to eventually steer the course of the business, professionally and accountably. Four men and two women. It seems prudent to hire the minimum number of employees necessary to accomplish the expected workload - if business picks up, more people can always be trained and hired. We expect to have two sales staff - one woman and one man, and the other four mechanics.

Our financial responsibility - we have hope - we can do it - but the landlord needs to be our friend. We've paid a third of the ten years up-front payment for rent, and we are hoping to raise another third in the next week as we bulk-sell bikes. We have two stores that have become the workshop and storage area, and we are waiting for the key to the third streetside retail store - which is totally righteous and connects through a secret back door into the dirt lot in front of the workshop, and has streetside mural potential. If we secure the key to that store, it'll be ours, and the business location will be set and growth will be inevitable - we've got a growing reputation in Koforidua already of being the best, and we haven't even begun retail sales. The landlord is a long-time supporter of Emmanuel, and wants to see us succeed. He is a very kind man, but is all business and wants his money. I think that if we complete payment for the two stores, he will give us the key for the third and will accept gradual payment.
The trainees down to six:

Torsutsey: public relations virtuoso, smart guy, bead seller, ~38 years

Maude: graduate of secretarial school, brilliant person, diplomatic leader, unemployed, ~ 28 years

Sule: outspoken advocate of social justice, likes hip-hop and positive vibrations, works at the Shell station, - 34 years

Adjen: invincible physically challenged cyclist, wheelchair basketball striker, excellent mechanic, unemployed tv and radio repairer, - 23 years

Miriam: woman of many hairstyles and fashions, amazing positive attitude, reliable person, conscientious mechanic, - 25 years

Julius: has the confidence of a greek god, kente cloth weaver, farmer, inventor, ~37 years

This morning as I rode into town, I heard a teenage boy state about me as I passed "freedom of mobility" - thinking on it all day -

Sept 22

OK y'all, feeling good - the sale was today. We sold about 120 bikes and made a good chunk of cash, but I was hoping for a bit more. We didn't sell any 26" mountain bikes cause Emmanuel borrowed them for his potential race in Accra for physically challenged athletes. Those bikes will come back by the end of the week, and then we'll sell a bunch hopefully meeting our financial mark. Feeling fine - just printed out certificates for the 12 who completed the 3-week course. Tomorrow is practical and oral exams and the party - we've got a good vibe together. Truth is, I'm totally impressed by some of the trainees. Maude is completely awesome, and with her crutches and charm, she managed to control 30 macho bike sellers and coordinate the core process of the sale. I was general support, making sure the landlord's brothers' cars weren't damaged, making sure the clinic people were not too disturbed by the loud arguing, intervening in minor altercations and repermanding big muscle men to keep their voices down. Miriam was the money person, and exhibited excellent resilience to male pressure. Julius and Torsutsey were on security - checking receipts and bikes before the bike sellers could leave the lot, Adjen was on digital camera duty, and Sule was crowd control. A great success. Gradually building their capacity and personal investment. They've progressed so much in the past month. I'm confident we'll get the the point of self-sufficiency.

Will post pics from the sale within the week.

Hope you are well-

8 sept 08

2008-09-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last, I left you with more to come soon, but soon became more busy, making concrete developments to the workshop and the training. We’ve begun! Its excellent. Sometimes, I think that the trainees don’t quite get the concepts, and I explain and demonstrate them in so many ways, offer lots of practical learning time, but sometimes, like today, they get it. I gave them all 100% today.

Check out pics: www.flickr.com/photos/bnbghana

To move chronologically, here’s an excerpt from a recent email of mine to Carl:

We started the training officially today. Awesome. I absolutely love this work. We delayed cause we needed to get the concrete laid and the roof built. Very successful - its a great place to sit and work outside. I've been busy, but the quality of life is high. I leave the house (emmanuels place) by 7am and return around 10 pm each day. I spend most days in the workshop organizing and working on bikes. Lately, I've been working on a couple bikes for peace corps volunteers who are buying them for 100 cedis ($) each - to raise a bit of cash for the training. I will work on the numbers this week, but we will definitely need to sell more of our current stock of bikes to complete the training and the workshop developments.

So many good relationships I'm building. There is a great gentle welder near the workshop named manpower, he's an older guy in his forties of fifties but he welds so well - when he's done, its no longer two pieces, its one piece. He's nice too, and accepts any payment for his services - I'm trying to research and guage appropriate payments. Will work with him to weld the wheel hooks and frame them along the ceiling and to build some prototype bike trailers.

There is a peace corps gal who is very excellent - in her 30's, who lives a 3 hour bike ride from us and worked with craig kalfee to build a bamboo bike in her village (she works with bauxite bead-making and supports a coop there). She rode into Koforidua a few days ago, saw the workshop, fell in love with me and Adjen, because of our bikeness, and wants to hang out more and make more bicycle connections. A possible collaborator in some capacity, and a cool woman.

Adjen rode the 50k on his own this past sunday because i traveled to visit a friend. I'm super proud of him. He said that he went halfway, and then was going to turn around, but then decided to do the full distance.

Last wednesday, we had a meeting with the trainees to prepare for the training - we talked about the schedule, the employee selection, and anticipated outcomes of the training. Firstly, the training is competitive, and everyone agrees on this. Between 6 and 8 people will get jobs, but if there are only 4 qualified people, they will get jobs, and we will invite others to the opportunity. (I'm positive though that we're gonna get at least 6 committed and competent mechanics.) We are meeting for training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 9-3 each day. The first 3 weeks of the training will be a basic course that will be valuable to all trainees, and each who passes will get a certificate. Then we will make a selection down to between 6 and 8 trainees, the others we will let go, and they will have received a valuable course in mechanics that they can apply in their lives. Those selected will continue on to do more advanced and intensive practical work for the 5-week remainder of the training, making 2 months. I think it appropriate though, to extend the training one month into the open for business phase (that will be limited "open" hours, with other time used to process the experience of running a business and fine-tune it.) At that point, if everyone proves themselves as competent and reliable, they will formally be given jobs. The intensive practical part of the training will include some business and accounting training. I will look into the best way to provide this, and will visit the government business resource we previously discussed.

Today, we did the basics of bicycle parts and tools, and fixing flats. It was a good first day. We had 9 of the 12 present, 2 with good excuses, and one who lives far out and doesn't have a phone. The 2 with good excuses are Sule and Daniel, Sule who works 24 hour shifts at the shell station every other day (but who is awesome and an outspoken advocate for social justice - the other day, a mentally disabled person was beaten with iron rods because he hangs out, sleeps and defecates on the same corner each day - he was unconscious for a few hours from the beating - Sule was at the shell station and stopped working to publicly challenge this and to call the police - his manager was telling him to compose himself - Sule is a solid and reliable person that already knows much of mechanics - he can only attend half the training, but i'll work with him to catch-up on anything he misses), Daniel who also lives far out and will come tomorrow and stay with a friend in Kof. I feel very good about how we started, and now need to plan a good curriculum - i've been engaged in so much lately, so currently I'm improvising, but will arrange a syllabus and use it as a guide. (excerpt finished…)

We continued the training on Tuesday with a review of bike part and tool vocab and function, wheel sizes anad tire compatibility. We removed and re-installed wheel, tire, tube. Thursday was an intro to rotational systems – basic theory of cup and cone, bearings and grease, fixed and adjustable sides, perfect adjustment and “as good as possible” adjustment – we then overhauled hubs in partners. We continued on Friday with more hub overhauls – each working individually with a wheel. We discussed at length the theory of locknuts and cones, and it was not easily absorbed, as I had observed during the practicals. I asked those who got it to explain it to the others in Twi and to discuss the concepts at length – it seemed to have worked, but we will go back and test it again. Today, everyone got 100% on bottom bracket adjustments. Everyone was in good spirits because the Koforidua wheelchair basketball team – both the mens and womens teams whupped Accra on Satuday – trainees sporting battle wounds – now they are the best team in Ghana.

We will cover all of the basics in three weeks, allowing everyone to benefit from a comprehensive course before we make a selection down to about 6, and do intensive practical training including mechanics, shop organization and systems, business admin and accounting, in preparation for the grand opening in November.

More news to tell, but you have to wait, cause I’m tired, and I’m going to chop and sleep. Will write again this week – enjoy the pics -

Sometime in the beginning of August

2008-08-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Adjei Emmanuel, called Adjen, physically challenged young man, unemployed radio and tv repairer, bike shop trainee, and invincible urban cyclist. Adjen had been coming to the shop to help set-up and fix bikes during the past few weeks. I remember the first time we met – I was totally turned off by him – after a Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) meeting, he antagonistically asked me for transport money – I said no and left him. The next few times we met, we gave eachother a chance, and sure enough, we’re now brothers (I go over his house and his mom pounds fufu for us both). Adjen has become the most involved of all the trainees, although all have been continuously becoming more and more involved. Adjen is probably around 23 years old, and has such an enthusiasm, vigour, and seriousness about bicycle mechanics – but he doesn’t like rules, he scoffs at them, he won’t be pinned down, I like him. We are still getting to know eachother, but our dynamic is righteous. We enjoy eachothers jokes, positive and negative qualities etc. Adjen had polio and both his legs have minimal muscle with his right leg twisted 90 degrees, but he can walk carrying heavy loads, and can ride a bicycle. I learned this about 10 days ago, when he borrowed a bike to get food in town. He was gone longer than expected, we wondered where he was, he came back sweating and triumphant with the black plastic bag full of beans and rice, he rode 3 towns down the rode before stopping to buy food – I know the hills on that route. Since transport money is always an issue, and since Adjen is a great help in setting up the shop, I thought it fair to let him borrow a bike for transport, so we set him up with an old Huffy – green fade to purple. He grabbed a top-bar pad off a bmx, duct taped it to the top bar, and rode his physically challenged friend home on the bike – the pad for the friend. Adjen has become an excellent friend and a positive highlight in my life recently – I ride with him around town and I can’t help but laugh, because he is hilarious – dinking his dull bell at cars when they get in his way – often riding as if the cars aren’t even there, then looking back at me with a twinkle is his eye, challenging me to be free.

My relationships with all the physically challenged trainees have deepened, and I’m beginning to see more complicated details in the seemingly homogenous “community” of the disabled people in Koforidua. Each trainee has different relationships to eachother and to the group, has different aspirations, and different histories with development projects that consistently “let them down” – training programs that offered no practical means of stable employment, that dissolved when international interests changed. But why don’t they just organize themselves better, muster up the will, work together and do something for themselves without relying/depending on international support? – I think they are, in a way, organizing, mustering the will, etc, but there is more to it – there are family relationships, obligations, responsibilities, church affiliations, and then informal work and economic opportunities (farming, domestic food processing, small-scale selling). The trainees are networked into so many interdependent relationships – they are not just looking after themselves. I think they’ve got the energy and the will, but they are also not careless about choosing how to invest it. I see the wheelchair basketball as an amazing statement of freedom, of never giving up, of claiming dignity and glory, and the commitment to this is extremely high. We are now at a point where the trainees are assessing the viability of the project and the extent with which to invest themselves. The viability of the project is also my main concern.

I am trying to assert the potential and responsibility laden in my role to develop a project that will stand on its own without reinforcing disempowering hierarchical relationships. I’m stirring things up to expose and publicly criticize existing dynamics of power, and to enter into dialogue on how power relations for this independent business should look. I think that I’ve effectively stimulated a shift in the power dynamic that will lead to a more equitable distribution of project power, but the negotiations are currently on. Everything is a negotiation of power here – power is not always clearly defined, so people on all sides assert their power, and negotiate the space in between. I’m trying to represent the interests of the trainees as best as possible, but I also realize that there are complicated power dynamics among the trainees and also a calculated interaction they enact with me to further their individual interests. In the end, we are people, and people are animals, and animals have instincts, so I’m following my instincts and I trust that I can mediate these power relationships, and end up developing a viable project that has the potential for self-reliance and sustainability with equitable distribution of power. My plan is to work with EEFSA to develop a system of project administration early on in which BNB and EEFSA have an equal but majority portion of voting power, the trainees initially having the minority. Within this system, there will be an exit strategy that will gradually but inevitable concede power to the trainees (employees) once the business pays back the contribution made by EEFSA, and once the trainees (employees) prove themselves competent to take control and be independent. This will be such a critical point in the project. A question to myself right now is what will the criteria be that will judge when the employees are competent to take over, and how can we document this in writing now to provide some sense of security and leverage to the trainees that this day will indeed come and will not be a perpetually indefinite period of time decided by those in power (BNB and EEFSA)? A bit abstract and projected, but relevant. I’m gonna work with Martin and EEFSA to sort through the power this week.

Thanks y’all for hanging with me during this recent lack of communication. Need to get a cheap laptop to shrink my picture files so you can see more! Then I’ll put them all online- I’ve got more to type (already written, but if I don’t post this now, it’ll be a few more days – got more descriptions coming – I’ll work on getting a computer this week-).

A bit more… Last I wrote, we were about to have a bulk sale to local bicycle repairers – we sold 122 bikes (unfixed) averaging about $30 per bike (including kids bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes) generating $3,700 for our bank account. Some of this will go to the landlord to pay toward our enormous debt, some will physically develop the workshop/stores, and the rest will fund the training stipend. It’s probable that we will conduct another bulk sale within the next month to raise more cash for the landlord and open up some space for the next shipment of bikes to arrive in November. We haven’t officially started the training because there are a lot of details that must be figured out in this early phase, but we expect to formally start the training the week of August 18^th and open for business in the end of October.

Thanks Paul Martin for the excellent workbenches! They are completely awesome and functional – the right size for the trainees – only two will be in wheelchairs, but most will need to sit as they work on bikes. Last minute, you rocked out some beautiful pieces of carpentry. They will serve as a good model for when we build subsequent benches.

Lately, we’ve been given the task to support a bicycle race for physically challenged people in Accra organized by Emmanuel – with 40 mountain bikes – to be returned to the shop after the race. So we are on a bicycle repair marathon – we got 10 bikes running last Thursday, yesterday and today yielded another 13. Theres a lot of other things that need to be done, but I see these bikes as a crucial support to Emmanuel while setting a precedent for a good collaborative relationship between the shop and EEFSA in the future. The trainees and some other mechanics are part of the repair marathon, characterized by loud reggae music.

The workshop space is coming along, but still needs a lot of work – we’ve got two benches set-up, a nice table for the truing stand built, we’re in the middle of building a 3^rd bike stand with an old jaw, pipe, iron rods, tire etc. We’re gonna give the landlord some cash this week (so he doesn’t think we have mad loot we’re not giving him) and then lay the concrete patio and build the roof over it – critical to be done before the training begins, so that we have more space to be…

The project is a work in progress. We recently had a critical meeting that helped bring out a lot of history, powerful emotions and complicated relationships – it was not an easy meeting, but now after it everyone seems a bit lighter. I met with Martin as well, and we are in full agreement about the proposed plan for project administration and the distribution of power. More to come soon – got to tell you more about the trainees – awesome people.

7.8.08

2008-07-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Another long gap of time, and so many things have happened! I’ve had some technology issues with the laptop (it stopped functioning, and its now in the repair shop in Accra), and this is part of the reason why I haven’t written as often. The other part is that I’ve been super busy, and for a few days, utterly exhausted. I’ve recovered fully, and am again in full swing, living in righteous Ghana.

Two Fridays ago, Hilda and Kwabena from EEFSA came to meet me in Tema to try to clear the container at the port, or at least to begin the process. We received all of our necessary documents the day before in Accra, and I crashed with a musician friend of Emmanuel – an interesting house – filled with young people, musicians, artists, rastas trying to make it in the tough job, music, art market. I woke up to my cell phone ringing at 6:00 am. Its Hilda – she says where are you. I tell her I’m in Adenta, and she says she’s on her way, so I get up and go. Traffic, ususal, but I made it in relatively good time. We follow Hilda’s orchestration of documents, photocopies, stamps, signatures at the shipping company, the clearing agent, and various customs offices. The day ended with waiting for authorization from the US-based shipping company to release the container as well as waiting for the documents to be processed at customs. Hilda enlisted one of her old friends to “wait” for us, a long task. The man basically hung out at customs, imposed a physical presence on our behalf and made sure that our paperwork flowed and got finished. Hilda used to work as a shipping agent at the Tema port. She knew everyone there, it was neat to see her use her contacts for our benefit – yep, we’ll take it. We resigned to come back to Tema the next Monday to continue the job. Sliding into the weekend, we went straight into residential Tema and to the bar. Hilda’s old neighborhood, and we saw her good friends, boyfriend etc. I got a marriage proposal, standard. We enjoyed, and felt pretty tight – inhibitions released.

A weekend of good times with friends, spotted with alcohol, good food, positive vibes. I then went to the wheelchair basketball practice, and was reminded why I’m here. The social scene is awesome in Koforidua, but physically challenged people are struggling to assert themselves in a society that largely leaves them by the roadside, or in the house, without jobs. I can channel my energy and effort into this project more fully – a challenge to myself, which I accepted.

Monday in Tema, we arrive at the shipping company – the authorization is in, we process our paperwork and pay the fees. Then customs, the guy who waited for us handed us our completed paperwork, awesome. The port terminal. We pull into the complex – a handful of administrative buildings in the foreground, and mountains of 40 and 20 ft containers in the background. Hilda leads the way, we visit the customs office to submit paperwork, the paperwork is returned, with the ‘hold for inspection’ box checked. Hilda is not happy with this, and the customs officer assigned to our container, was openly hostile to her, yao. We then continued the process, into a trailer at the mouth of the container yard, we see the terminal workers, Hilda hands one of them our paperwork, then shakes his hand with a few Ghana cedis. Hilda later informed me that if you don’t bribe the workers, they will deliberately delay your paperwork. We made this worker very happy, and he immediately led us out into the tar caked container yard, avoiding the paths of the monstrous crane vehicles, like enormous mechanical scorpions, to one of the crane drivers, who he coerced to get us our container immediately. Wow, that’s worth a few bucks, but the corruption aspect of this system is not something I embrace. We spend the next few hours at various trailer offices, and waiting until we are fully cooked in this enormous oven of tar, exhaust and metal containers – the whole experience though was pretty cool – a micro-universe of social relations, cultural hierarchy, competing intentions, corruption, a good education for the next time. Finally the customs officer – we swept alongside him on the way to the container, it all happened so fast. He seemed like a nice guy. He asked me a couple of questions on the way and I appealed directly to his highest values of social justice and empowering development in my responses. We arrived at the container, he looked inside, while I explained the nature of the project, and the uses for the bikes, parts, tools, random sink, and in about 3 minutes, he took our paperwork, signed off on it, and wished us well. Easy. Our trucker arrived, I helped him park near the container, and then waiting for Hilda to finish collecting paperwork at various offices, getting signatures and stamps, and handing out more bribes, I zoned in the truck cabin listening to Ghanaian politics on the radio while digesting my fried rice, in the generally fried environment of the container yard. I also daydreamed various fight scenarios and relationships between the action figures glued to the dashboard. I finalized things with Hilda, and then we got out.

I joined the container to Koforidua, a journey of over 5 hours carrying that weight (normally 2 1/2 hours). It rained, I was at peace. Getting near to Koforidua, it was about 8:30 pm, and I spoke to the EEFSA guys and they wanted to unload as many bikes as possible that night – cool, lets do it. We pull into town, see the guys, back into the store driveway, and take down some power lines with the highcube – sparks everywhere, (insert obsenity of your choice). A bit scary, I’ve heard horror stories of powerline accidents in Ghana, but we stayed cool, got the electric company to turn the electricity off, and clear the lines, and then we started the job around 9:30 pm, without lights. We had one flashlight and a battery powered lamp. Luckily, there was moonlight. We worked until 2:30 am, and finished the job, filling the two rear stores. I did my best to organize the goods – we managed to separate adult bikes from youth bikes, and to keep the parts and tools all in one location. An excellent job done under the circumstances. I slept around 3:00 am, and woke at 6 to pay the electric company as they reinstalled the power lines – 20 bucks damage.

I stayed awake with tea and coca-cola and filmed the wheelchair basketball match between Eastern Region (us) and Asante Region (them) – the mens team won and the ladies team met defeat, with all the appropriate drama and glory. It was actually an amazing day, and I was given the chance to weave myself into the lives of the players, the potential trainees. I had spent the previous weekend working with Eric to repair the disfunctioning sports wheelchairs. We flipped tires, patched blowouts on tubes, cut pieces of old tires to cover gaping holes in tires to prevent further blowouts, we used gravity to strategically reinstall a wheel mount (a big nut stuck within and a big bolt without), we twisted broken spokes to reattach broken footrests and to mend a broken cloth seat where the bolts had sheared off. We put at least 3 more sports wheelchairs in action and repaired the others that were already being used. Everyone thanked me at the match. I felt pretty good. I also patched a blowout moments before the match start. I then began to crash. Stimulants no longer had power over my waning consciousness. I met with potential trainees after the match, and I invited some to join me to see the stores. We arrived, and the tension of my exhaustion and my trying to reassure everyone that we are going to get the money to make the developments to the stores to make them beautiful and effective overcame me, because plain fact, the stores are not currently beautiful or wheelchair accessible. My head felt like it was cracking and my life pouring out of me, so I decided to go home and sleep on it.

I slept for about 3 days – not straight through, but the majority of the time – crazy, talk about losing yourself. This time was mixed with thoughts about what are we going to do next. What is my relationship with Emmanuel and EEFSA. How are we going to start the training without the money to develop the workshop.

I came to senses on the fourth day with a renewed sense of purpose. I started meeting with potential trainees, talking with them at length in groups and individually, visiting them in their houses, attending GSPD meetings. I went to the stores and started sorting through the tools. One of the trainees, Sule, came by on his motor-scooter (he can’t ride a bicycle because he doesn’t have any muscle strength in his legs, but he’s a hulk from the waist up, and a true rasta with an amazing positive vibe, make you smile just being with him.) His rear hub was loose – I looked at it, just like a bicycle hub. We grabbed the tools we needed, removed the wheel, removed the nuts and a cone on the one side of the axle – there were sealed bearings that had a wider inner diameter than the axle diameter – this causing the looseness. The cone on the one side jammed into the one bearing and stabilized it, but there was no cone (or room for a cone on the other side). We sorted through some small parts, found a slightly conical washer, shaved it so it fit over the axle, put it on, tightened the hub, it worked. Fight problems due to mismatched parts with mismatched parts, and make a solution. Awesome time with Sule. Another trainee, Julius (a kente cloth weaver) called me, said he was in town, and he would be at the stores in 10 minutes. Sule and I hung out, and Julius swings around the corner into the back. We slap fives and chat – mixing business with various other topics. Sule mentions that the Batik Tie and Die workshop for the GSPD is not being used currently and it’s a few blocks away. He says that he knows the Batik chairman and that we could most likely get permission to use that space for the training. Righteous. I had known about the space, but had not considered the possibility of using it. Talk with people, bring them into the situation in which they have a stake, and problems that one person can’t handle will be solved by the group. We are currently waiting on a response, but if we can use this workshop, we can pack the tools and some bikes there, set up a temporary bike workshop, and then have more time to get money and develop the stores.

I met with the EEFSA folks yesterday, and we have resolved to look into using this alternate space for the training, to marketing some of our raw bikes to other bike sellers in order to bring in some cash, and to organize a day-long program to meet with the trainees, the EEFSA folks, and myself to hash out the content and purpose of this project, to develop a common vision and direction, to voice expectations and concerns, and to develop more unity and group identity. We’ll see how things work out. My strategy is flexibility but one-pointed purpose, to pull us together and get us working together as quickly as possible. I can feel the immense power of this project. We are dealing with peoples lives, with our lives, with our society.

6.23.08

2008-06-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Pics from the bike market in Accra-

About two weeks worth of updates – here goes.

I’ll conveniently split this into three categories – the container and shops, the physically challenged trainees, and the development of project management.

Currently I’m in Accra, drinking good coffee, about to head into Accra Central to the VAT (value added tax) office to follow the progression of the container paperwork through the government offices. Last week, we went to Social Welfare to get a letter endorsing EEFSA for exemption of tax and duties from the container. The letter from Social Welfare then went to Finance for approval, with Finance sending an approval letter to VAT. This seems pretty simple, right – a challenge of perseverance and patience to be brief, but a relative success. This week, we grab the bull by the inter-modal container corners and bring it up to Koforidua. Next after VAT is CEPS and then Customs, the port. This will probably take the rest of the week. I’ll be in and out of Accra and Tema to do the deed with the support of Hilda, EEFSA secretary, who has previous experience clearing containers. I’ll be crashing with my old friends who rent a room in Tema – about 5 of us sprawled over 2-inch foam pads, packed like sardines in the tiny room. Personal space is public – I think this makes for good mental health – standard in communal societies.

Back in Koforidua, we’ve got Alex and Frank, the EEFSA guys, preparing the stores for the container arrival and getting some folks together to help unpack. We secured the 3 storerooms with a partial deposit, and we’ve got a lot more to pay, but this will come in time – thankfully the landlord is a great guy and supportive of our venture. The way we want to set things up is like this: one store on the street-side in the absolute center of town – awesome location, two stores in the back that will make up the workshops, parts storage and temporary bike storage for build-up candidates and repairs. We will also lay a concrete patio with a canopy out back, to bring some of our daily operation outside. We are still working on securing a location for a 20 ft container on-site, and possibly a 40 ft container very close-by for extra storage. For the time-being, we are going to use the front store as bike storage while we set-up the workshop and begin the training.

Regarding the trainees, I’m in love, but love is blind, so I’ll be tough and critical. They are awesome though. A formal selection has not yet been made, but we’ve got about 15 people seriously interested – 1/3 women. We will conduct interviews next week to assess motivations, skills, and commitment. There are so many income-generating projects that come through Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled (GSPD), and many of them never come to fruition, or don’t last due to many complex reasons including lack of continuous funding, lack of market for products and lack of commitment and effective leadership. Many physically challenged people have found small niches in the local commerce market in which to generate a modest living such as running a small store or selling food, crafts or services. Others have paid employment as teachers or IT technicians, while still others are in school furthering their education for better job opportunities. Many don’t have any work, sometimes due to the extent of their disabilities, and many are in the street begging – less so in Koforidua, more so in the bigger cities. This project has generated a lot of interest, but if we are going to stick to it, make it happen, make it sustainable, who will be the ones with the long-haul commitment? –definitely a collaboration of EEFSA and the physically challenged stakeholders.

I see the success of the project from two angles – the measurable and the un-measurable. The measurable are the physical workshop set-up, the location related to market demand, the ability to get bikes, fix them well and sell them, the quality of the training and the level of skill and knowledge the trainees acquire, the structure and strategy of effective business management and marketing. The un-measurable are the relationships, the extent to which people are committed to the project and have a direct stake in its success, the extent to which people trust each other and the management, the level of effective communication between interest groups within the project, the balance between independence and cooperation, the amount of responsibility people are willing and able to take-on, which relates to their skill development and self-empowerment, among other things.

Both the measurable and the un-measurable are critical to the success of the project. If the measurable is in place, this does not guarantee that the un-measurable will be, and vice-versa. This project for me is a balance between the two – making sure things get done and employing participatory methods wherever possible in order to accomplish the measurable, but being continually aware of the quality of relationships being established, the dynamics between the project stakeholders and interest groups, and assessing the human component of what this project means to people, and guiding it to become something that all stakeholders will be willing to sacrifice for in order to see succeed, grow and develop. The un-measurable cannot be directed, but it can be facilitated, stimulated to grow.

I met with the potential trainees at Jackson Park, their wheelchair basketball training grounds. I sat-in while they conducted their regular meeting, hashing-out the relationship between the basketball team leadership and the leadership of GSPD, and making plans toward the July 1st competition between Eastern Region (our team) and Asante Region. We discussed details of the project with many questions about how the training will be organized. The interest and motivation seems strong and genuine now. We will work with it and see how it evolves. We expect the training to begin mid-July, and will have a succession of meetings and preparatory workshops leading up to that time.

The development of the project management is complicated. I’m caught-up in the day-to-day impressions and need to step back and see the project from the broad perspective – a balancing act of emotion and reason. I am doing my best to work effectively with EEFSA folks, and we are making progress in terms of sharing responsibility, establishing work-roles and project leadership. We are organizing a project task force that will be composed of Martin, Alex and Frank from EEFSA (Emmanuel when he is available), myself from BNB, and two representatives from the trainees. This will be a temporary leadership committee that has upon it the task of organizing the project efficiently and effectively. At the end of the training, more management power will be granted the physically challenged mechanics, the primary stakeholder of this project.

6.8.08

2008-06-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

I met more of the potential trainees, one in Accra outside Kwameh Nkrumah Circle – a major center of informal commerce – and the others at the regional meeting for the Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled in Koforidua. I can say that the entire project has taken on a new dimension, a group of real people that have something tangible to gain. The threads holding my devotion to the goal of the project have now become ropes pulling me closer to people, their lives and situations.

Adarkwah, a change-maker, literally (quite possibly in more ways than one), sits in a plastic chair behind a weathered wooden table bearing short stacks of coins amounting to just less than 1 Ghana Cedi. Adarkwah profits from the need for informal transportation vehicles to provide change to their passengers. Vehicle “mates” jump from slowly moving vehicles to offer Adarkwah a cedi for a stack, reuniting with their minivans through its side door as they yell “away!” Adarkwah strategically positions himself in the belly of the beast – at the roadside of one of the most traffic congested locations in the city. He sits amid other sellers – oranges, bananas, used shoes, notebooks – his working family.

I sat with Adarkwah for a few hours to discuss the project with him, to get a good sense of his situation and interest. After 30 minutes I was coughing from the exhaust, wiping my watering eyes, a novice. Adarkwah sits there by Circle for about 12 hours a day, making very small but steady profit. At night, since he is an adult, he does not need to stay in his family house, so he sleeps under the veranda of an urban family’s compound house – sympathizers and friends. Adarkwah is a really talented and brilliant person, with an extremely strong upper body from years of crutches and possibly wheelchairs, hand-trikes. He asked me many questions, all rooting out the source of this project’s intention so that he can form his vision. We talked about the project, about each other, about business. Adarkwah is an extremely industrious person – he fixed a mirror seller’s sandal as we discussed with his small array of shoe-repair tools, a new trade he is learning to supplement his income. A secondary school graduate, why wasn’t he given a chance to live better? Why was he brushed aside by the job market, unable to compete with the hordes of unemployed able-bodied people? (Many of my old friends, just finishing secondary school in their mid-twenties, are contemplating their futures as they spend mornings visiting different industrial sites and factories looking to be picked up by these companies for 3-4 dollars a day, consistently being turned away. There’s a Japanese company that hires for 12 hr days and no break, but my friends would prefer village poverty to what they term “slavery for 3 cedis a day.”) The job market in Ghana is not easy. Especially for people that look different.

Adarkwah will come to stay in Koforidua for the duration of the training, and if selected as a mechanic, will generate a good salary to rent his own room, with a bed.

Yesterday morning, I came back from the previous day’s laboring in Accra consisting of traffic jams, banks, money, urgency and lateness – not my favorite combination of things, but I happily pulled back into Koforidua an hour before the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled regional meeting – for representatives of all district branches in the Eastern Region, at least for those who could afford the transport. I went to the house, bathed, stretched, put on my BNB shirt and was off to the meeting. I arrived and was filled with such an ecstasy brought on by the amazing strength, joy, inclusiveness and solidarity shared by the people that surrounded me. People who came in all different shapes and sizes, but who were united through their care and discretion for each other. One beautiful young woman with tiny legs tucked under her body was engaged in discussion with another member over her dependence on wheelchairs. The man was advising her to see a specialist, because she may be able to walk with crutches, thus improving her mobility on the uneven terrain of urban landscapes and increasing her personal independence.

I settled into a seat and the meeting started – previous minutes, additions, agenda items, other matters, my time had come. I was brought up to the front with an interpreter (who graciously interpreted the entire meeting held in Twi for me) and I spoke about the project. Many of those in attendance had already heard of the project, and were waiting for verification that it will indeed happen, how it will be, and if it will match their individual needs. Many good questions were asked, and I did my best to explain the nature of the project as a training opportunity, as an employment opportunity in a potentially profitable business, as another voice for physically challenged people in society and as a source of environmentally and economically sustainable intermediate transport for the Greater Koforidua Area. Everybody supported the idea, many expressed serious interest in the training while asking practical questions about stipends and residence for those not living in Koforidua.

I realized that many people have never been introduced to modern professional bicycle mechanics as it exists in the US. I realized that no one has probably ever seen a bicycle stand or a well-organized toolboard. I tried to explain the ways that this workshop will differ from most bicycle workshops in Ghana, and certain individuals had blazing eyes as they told me that want to be part of the movement to bring new and effective technology to Ghana. They want to be recognized as part of something that is benefiting their society.
After the meeting I stayed back and talked with some folks who had more questions. One entrepreneurial man named Eric talked to me about being a distributor for his rural district, an interest that may in fact contribute to achieving the goals of the project to get bicycles to people who need them while supporting microenterprise for physically challenged people. This individual is interested in receiving the training and bringing the skills back to his district. In time, he would want to purchase tools and set-up his own workshop there, as a purchaser / distributer of the Koforidua Workshop bikes.
Next to Eric sat a young woman named Miriam. I asked her if she was interested in taking part in the project and becoming a mechanic, and she gladly told me she was. Yes. There are about 3 young women with genuine interest, in addition to about 7 young men. Miriam is very awesome and I liked her immediately – young, dignified, with this disarming honesty in her eyes, and radiant smile.

Then, young Eric (a different Eric) the athlete, the wheelchair basketball striker. He came to me asking if the workshop could also repair wheelchairs. Eric mentioned that many of the wheelchairs used by the basketball team have spoiled (Ghana English for wrecked), and have fallen into disuse. I told him, yes, probably, we will have a lot of really good tools, and could probably repair wheelchairs. Eric’s next question: can we build a wheelchair with gears? Since Eric is a wheelchair athlete, he would like to use a wheelchair as transportation that could handle hills. Wow, design challenge, do these already exist? Ideas anyone? I told Eric that we could work together on various projects, and that with a welding machine and a lot of raw bike parts and frames, we could get creative. Eric then told me that he is a teacher in a private school – math and science – and that he is so interested to become a mechanic and to be a part of the project. Based on Eric’s tremendous energy and enthusiasm, I think that we can accommodate his schedule. He can maybe work nights – 4 to 7, and all day Saturdays.

6.5.08

2008-06-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, backtrack a few days… arc welding. I conceived-up a project for myself to weld a frame with a bar so I can build upper body strength with pull-ups etc. On the way toward the main road in Koforidua are a number of small metal-working shops. Mostly welding gates, security grates for windows and small shop containers for local sellers to sell and lock their goods at night. I had been passing this particular shop since my first day in Koforidua and making friends with the workers. The way the shop is organized is with a master at the top and then a hierarchy of apprentices successively below, ranging in age from 28 to 16. The more experienced apprentices do most of the skilled work, with the others observing and doing more of the brunt work. One of the young guys was making a chain out of iron rod-

At first, the workers didn’t entirely trust me. We were friendly and joking, but there was a tension. This tension is normal when your carrying more money in your pocket than people make in a month with all of their hard and sometimes dangerous work. I tried to let go of these differences entirely, but the workers wouldn’t entirely let them go. A typical case of the privileged wanting peace and ignoring justice. I accept.

The arc-welding machine is homemade, wild. Metal plates wrapped with bundles of wire in a crate, connected to the electricity line with exposed copper wire. The cables – short pieces with exposed tips twisted together to provide length. The electrode a metal stick coated in flux held in the electrode clamp. No regulating electricity, just scratching the electrode to get a current and then welding down a quarter inch at a time.

I went with one of the guys, Malek, a natural friend of mine, to the market to buy square stock and pipe for the horizontal bar. We select the materials, cut them down to fit them into the taxi, and then back to the workshop. We mark, cut, tack weld, square and then weld. I’m doing my best to use the #10 lens while observing and welding. Its tricky – the other guys I’m welding with have no eye protection. They told me they know how to protect their eyes. This included blinking strategically when the weld light is greatest. One of the other welders working on a different project has 80’s wrap-around sunglasses – hardly protection. I’m feeling the effect of the light on my own eyes, and I’m sadly wondering how many of these guys are going to have eyesight in 20 years. Is it something that they just accept or ignore for survival – the fact that they are damaging their eyes? I get home a bit tired, my own eyes feeling dry and deep, I bath and sleep.

6.2.08

2008-06-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

Back and forth, back and forth we’ve gone on the storefront, weighing the pros and cons of each, and as a matter of financial prudence, and a bit of advice and inspiration from Torsutsey, we’ve chosen the less expensive location in the center of town. Our reasons for this are primarily financial – the other storefront ended up costing much more than we expected – but also the result of a visit to the site with Torsutsey, the Secretary of the Eastern Region Ghana Association of the Physically Disabled (GAPD), and local Koforidua leader. Torsutsey is responsible for identifying physically challenged people in the Koforidua area who are interested in becoming mechanics with the shop, and Torsutsey himself will be trained as one of the mechanics. Emmanuel and I will attend the regional meeting of GAPD next Saturday to meet with those interested and to discuss details of the project and business.

The day I met Torsutsey, my vision of the project opened up to include the reality of the people who will be its heart. Torsutsey, a natural leader and incredible person, came to meet me at the EEFSA office to discuss the project, and this was when we were all pasted with indecision regarding the storefronts. One was less beautiful, less expensive, more urban. The other was too beautiful, too expensive, and less urban. I wanted to see the urban storefront from Torsutsey’s eyes, so I invited him to visit me there. We joined a taxi, and in 5 minutes we got down at the junction and walked to the location. As we crossed the street, Torsutsey expertly navigated the curbs and open sewers with his crutches. I asked him if it hurt his shoulders and arm pits to move so fast with crutches, and he told me that at first it did, but now it doesn’t. Torsutsey has a similar physical condition as Emmanuel, with one very strong leg, and the other severely underdeveloped.

We got to the store and Torsustey’s face was bright as he told me that this was an excellent location, right in the center of town, there will be so many customers, and it will be easy for the physically challenged employees to get to – they will only have to join one taxi and not two (I hadn’t thought of that before, but it was a critical point). I tried to criticize the storefront and to highlight its negative aspects, and was continually convinced by Torsutsey that it was workable, and that we can make an awesome wheelchair accessible workshop here. I realize that the storage is minimal, and that there will be challenges getting a container on site (I think the best we can do is a 20ft container on site and at least one 40ft container off-site). It was settled in my mind – the urban storefront. To be discussed later with Emmanuel and the EEFSA executives…

I asked Torsutsey where he was headed, and he told me he’s going home – a taxi I asked, and he said I’ll walk. I then joined Torsustey on the way to his home, we literally passed 10 ft at a time before someone would greet Torsutsey from across the road, and someone else would slap his hand and joke with him, or talk to him about local matters. Torsutsey knew everybody, and everyone knew him, and he was loved, but he also loved.

We walked for about 15 minutes and arrived at Torsutsey’s home, a small room shared with his aging father in a small compound packed with rented rooms. Torsutsey showed me his trade – bead jewelery-making. His materials were sprawled over a small stool, and he was weaving and tying beaded strings to make very nice local necklaces and bracelets – each with one fat bead threaded over the woven band. Torsutsey’s sole means of income is selling these beads every Thursday at the large market at Jackson Park in Koforidua. Torsutsey looked at me and said, this is all I have, I have to do it. I am a poor man.

Torsutsey has a Secondary School Education, is a regional leader for the Physically Challenged, and a local friend to his whole neighborhood, and because of his disability, he cannot get work to provide him more income. Torsutsey has serious manager potential. In fact, and in reality, this project is going to change lives. I did a rough estimate of business plan financials yesterday, and with the number of donated containers of bikes from BNB and procured from Emmanuel’s other contacts, this business could thrive, putting money in the bank and paying off the rent loan to the bank and the total start-up debt to EEFSA in five years. We’re not, however, going to overestimate the business’s potential, we are going to work our asses off to make this work.

The next day, I wake up, exercise, stroll into town, visit the office. Emmanuel is going to Accra… opportunity. Emmanuel is working on getting a US visa for his daughter to join the family on their trip to the US in late June. It’s me, young Linda, Hilda in the back, Frank and Emmanuel in front. I’m sharing reggae on my ipod with Linda, reading the welding reference book Alex gave me, and enjoying the breeze and the view. You can see all the way to the coast from the top of Aburi mountain.

My plan: visit the old boss at Peace Corps, go to the tool market and get my personal set of bike tools, visit George and Samson from Village Bicycle Project (VBP). Peace Corps went smooth, though I was struck with the oversensitive security measures they took with me. Back on the street. It’s nice to be free in Ghana. I join the car heading to Accra central – the market, oh the Accra market, time to grow some skin. Get down and walk into the sea of people, sounds, smells, obstacles and cars parting the people like water as they pass. Deeper in, a row of hundreds of people holding cheap clothes looking for eye contact so they can grab your arm and try to sell you their goods. Intense but I love it. I remember my old path to Katamanto, the building material and tool market. This is actually less hectic, and organized into storefronts lining the streets. I stop in a few places, pick up a strong hacksaw, some combination wrenches, adjustables, pliers, screwdriver and phillips. I see some arc welding machines, no migs. I call George, get the directions to his place, and head out.
La Paz, a sprawling part of town with some big highways, gas stations, and commerce, as well as the VBP base. I meet Samson on the road and then see George – good reunion. VBP has increased its productivity and storage, with George and Samson each leading workshops simultaneously at different locations. I’ve got lots of questions about the bike market, and more time to ask – since its late in the day, I asked George if I could crash at his place and he was more than hospitable. We stopped by his wife’s house for a meal of rice, stew, and local tuna, and then went to George’s house in the Central Region of Ghana (about an hour drive), George’s hometown. Due to inflation of the cedi, people usually buy building materials and build houses instead of saving money in the bank. It often takes 5 – 10 years until the house is built, but in the end it is worth more that the cash. We stayed at George’s house in progress, out of the city, in the beautiful farmland. George had a bike in every room – yeah.

The next morning, we went back to the VBP base in La Paz and got down to business. George and Samson told me their strategy of selling bikes to local sellers, of selling bikes to individuals, of buying bike parts in the Accra market, and offered their contacts if we ever need to buy parts in bulk. I now have a good sense of what the used bikes are worth on the local market, based on their varying quality, and on the amount of work we put into them. We may be able to sell some bikes that we don’t work on to other bike shops in Koforidua at reduced rates. If we build the bikes up top quality, then we’re gonna charge what the bikes and shop time are worth. One market strategy is to sell bikes that are well built, so the reputation of the shop will travel and secure our customer base. Based on the used bikes that I’ve seen in the market, we will easily be able to meet our mark of being the shop that offers the best quality used bikes in Koforidua, and in the whole region.

5.27.08-1

2008-05-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I traveled out of Koforidua and down to Accra, in order to meet with Emmanuel and Alberta to discuss the next day’s interview on a Ghana TV news program. I found my way down into Kwame Nkrumah Circle (a busy part of town named after the first president of independent Ghana who led the Pan-African movement), and saw many people with disabilities begging on the sidewalk, although some had joined the ranks of the other young people selling small things on mats to earn their daily profit. After a few hours of hurried internet use, I was off to University of Ghana for the meeting.

We find each other on the large campus easily through the help of a student who walks me where I needed to go – the performing arts complex. I arrive and for some minutes observe the theater students doing exercises to loosen their bodies and voices for free expression. Alberta meets me and we go to meet Emmanuel at the restaurant. We discuss the outline of the interview, and the details – 5:30 am. The next morning, we head to the Ghana TV studio, watch members of the two main political parties debate trade and tax policy, and then we were up. A very short and sweet interview – I had the chance to say what I needed to say: the Bikes Not Bombs mission (abbreviated), a description of the project and the fact that the funding for this project is still incomplete – that the EEFSA is currently working to raise the funds in order to secure successful implementation.

We then went to the Chairman of the Electoral Commission to discuss details of Emmanuel’s 6-week bicycle tour for peaceful elections, and then to the office of the Former President Rawlings to also seek his endorsement and support for the tour.

My chance to break away had come, and my eyes lay on the near future with my memories in the past – I was going back to my old village, where I had lived for 3 ½ years. I arrived in the night, and it was magic to see the place that I knew so well, and to feel the longing subside into a deep happiness. The space, the drone of frogs in the marsh, the sky so big and close you can touch it. I saw my old family and friends. We had two full days of visiting with each other and going around to join the various events going on – local football tournament, HIV/AIDS candle-lighting ceremony, and funeral with late night dance party. I spoke my old language, Dangme, to old women, played with the children and joked with my friends. I saw the effects of the community’s hard work since the time I left – the community now had pipe-water, organized by the local water and sanitation committees, and there was a group of highly active adults and youth working on HIV/AIDS sensitization and advocacy.
I also got the chance to meet with the Board Members of Equal Chance, an NGO that I helped found before leaving Ghana that focuses on supporting financially disadvantaged youth to get education and skills training and which has provided 15 full and partial scholarships to secondary school and vocational training programs over the last 3 years. A new initiative of Equal Chance is the development of a computer training center that is up and running, but still small-scale. In time, the center will offer a faster internet service and subsidized training fees to qualified rural youth. Equal Chance may also support the projects of a youth-run HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health Theater Troupe to travel throughout the district performing dramas while founding local branches of the troupe in the villages visited.

Monday, I traveled back to Koforidua with Owosua after visiting friends in Tema – the local port city, where Owosua and I will be in about 2 weeks to clear the container through customs.

This morning I’m with Emmanuel, about to head into town to see the storefronts again, and to make our decision: the hectic one in the market center, or the peaceful one on the city’s edge. Do we compromise peace and beautiful space for more business? Will the customers seek us out from the market center (about a 5 minute taxi ride) based on the quality of our bikes and repair service? The storefront with the beautiful space will be more ideal for wheelchairs and for finding land in close proximity for extra storage containers. It is also a bit more expensive. We could always get a small stall in the market to sell some of the bikes each day, with signboards and personal referrals to our main space on the edge of the city… Bikes Not Bombs draws customers from all over the Greater Boston area, so why couldn’t we do the same here in Koforidua?

5.27.08-2

2008-05-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the two storefronts we are considering to rent. This evening, we will meet to discuss the spaces, and tomorrow we will hopefully meet the landlord in Accra.

Space 1:
In the center of town, less money, congested and hectic, less space for potential storage containers, not ideal for wheelchairs. (We would get the front storefront, and two in the back. They are small and divided.)

Space 2:
On the edge of town, but still in a very populated and accessible area, more money, peaceful and spacious, more potential to find nearby land to place storage containers, ideal for wheelchairs. (This picture depicts the front space of the shop. We plan to split this space in half with another renter, use it for the retail shop and office, and to use a large workspace in the back of the building as the wheelchair accessible workshop. The large workspace - the far doors in the second picture - is about the same size as what you see in the front.)

My current thought process is as follows: Lets invest in the space. Space 2 will be more enjoyable and will make a better workshop, and since the EEFSA has great relationships with local and national media, people will know about the shop and will come there. Also, this shop is possibly going to be the best equipped bike shop in Ghana, and this word will get around.

5.22.08

2008-05-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I visited the local bike mechanic that is close friends with Emmanuel, named Offayao. I brought with me one of Emmanuel’s old bikes to fix up for my temporary transport. The mechanics shop was a small wooden room not more that 6ft x 8ft. When I arrived, Offayao was offloading his raw materials from the shop onto the small patio space in front, throwing the front ends of the bikes over the lip of the open sewer / bike rack. The old bike I brought was a Specialized Stumpjumper that was totally beat down. I took off the wheels, adjusted the hubs, asked for a cone wrench… All we had to tighten down the locknuts were a 17mm wrench and pair of pliers to grab the spacer or cone. No cone wrenches. I watched the mechanic remove a tire with a 10mm wrench, and also find spare parts - washers, weird Chinese valve pieces, spoke nipples – by sifting through the dirt at his feet. I re-used a mangled rim strip after patching a flat (about the 6th patch on the tube) on the Stumpjumper, and I thought about the trash can labeled “tubes” outside the shop in JP. I asked for a small screw driver to adjust the limit screws on the rear derailleur, and one of the mechanic’s apprentices grabbed an old spoke, mashed it with some pliers, and gave it to me, a small screwdriver, it worked. I replaced the missing barrel adjuster in the brake lever with a washer and spoke nipple to stop the housing. I thought about all of the tools we put in that container, all of the high-quality used parts and bikes – we are going to revolutionize the bike market here.

An interesting concept that Martin introduced to me when I asked him about the danger of taking business away from the other small bike shops was “lateral integration.” We can potentially collaborate with these other shops by selling them some of our finished bikes or raw bikes at a lower cost so that they can sell them on the market for the same price we sell them for. This may prove to better disseminate the bicycles throughout the area, because many people do stick to the shops, and mechanics, they are used to. Offayao is an incredible mechanic, breaking a chain and reconnecting it with a pair of pliers, using rudimentary tools to make bikes work. He would be so much more efficient and profitable if he had better tools, and better quality bikes to work with.

The majority of the mountain bikes that are available in Koforidua are very old and cheap frames equipped with cheap Chinese generic derailleiurs and thumb shifters. The introduction of the mountain bikes from our shipment will offer a whole new level of bicycle transport quality to Koforidua.

5.20.08

2008-05-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Five days in Ghana and I’m among family and friends, with the project in tow.

I arrived at Kotoko International Airport Friday evening, blew through customs, grabbed my bags and in moments was in Emmanuel’s car driving north to Koforidua. We took a detour to University of Ghana to pick-up Martin – project manager and organizational psychology virtuoso (getting his Masters at U of G). Just after a rain, the air was cool as we rose in elevation. We were all reveling in the good fortune that brought us together and the future we were about to build. Driving to the peak of Aburi, the headlights caught sight of an owl that took flight before us.

Saturday, a meeting was to be held with the Executives of Emmanuel’s Education Foundation and Sports Academy for the Physically Challenged, EEFSA for short. Recognizing the cultural differences between Ghanaians and Americans, I chose to observe the local protocol and to be patient and let understanding seep into me gradually. Before the meeting, Alberta the media expert for EEFSA, needed to print a document, and the printer wasn’t working, so we checked out a few local Communication Centers. A good opportunity for me to get a lay of the land – and to check out the two-wheeled transportation of Koforidua. Lots of bikes, most of them tricked out with wheel reflectors, passed by every few minutes. The majority of the lot were Chinese 3-speeds, and the rest entry-level mountain bikes and road bikes. Definitely a market for more higher quality mountain bikes, with gears. There are few hills in the surrounding area. The question with the gears, however, is maintenance. All too often, 28-speeds become single speeds real quick. We’ll see…

Alberta managed to get the document printed and we returned to the EEFSA office to begin the meeting. This was a general meeting for the EEFSA, and the new BNB collaboration was only one item on the agenda. I got the chance to see the dynamics and relationships of EEFSA, and was truly impressed by the variety of skills and talents the Executives possessed (all in their mid-twenties to early thirties). I was used to working in rural Ghana with farmers and salt-miners, not with highly educated Ghanaians who have experience pulling people and resources together quickly to make things happen on a national-level at times. The EEFSA is organizing a bicycle race in Accra, the capital of Ghana, for the physically challenged, donating school uniforms to a local orphanage, organizing a 6-week bicycle tour for Emmanuel to campaign for peaceful elections in every large town of every region in Ghana, is marketing a local musician’s album that was produced by Emmanuel, and also is preparing for the bike shop. The time came around for us to discuss the shop, and we began to piece the concept together.

The project concept is as follows: BNB and the EEFSA are collaborating to train physically challenged people in bicycle mechanics and business administration, and to establish a bicycle business that will employ a portion of those trained, while providing access to lots of used bikes from the US for people living in the Koforidua area. The shop will eventually pay-back start-up costs to EEFSA and will then become financially and managerially independent – run by physically challenged people.
Koforidua is a small town of maybe 30,000 residents and is a main market hub for the whole Eastern Region of Ghana. There are three gorgeous green mountains cradling the city. I keep telling everyone that they are just tempting me too much! I need to climb them – I’ve got a few friends who promised me we would do this together asap.

So the meeting ended with good feelings of solidarity and inspiration, and led us naturally to the chop bar (to chop is to eat). We crowded around the plastic table with the plastic table cloth, ordered our food, and then consumed. My first time eating giant snails, seriously, not bad cooked. I impressed everyone with my form and finger dexterity while eating the local food. Good times with friends, but we do have a lot of serious work yet to do.

One thing that an anthropology professor of mine told me that always stuck with me, was that when doing fieldwork, don’t settle with a controlled perspective of the community you are living in, follow people into their lives at every opportunity, go where they go, do what they do and see things from their eyes. So, whatever chance you have, accept the invitation to join someone on their movements. They will show you things you would never see on your own. Sunday, I resolved to explore on my own. I got about 10 ft out of the house and there is Owosua (aka Hilda) the secretary for the EEFSA, inviting me to fufu at her sisters place. Hungry and interested, I accepted. We walked and joined taxis, crossed markets, changed cars at stations and ended up in a suburban area, and her sister’s house. I took a stroll to see the area, passed a school, a church service in action, in rhythm, and met a boy on a bike – one of the Chinese 3-speeds. At first he was leery of me but soon we were talking. I asked him about his bike, he told me he maintained it himself. I checked it out – the brakes looked well adjusted, the gear cable was not slack, impressive. He asked me for 10 cedis, and I laughed and declined his request. Back at the house I had the best meal yet while in Ghana.

We get back to the EEFSA office and I meet Martin, aka “the powerhouse” (my nickname for him), because he is so freaking smart and assertive. We decided on his brothers house as the location for our meeting, after first checking out his humble room just next to the EEFSA office. From what I understand, Martin and Emmanuel were best friends since childhood. We take another series of taxis, and end up at Two Streams at the edge of Koforidua. We meet Martin’s brother, a customs agent, in his beautiful house. Martin’s brother informs me that three of his four children are currently attending University. Wow, this is no small feat in Ghana. We have a good meeting, discuss all aspects of the project, and come into agreement on nearly every point. We discuss everything from the layout of the shop, to the long-term and short-term goals, and also supporting the development of a bicycle culture in Koforidua and all of Ghana. Martin is especially interested in seeing more bicycles being used in Koforidua to ease the traffic congestion. I mentioned the impact of rising oil prices and he said “that is it.” Martin wants the EEFSA to be involved in / develop a nationwide campaign to promote the use of bicycles as alternative transportation in Ghana and for the EEFSA to be a medium of the provision of these bicycles. Currently, the EEFSA has been promised two 40ft containers filled with about 800 bikes from Avondale High School in Michigan, in addition to the next container of bicycles from BNB in the fall.

The location has not yet been secured. For the past two days, we have been struggling with this unsettling reality. The land we were trying to buy became unavailable, and the storefronts we are considering as an alternative are so expensive and require a payment of 5 – 10 years rent up-front. We traveled around the town checking out the options and I ended up a bit concerned by the fact that the EEFSA will need to take out a loan in order to pay for the rent. Everyone involved in the project is 100% confident that the business will be greatly profitable, and that a loan is a calculated risk that the business must take. As Carl says, a grant you don’t have to pay back, a loan you do. Can we get grants in the next few weeks? Doubtful. Emmanuel is confident however, that once the training and business gets going, his various contacts in Ghana and abroad will support the project financially and with more in-kind donations of bikes.

While traveling around town, I began to feel it coming – local flu, damn. Spent last night with body pains and running nose, slept most of the day today spinning with the question of the location. Got up, bathed, took a walk with DK, a young guy who lives in Emmanuel’s house, strolled around the neighborhood, visited a friend in search of one of his cds, and then walked passed the EEFSA office – on the street in full action was Emmanuel, Owosua, Alex, and the rest of the crew. Emmanuel says “lets go.” I hop in the car and we are off – taking care of some minor business (tv antenna) and then to meet the landlord of one of the storefronts. We show up at the location, which I had seen before, and we got a close look at it. The storefront is right in the center of town – walking distance from the main market station, which is critical for business. At first I was particular to the other storefront that we visited – brightly colored, spacious, but on the edge of town and more expensive per year. This second location is beginning to look promising. We are standing outside waiting, and then a Mercedes SUV pulls up – the landlord. He comes out and is smiling broadly, shows us the rooms, which are: one storefront facing the main road, and two in the back. The one in front can serve as the retail shop with bikes displayed on the sidewalk, and the two in back can serve as the workshop / storage area. We asked about putting a storage container on site, and the landlord said it would probably not be possible. We will meet the landlord again within the week to bargain the price, which we believe will be reduced because of the landlord’s deference for Emmanuel. Our current position is: do we rent the storefronts and find a separate lot to put storage containers? Or do we keep looking… We have until June 11th.

Prep for Ghana - Setting up blog

2008-05-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody-

Here's my blog address - pretty easy!

Just doing the preparations etc for the trip on Thursday.

Hope you are all well-

Peace Out

David