Empowering Pedals; One Girl, One Cycle

About the Organization

Al Mehran Research and Development Foundation (AMRDF) is a not for profit, non-political, registered organization working since 1998 in Sindh on different thematic areas more particularly the Education. 

Currently the organization is managing its 10 (ten) schools in District Sanghar with the financial support of Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh which are providing free and quality education to communities. More than 3500 students are enrolled and about 300 staff are hired. 

Problem Statement

Despite several endeavors to bring all the out of school children to school, there exists a gap to be fulfilled where many students particularly girls are still out of school and out of reach. This might be because they do not have easy access to schools and the expenses for transportation is too high to bear. Mostly the students are girls who belong to middle class and poor families where they earn their bread to make both ends meet through labor, or on daily wages.

About the Initiative

In order to resolve long absenteeism dilemma among the students, AMRDF decided to initiate "Empowering Pedals" drive through the platform of GlobalGiving. In this project, most deserving students who travel too far to school, will be awarded a bicycle. At this phase, 50 girls are identified to be the beneficiary of this project. This will resolve the problem of transportation cost and they will easily come to school. Not only this, but also they would take interest in education and help them complete their higher studies. 

Financial support recieved through GlobalGiving. 

A lump sum of 500 USD has been received from our valuable donor on GlobalGiving. This first donation has helped us make our project kicked start. At this point, we have purchased five bicycles and awarded these to our most deserving students from our school namely Mehran Foundation School System Sinjhoro, Sanghar. 

About beneficiary students

1. Najma D/o Zameer Hussain (Grade 7): Najma is one of the bonafide students of this school who resides about 5 km away from the school. Her father is a daily wage laborer and she is the elder one in the family. Najma states" I am very thankful for the donor who has helped me resolve my long distance problem. My father did not have any vehicle to drop me at the school. Due to this problem, I had absenteeism issue and I was worried that I could not study more". 
2. Seerat d/o Ghulam Ali (Grade 7):  Seerat is living about 6 km away from the school. She stood first in the last examination. Her father is a daily wage worker and working hard to make both ends meet. Seerat expresses that "I could not believe how I feel now as my biggest problem has been resolved. The bicycle will help me to come to school every day and I can continue my study even without disturbing my father for dropping me school". 
3. Nisa d/o Arshad (Grade 5): Nisa is studying in grade 5. She is about to start her post primary education at school and she was worried about the travelling issue. Her family pay gratitude for the AMRDF, GlobalGiving and Respected Donors for making the dreams come true. 
4. Samina d/o Photo (Grade 2): Samina from grade two has also received a bicycle. Her elder brother who is studying in grade 5 will help her bring school on the bicycle. 
5. Marisa d/o Altaf (Grade 3): Marisa is studying in grade 3. She lives almost 3 km away from the school. The bicycle will help her reach at school on time. 

Result

We have successfully launched our drive, Empowering Pedals, One Girl One Cycle. At this stage, we have awarded bicycles to five students and will be covering more in next phase. These five girls’ students have happy to receive their bicycles and they will be coming school on regular bases. These girls will be the ray of hope for their families as soon as they receive their higher education without disturbing anyone to drop them at school. The school administration, parents, teachers, and students are very thankful for our donor, and the globalgiving because this is the first step to make the brighter minds grow. 

Our upcoming matching events

A very big thanks to the globalgiving donors who helped us grow our network and we also look forward to thier support in future. We have decided to launch a matching events to attract more donors locally. We will pick to most suitable donors to provide us bicycles for students and help us grow this cause. The local donors’ participation will be ensured while distributing the bicycles. This participation will be maintained on quarterly basis in order to update them on the project implementation.

Links:

• bicycles-for-girls-schooling