It sure was a sweet irony when Cycle to future which encourages cycle donation was actually trying to dissuade a potential donor from not donating her cycle! Our logic was while we welcome cycle donation from anyone who wants to make one, we also want people to get to cycling their mornings or even as a commute option to go to work.
Here is Jesal trying to persuade us to take her fairly new and almost completely unused cycle and us trying to convince her that she shouldn't be donating and instead riding it. Her logic was the cycle was lying unused for nearly two years from the time it was bought and after one shift to another city it still was not used and now that she was shifting to yet another one she would rather give it away and let it rot in another place.
With great reluctance we had to accept the fact that she was right. This has been experience of most people who can afford to buy a fairly high end bike and after the initial excitement wears of let it rot in the garage or basement of their apartment building. Even to donate most cycles would need repairs which is another dissuading factor to touch a discarded cycle which will eventually be cleared and sold to a scrap dealer as rotten junk metal.
Picking up her cycle from her home was also a challenge as the donor Jesal lived 40 km away from cycletofuture's office. Once again the modern app based services came to our rescue Using Porter app and spending Rs 870 we got the cycle picked up. And any cycle left unused for two years would have gone bad We spent another Rs 800 to restore the cycle to its original prim condition.
Think of another scenario where extremely hardworking men and women from lower economic strata who trudge kilometer's to reach their workshop or lug heavy material to and from their home as small traders would love to have a cycle of their own. It is people like Jesal with their sensitivity towards society who could realize this social issue and opportunity.
For instance the girl featured in this blog (name and place withheld for obvious reasons) walks to work in scorching sun or bitter cold for at least two km one way. A cycle is all that is an answer to her for escaping the daily walk.
The United Nations Global Compact's 17 SDGs does clearly mention that Abolishing poverty ( SDG 1 ) and good health and wellbeing (SDG 3) is possible only with such empowerment. Redistributive justice not Robinhood style justice is possible only with such gestures where the Haves could with little persuasion donate away a small portion of their wealth such as used cycle to those who have great need and no affordability in acquiring a cycle. Thanks Jesal for supporting out cause.
Want to donate your cycle? Please visit our pages for details
Interesting post