World Vision South Africa donated 300 bicycles to the poor pupils from Malovhana High and Tshinaga High to end the pupils’ long walk to school. The official handing over was held at Masakona last Thursday.

The aim of the World Vision project was to provide transport to people in rural areas to improve access to education, said Mr Cedrick Rachuene, development facilitator at World Vision South Africa. The requirement for the project was that children should be from low-income families, must be between Grade 3 and 12, and must have the capacity to ride the bicycles.

When using the bicycles, the pupils must wear visible clothing and they must understand the basics of road safety education. They were also selected from children who walk more than three kilometres per day as a single trip to the school. The conditions also specify that the schools should ensure that the learners use the bicycles mainly for school purposes. The schools must also keep the bicycles under lock and key on the school premises during the school holidays. The learners are also expected to return the bicycles as the property of the school when they leave the school.

The school will also have the right to withdraw the bicycles from the learners who do not comply by either not taking good care of the bicycles or not cycling to school regularly and those who drop out of school within a period of a year. “It has always been our concern that many children were walking long distances to acquire their education, especially in the rural communities. Through partnerships of this nature, we can easily win the war against poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment.”

One of the recipients, Beuaty Mulala of Malovhana High, said she could not believe it when she was told that she was going to receive a free bicycle that would transport her to school every day. “I used to travel to school on foot every day and my situation at home was such that I never dreamt I would ever have a bicycle that would transport me to school,” she added. She also mentioned that she always arrived an hour late for school due to circumstances beyond her control. She walks the seven kilometres to school, arriving an hour after starting time."My name is always on the latecomer's list," she said, but her unemployed mother was not in a position to buy her a bicycle.

According to Thovhele Vhalinavho-Masakona, this is in line with the province's initiative to promote cycling as a mode of transport for commuters and pupils. “Bicycles will not only save time, but will also keep our bodies healthy as they are an excellent form of exercise. This has been proven in many overseas countries where even aged people are still going strongly,” he said.