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Tools distribution
Village Bicycle Project distributes tools in three ways. (one-day
workshops, Advanced Class, wholesale and direct sales)
Every time we do a one-day workshop in a new village we leave a tool kit
with the community to be made available to all who attended the class.
The tools are:
foot pump
patch kit
spanner set 8mm-17mm
12” shifting spanner
star and standard screwdriver
wide mouth pliers
4-5-6 mm allen keys
iron brush
machine oil
All tools have been readily available in Accra, except the allen keys,
which we've introduced over the last six years. The entire set retails
for about $12.
Sometimes soon after the workshop the tools dissappear. I know that
leaving someone we hardly know responsible for a set of tools is not
good development, but given the scarcity of tools it simply did not make
sense to hold workshops with these tools and not make them available.
The Advanced Class may be the solution to that problem.
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Advanced tools
The following chart is circulated for the Advanced class. As of January
2006 we've held nine of them, distributing more than 900 tools. Tire
pumps are the most popular, 132 we sold in the villages, proliferating
the ability to keep your tires inflated!
The "Tools from Accra" include all the tools that we donate to the
community when we hold the first One-day workshop, except for the spokes
key. Spokes adjustment is considered too technical for a one-day
introductory training.
The chart is written in Ghana English, so Gas Plier is channel locks,
and shifting spanner is... can you guess?....crescent wrench.
Advanced Class Outline |
We believe that bike tools are the single biggest best thing that VBP is
doing for bicycles in Africa. Skilled mechanics are key to sustaining
the supply of bikes in good running order, and before we came to Ghana
most mechanics were using hammer and chisel to remove the specialized
parts on the used western bikes that were already pouring into the
country pre-VBP.
In 2004 we started ordering tools from Taiwan in $5000 allotments, and
our second shipment should reach George and Samson in February 06. I
wholesale to Samson for 80% of cost, and he distributes throughout
most of Ghana. On my visits, I've been taking tools to bike markets in
Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso, wholesaling them there. We have had
sporatic connections with dealers in Lagos, Nigeria and Abidjan, Cote
d'Ivoire.
2004 tools list
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