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Introduction

On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake off the western coast of northern Sumatra created a tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean. It hit the surrounding countries with waves ranging from 8 to 30 meters in height. In the affected coastal regions, villages were destroyed and lives ended quickly and violently. Nearly 230,000 people were lost, and more than a million more were left homeless. The survivors faced the long struggle of rebuilding their lives, families and communities. The widespread humanitarian response to the disaster eventually included donations of more than $7 billion worldwide.

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The Beginning of World Bicycle Relief

F.K. Day is cofounder and current Executive Vice President of SRAM Corporation, the second-largest bicycle component manufacturer in the world. Over the past 20 years, F.K. has helped grow the company from its humble beginnings to its current position, employing 2,400 people throughout the world supporting a suite of brands that extend to all aspects of cycling.

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The Progress: Project Tsunami

World Bicycle Relief, in partnership with World Vision, is delivering 24,376 bicycles to carefully selected men, women, and children left in greatest need in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. The $1,516,000 will buy locally manufactured bicycles, enable us to deliver them to the individuals and their families, and provide a comprehensive maintenance training program.

Bikes Delivered

20,924

24,376

Funds Raised

$1,516,000

$1,516,000

Following the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, F.K. and his wife, noted documentary photographer Leah Missbach Day, traveled to Indonesia and Sri Lanka to determine whether a large-scale bicycle program might assist in the recovery and provide assistance to individuals and communities who had been most effected by the Tsunami. They extensively interviewed key individuals, community leaders, and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) about the need for mobility, and the response was unanimously positive: a bicycle program would work. Using his experience in the bicycle industry and partnering with established local and international NGOs in Sri Lanka, F.K. launched World Bicycle Relief. What started out as a deep belief by F.K. – that bicycles are simple, sustainable transportation that can provide access to healthcare, education and economic development - became an innovative, sustainable initiative that had life-changing results for tens of thousands of people in Sri Lanka devastated by poverty and disaster.

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Disaster Economics

Disaster relief on this scale is broken into three phases:

• Phase 1: First two weeks. Rescue victims. Provide water, food, shelter, and first-aid. Bury the dead. Contain disease.
• Phase 2: 1-3 months. Rebuild infrastructure – transportation, electricity, sewage, and security. Contain disease.
• Phase 3: 2-18 months. Return survivors to independence and livelihood.

According to observations and the feedback from relief organizations in the field, bicycles measurably assist in returning adult survivors to independence and in re-establishing their livelihood. Bikes also assist children, many of whom will have increased commutes, to stay in school. With support from SRAM and Trek Bicycle, World Bicycle Relief set out to focus on Phase 3 of the recovery.

For those who lost everything and faced the long, slow process of rebuilding their lives, viable transportation became as fundamentally necessary as food and shelter. Communities are built around family, friends and ethnicity, and additionally around commerce and the supply of goods and services. The Tsunami wiped out communities and their infrastructures all along the coast. It destroyed homes, schools, hospitals, stores, and government offices. Not only did this unravel the economic network developed over decades, it also severely disrupted jobs and livelihoods.

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The Power of Mobility

Viable transportation was necessary for these communities to knit themselves back together. Refugee camps moved people to the outskirts of former communities, meaning they were now distant from their intended homes, jobs, places of commerce and schools. Adults needed mobility to rebuild their homes and earn a wage. Students and teachers needed mobility to get to the fewer – and thus, on average farther away – temporary operating schools.

Before the Tsunami, transportation and commerce took place on foot, bicycles, scooters, Tuc Tuc Taxis (two-stroke, three-wheeled vehicles), boats and public buses. Few people owned cars, and even fewer owned trucks. Much of the transportation that existed was destroyed by the Tsunami.

Bicycles provided the transportation foundation necessary to knit communities and commerce back together. Bikes provided a cargo capacity of well over 50kg, and a working radius of up to 10 miles can be sustained. On foot, individuals are limited to a more constrained working radius and substantially less ability to carry cargo, youngsters, or everyday supplies.

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The Power of Project Tsunami

In partnership with World Vision and local government, World Bicycle Relief provided 24,300 bicycle to carefully selected men, women and children in greatest need. The selection process included basic economic and commercial needs, distance to work, and distance to schools. Bikes were a catalyst that helped these people rebuild their communities, find work, and in the case of children, stay in school.

For Proejct Tsunami, World Bicycle Relief worked with World Vision Sri Lanka and Lumala Bicycle Company. World Vision is a top-rated NGO operating around the globe on a number of important initiatives. They are one of the leading NGOs on the ground in Sri Lanka, providing relief and recovery assistance to the survivors of the Tsunami. Lumala Bicycle Company manufactures bicycles in Sri Lanka.

Here is what Project Tsunami accomplished:

1. Bikes:
   • Provide 18,335 adult bikes for greater access to jobs, commerce, food and medicine and independence.
   • Provide 6,041 children's bikes for commutes to school, help with supporting the family, fun, play and healing.
   • Bicycles were sourced locally to ensure correct specification and that recipients are familiar with bikes. It also provides access to spare parts, eliminates supply chain, shipping costs, duties, logistics and assists the local economy.
   • Training and equipping selected individuals in bicycle maintenance. This creates and professionalizes jobs, and ensures a sustainable bicycle community.
2. Measurement of program results:
   • In partnership with World Vision, we set out to monitor and measure the progress of individuals, families and communities who have participated in the World Bicycle Relief program. The expectation was that each adult recipient will achieve independence and prosperity faster and more completely than non-recipients. Further, we expected that each child recipient will be more likely to stay in school and provide greater assistance to their family than non-recipient children. This will demonstrate to governments and relief organizations that mobility is as fundamental to base requirements as water, food, shelter and medicine.
3. Communicate project dynamics and success:
   • We will actively communicate the project dynamics and success to international relief organizations and governments. Our goal is first and foremost to help those individuals affected by the Tsunami to regain their livelihoods; and second, to demonstrate how basic transportation is a vital part of the recovery process and that bikes are well suited for this role.

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Project Tsunami Measured

As part of its commitment, World Bicycle Relief retained an independent organization to measure the impact of Project Tsunami. Two years after the project was complete, the results were outstanding:

• 88% of recipients depend on bicycles for livelihood activities
• Bicycles can save a household up to 30% of its annual income for transportation costs
• The bicycle program provided critical, appropriate transportation enabling households to resume important livelihood, education and service activities

Full results from the measurement and evaluation study are available on request. Click here to download a highlights sheet in PDF format.

(For a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow this link.)

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The Power of Project Tsunami

Only time, energy, and willpower were able to move the people of the region beyond the Tsunami disaster. The contributions of World Bicycle Relief helped shorten the time survivors needed to regain their livelihood. With bicycles, we addressed the roots of disaster relief with a power in which we deeply believe – The Power of Bicycles.

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