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The Power of Bicycles: Stories
Return to Roderick's Family:
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 F.K. Day, World Bicycle Relief president, visits a rural school in Zambia where there had been a bicycle distribution 4 months before |
The School
On the way to Roderick’s home, we stopped at the school where we had done the bicycle distribution 4 months before. This was the distribution where we met Phinimore Choongo, the Caregiver, because he received a bike. Through Phinmore we met Roderick and Nathan.
Four months ago, 75 bikes were distributed to Careworkers on the raggedy turf and sand playground in back of this rural cinderblock school. The school had been welcoming and generous in hosting this distribution, and many of their students participated in the celebration.
This school is 1.5 hours out of Lusaka, the capital and primary city in Zambia. The first hour is spent on rugged two-lane asphalt, passing increasingly smaller farms and wild brush, and the last half hour is spent on diminishing dirt roads that drizzle off into paths more than roads that only 4WD vehicles, and bicycles can pass. Mud huts and small farms and scrub are the landscape.
 Webster is better able to care for families like Roderick's with a World Bicycle Relief bicycle. |
This small school serves 1,100 children.
We met with the Headmaster in his office, along with some of the school staff. The room was the size of a large closet with worn school material, soccer balls and maps all over the place. Maybe the maps are used to show the kids hope.
I do not know how we all fit in to the room. There must have been eight of us, and then they invited the student head prefects, a boy and girl, both wearing ties, to meet us. They stuffed in, formally shook hands with all of us, and then departed.
The school rooms were the size of a school bus with 80 to 90 students in each. Most were in makeshift desks, the rest were on the floor at the foot of the teacher. The rooms reeked of sweat, and faintly of urine and earth. The kids were eager and responsive when asked to stand and greet the visitors.
The headmaster was particularly proud to point out that they had raised money from the community to pay for materials, so that the local community could build all of the desks. “We have to get these children off of the ground if we want them to learn and respect learning.”
 Roderick was away fishing for food, leaving his family at home. Able, Cecilia, Dave, Kenon and Mumba fear for their brother's well-being. |
Visiting Roderick
We arrived at Roderick’s home, but there had been a miscommunication. Roderick was not there. He left the day before to try to catch some fish so that he could trade them for food.
February and March are a lean time for many families. It is the time between dwindling food stocks and beginning to reap the next harvest. It is the between time, when bellies are most hungry.
Fishing trips like this usually last two to three days for Roderick, and require him to leave his siblings at home in the care of his younger brother Mumba. Roderick would normally borrow a bike and ride off to the river and fish, then cross the river and trade with the villages on the other side. Through RAPIDS and World Bicycle Relief, Roderick was eligible for a bike and received one in October.
With Roderick gone, all the siblings were there except for one of the young sisters who was away playing with a friend. Roderick is 18 years old and Mumba 15; Dave is 12, Cecilia is 10, Able is 9, Ronica is 8, and little Kennon is 7 years old.
 Webster (left) and Phinimore care very deeply for the children in Roderick's family. |
Mumba attends a school about 2 miles away. When Roderick is gone, Mumba must stay home and care for the family. He is in his fifth year, and his favorite class is science. He is proud because his older brother only made it to his fifth year before he had to leave school entirely and care for his brothers and sisters. I asked Mumba how Roderick felt about being passed by a younger brother, and Mumba replied that Roderick is very proud of him for this accomplishment and wants him to continue. Mumba wants to become a teacher.
The family uses the bike a lot for travel to school, markets, water and getting around. Mumba likes the bike best because it is fast.
They are all worried when Roderick leaves and they are left alone. The fishing is dangerous and they worry that Roderick won’t come back. They all miss him terribly. A year and a half ago, when their mother left for the last time, she was suppose to come back but died instead.
While Roderick is away, they pass the time by telling stories. Dave was acknowledged as being the best story teller. I asked to hear a story, but Dave was too shy.
 Roderick's family with F.K. (left) and Abson Kafiswe (center) of World Bicycle Relief. |
Mumba has a girlfriend at school but won’t tell us her name.
I asked if they had any messages for my brothers and sisters in America. They asked me to pass on their regards, and that they wanted to see them.
During our visit, the children were a huddled cluster of young, torn humanity. When their arms were not around each other, then knees were touching or elbows or shoulders. They all seemed to lean in on each other like crooked poles on a teepee. They were a “one,” just as a melody is a one. As I watched them in the sharp shade of a scrub tree, it stuck me that in a short while, we would return to Lusaka, and they would remain in their one-room hut, missing their parents, worrying about Roderick and not know where their next few meals would come from. I looked at the youngest of the children, smiling, embarrassed and curious, and knew that without the assistance from Phinimore and Webster there would be a high degree of likelihood that one or more of them would die quietly within the next year, and the teepee would break a little bit more. There is hope.
As a thank you for their time, we brought food to the family.
 Webster (with Leme in his arms) now cares for Roderick's family, having taken over from Phinimore, now working with World Vision. |
Phinimore and Webster
When we first met Roderick, we were lead there by Phinimore, who was the community volunteer Caregiver for Roderick’s family. Since then, Phinimore has been hired by World Vision Zambia to manage the World Vision Child Sponsorship Program in the district, which includes 510 children. He was very humble about this amazing promotion and stated his commitment to care for and protect the children he served. His gentle strength will touch many children who have seen much sorrow.
Webster is Phinimore’s replacement supporting Roderick’s family. We met Webster as we were driving in. He was crossing on a path with his World Bicycle Relief bike that he had received 10 months ago. His 3-year-old son, “Leme,” was sitting confidently on the cross bar.
Webster is tall and fit for a Zambian. He is 39 years old in a country where the life expectancy is just 39 years. He and his 29-year-old wife, Finestas, both work in simple farming and maintenance jobs in the community. They have two other sons, Warren, 14 years old, and Clinton, 12. Webster is the oldest of 6 siblings (including one sister) ranging between 18 and 39. Webster and Finestas trade off caring for their son Leme depending on the needs of the day.
I asked Webster how long he had been a Caregiver, and he said he has been one all his life. Even as a child he always helped other children. He said that his childhood had been very difficult but would not elaborate. I can not even imagine what “very difficult” looks like in light of the many difficulties that are common in rural Zambia. He and his family are poor. His generosity of time and spirit is rich.
There are no quick fixes to disease and poverty. But there are just people like Phinimore and Webster who give deeply of themselves to help people like Roderick fight for the future of his siblings. They are heroes to me.
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