Who are you trying to help? What issue are you trying to address?

Cyclo Nord-Sud collects used bicycles (as well as bike parts, tools and accessories) and ships them to poor communities in the developing world. This way we help poor people by providing a means of transportation and a tool for generating income.
We also promote sustainable development based on respect for the biosphere and its inhabitants.

Our Bike Project helps communities in the 4 following ways:

Social justice: Support for greater equality by providing women with the means to help their mobility and jobs, and further community development.

Autonomy: Acting to promote the autonomy of individuals and communities, by transferring resources and skills that facilitate active participation in community development and improve the quality of life.

Citizen and Collective Engagement: An approach seeking to mobilize citizens and communities around concrete actions of benefit to society as a whole, socially and environmentally.

Sustainable Development: A desire to seek concrete and realistic solutions responding to community needs and having positive environmental, social and economic impacts.

What is your project and how will it help?

The Bike Project

We ship our bikes in 40ft High Cube containers to partner organizations in West Africa, Latin-America and the Caribbean. These organizations will repair and distribute the bikes in rural areas where there is a considerably lack of mobility.
In Quebec, nearly 600,000 bikes are sold annually and have an average lifespan of 5.5 years before they are abandoned. Yet they are still usable. Cyclo Nord-Sud diverts thousands of bicycles from landfill.
Giving a bike is a solid contribution to converting unused resources in the North to valuable assets for people in the South!

The Benefits of the Bike Project

We think that bicycles are a good tool for social and economic development.
• In the South, a bike can serve from five to ten people in addition to its buyer
• In the South, a bicycle is transportation for work, school, or the market (Useful to sell farm products, offer delivery services, have shuttles to health care services, etc)
• In the South, mobility is crucial to people as it enables them to improve their personal productivity (This can make the difference between poverty and a decent standard of living!)
• Bikes are environmentally friendly, efficient, cheap, easily maintained and have a lifespan of over 20 years!
• Bikes can carry more than ten times their weight and run on muscle power rather than fuel
• Bikes adapt to unpaved trails (often the only option in rural communities in less-developed countries!)

How can other people partner with you on your project?

People and businesses can partner with Cyclo Nord-Sud by:

- Funding shipments
- Logistic support in the Southern countries where our southern partners are
- Lending/donating containers that could be used as a warehouse for the bikes
- Customs and merchandise releasing support
- Donation of tools, bikes, and bikes parts
- Administration coaching for our partners
- Micro-credit system coaching
- Bicycle mechanics training
- Projects monitoring and evaluation

Please detail the resources that you need.

The resources needed for one container of 400 bicycles are:

• US$ 5000 for the maritime transportation of the container for a partner in the South.
• US$ 1500 for furnishing the bike shop in the South.
• US$ 1000 for buying bikes parts.
• Donation of one container for building a bike shop or stocking the bicycles.