Dear friends, 

1997 has been a most interesting year for us. We have been working on many new applications for bikes flowing in from all corners of Uganda. Thanks to your support and to our commitment to respond to the never ending plight of the needy in our midst. It has been possible to distribute 819 bicycles countrywide for the months January to November 1997. 

Our emphasis has continued to be on the vulnerable women and children left destitute by the ravages of civil war and AIDS as well as the rural masses left in abject poverty by the effects of the economic structural adjustment (a World Bank programme). 

It is very sad that while a few people, especially in the bigger towns, enjoy a reasonable standard of living, made possible by recent improvements in the Ugandan economy, hundreds of thousands suffer of displacement and starvation and the human tragedy of rebel activities in the north and south-west of the country. These people not only deserve - they demand our attention: people must be resettled, rebuilding must take place as the infrastructure has been destroyed. Considering that land-mines have been planted throughout the north, motorvehicles are out of place there. Moreover, these have to be escorted by military convoy so that for the common men the bicycle remains the only reasonably workable alternative. 

This is where we come in, and the impact of our humble contribution is already been felt. 

1997 had some notable milestones for the project: 

- In March I attended an international conference on sustainable mobility worldwide in Bad Boll close to Stuttgart 

- On 20th August the project was officially registered as an NGO (Non Governmental Org.) 

- First African Bicycle Information Office (FABIO) started its activities. Thanks to the German Developement Service (DED) for availing the funds for the initial activities. FABIO aims to carry out education and research in the use of the bicycle. In education, we aim to promote and popularise bicycle use as a cheap, flexible environmental friendly means of transport. To demystify its use with regard to certain cultural prejudices (such as the myth that women must never ride bicycles) and to highlight its economic usefulness, public awareness is crucial. In research, we aim to gather all informations about bicycle use in East Africa so as to develop a library solely dedicated to bicycles open to researchers, policy makers and the public. FABIO will officially be inaugurated early next year. Its work, however, started way back in September when Michael Rau, a german student, joined us as FABIO consultant and bicycle promoter, i.e. for carrying out "Road Safety Lessons" in Primary Schools. 

From 3rd to 5th December the "First Nationwide Bicycle Consciousness Workshop" has taken place. The main objectives: 

* to get first hand informations from bicycle users 

* to discuss on capacity building of FABIO 

* get to know the various views and attitudes of the bicycle users towards the bicycles. 

FABIOs activities are numerous. They will involve public awareness seminars often using video equipment, the stocking of a sizeable library, and creating a meeting-point for the public interested in bicycle-use.