On my second day in Harare I was lucky enough to be taken to WBR's factory in Ruwa, in the south of Harare. The UK office had put me in touch with Gareth Desmond, the guy in charge of their Zimbabwean operations, and he picked me up on Wednesday morning as their site was out of town, about 20km from where I was staying. Apparently it's better for them as it means that the rents are cheaper and you don't get hassled by government instructors and officials as much. We chucked Tina in the bakkie as she was coming along for a well deserved service and spruce up, and set off. It probably only took about 20 mins as we managed to scythe through the roadblocks along the route.
The site is used as an assembly line where bikes, mostly built from Chinese or Taiwanese parts, are put together and prepared for distribution in Zimbabawe, Mozambique and Malawi. They break down the jobs, Henry Ford style, and with 14 guys they can assemble 120 bikes in a day! Unfortunately when I was there they were waiting on a delayed shipment so they was no assembly underway. And such efficiency is needed as some months they are sending out over 2000 bikes a month!
Me wobbling around on a vintage 2010 model. It's amazing to see how far they've come in just 7 years: there's now a 6-speed Shimano derailleur 'Charger' that has servo (car drum-brake esque) brakes front and back. These were found to be much harder wearing and lower on maintenance and replacement parts that the traditional caliper rim brakes. The one I`m one there is ancient technology in comparison, and it's exciting to see how far WBR has come in just 7 years. The next part of the WBR model, aside from the sale and distribution of Buffalo bikes, is aftersales and mechanical support. They take on, and train up willing mechanics in order to keep the bikes running and in use in the areas where they are distributed. They work with the community, and going by local recommendation, will bring in people for central training and tool kit dispensation. In order to keep the mechanics in the fold [and probably to stop the tools disappearing] the workers sign a 4 year contract. They are also supplied with replacement parts and encouraged to make sure that all bikes in their area are kept running smoothly. Below is the excellent John working on Tina. He did a great job overhauling her, including servicing the wheels hubs and retruing the wheels, and she is now ready for the next 1000km and beyond hopefully. In rather typical African style, there are a lot of people watching. I'm not sure I would appreciate such an audience, but I was assured that they are learning, as such! Tina even ended up with a new bell, in fancy matte black to match her bodywork and some Zimbabwe flag stickers to spruce things up a bit. What a lucky girl!
WBR also take care of their own distribution of the bicycles as when they are entering a community they like to go in, deliver the bikes and debrief on maintenance, safety etc etc. This makes for a far more sustainable model where bikes are kept in use and looked after, rather than becoming wrecks or white elephants, like so many aid projects in Africa often do. The key is appropriate technology I think, along with a good follow up, and I must say I think WBR have got it spot on, so well done!
I am now tantalising close to raising the GBP3000 that I originally set out to achieve, and I now feel that 5000 isn't impossible. So please, please donate to my campaign so that we can get as many Buffalo bikes out there for the health workers, students and ambitious individuals as we can. Please see my campaign link below, and thanks very much for your generous support so far!
https://chuffed.org/project/thebikewiffer
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSam Brook - A mildly Africanised Pom about to cycle from Joburg to Nairobi. Archives
August 2017
Categories |