Campaigns - Bikes for Chiapas
[Bikes | SOA/WHINSEC | CAFTA | Cajibío]

Bikes for Chiapas is a collaborative project between CUSLAR, Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBs), and Schools for Chiapas (San Diego, CA). The goal of the project is to support the autonomous, indigenous health and education systems in Chiapas, Mexico by building bike repair shops, donating thousands of bikes and tools, and teaching bike repair autonomous leaders. We aim to donate 5,000 bikes over the next five years and will distribute them among teachers and doctors in the five regions of the autonomous municipalities of Chiapas, Mexico.

Hundreds of used bicycles are donated by members of the Ithaca community. Under the direction of the knowledgeable RIBs staff, volunteers refurbish the bicycles into good working order. We also partner with organizations in Chiapas to coordinate the shipment of these bikes to those who could use and would appreciate them.

In December 2003 and January 2004, we were part of a delegation to Oventic, Chiapas. You can see pictures here.

On February 26, 2005, we had a dinner in celebration of the arrival of the Bikes for Chiapas caravan that will eventually make its way to southern Mexico. The dinner was well attended and the pastors spoke eloquently about their efforts.

If you are interested in getting involved, there's a lot that could be done -- wherever your strengths lie, we can use them!

Get in touch with us at cuslar@cornell.edu or (607) 255-7293.

• Volunteer in the RIBs shop, fixing bikes (no experience necessary!). Contact the shop at (607) 256-5355 or RIBs@clarityconnect.com.
• Help raise funds for the project - sponsor a bike for just $10!
• Advertising and outreach - get the word out!
• Help identify, and keep open our dialogue with, partner groups in Chiapas
• Plan the logistics of the bike shipment
• Travel to Chiapas to teach basic bike repair there after our shipment
• We are short on storage space ... do you or someone you know have access to someplace that Bikes for Chiapas can be stored short-term as they're repaired and made ready?
• Anything else you're good at or would like to do!

• Schools for Chiapas
• Recycle Ithaca's Bikes
• Zapatista Army for National Liberation
• Chiapas Indymedia