Gift of a Bike (Digital Download)
The gift of a bike provides transportation for those former street children living in the villages who are miles and miles away from the nearest school. Without the gift of a bike, they would have to walk for hours to get the education they need and deserve to make their lives better.
This is the perfect present for any avid cyclist you may know. Get on your bike and buy the gift today!
How your gift has helped Laughter Africa children in the past:
Three children who benefited from the gift of a bike are Laughter Africa’s very own three Musketeers: Thomas, Almammy and Abass who live in the village of Rorenka.
Two years ago, a woman took them from the village promising them that they were going on holiday to Waterloo. However when they arrived, they soon discovered that their dream holiday was more like a nightmare. They were treated like slaves and forced into child labour. Eventually they couldn’t take anymore and ended up in the “safety” of the streets. They couldn’t go home as their village is too far away and they had no money. Thankfully our mobile project was there offering them a helping hand and we soon reunified the three boys back with their families.
Their school is over 4 miles away from their home and they had to walk there every day. To get to school they had to be up at the crack of dawn and by the time they got to school they were already completely exhausted. They were delighted with the bikes and couldn’t wait to start riding them.
Meanwhile we provided a bike to another of our old boys, 16 year old Amadu, who lives in another village. Amadu had lived on the streets for two years before we reunified him with his family two Christmas’s ago. We met Amadu at our mobile project in Waterloo and his Christmas wish was to see his family again. So his wish was our command. Amadu’s school is over 5 miles away from his house and without a bike he was struggling to get to school everyday. Now he is attending everyday which is more important than ever as he is about to start SS1 this academic year!
We are really proud of 18 year old Lamin. He really has turned around his life for the better since we met him in November 2020. Before we met him, he had lived on the streets for four years. His life on the streets was engrained in gang culture. He was a prominent member of a gang and knew all the different rival gang members in Freetown. He lost at least 6 friends who were murdered because of the gang culture they were involved in. Lamin was even stabbed twice himself. He told us that if he didn't leave Freetown and the gangs behind him soon then he would either be dead or in prison.
In the last few years, Lamin has completely changed his life since he moved to the provinces to live with his grandmother. He decided that it was better for him to get away from all the gangs and cliques in Freetown for a fresh start. The village he lives is miles and miles away from a school. It would take him hours to get to school everyday so we bought him a bike to make life that little bit easier. The bike worked its magic: Lamin has just received his BECE result (the Sierra Leone equivalent of GCSEs).- he got 27 points.