One Bike To Change A Life

We are fundraising to provide bikes for the women that work in a cashew factory in rural Africa, where the lack of access to means of transport often prevents women from being able to work. Our aim is to help more women find transportation and get and keep decent-paying jobs at one of two cashew processing factories in Togo, Africa. Finding and getting to work for most women requires walks of several kilometers under difficult conditions on unpaved roads.  We want to provide bikes for these women so they have an easier and more efficient way to get to work, to be able to stay at work as long as they need, and not worry about having to walk several hours per day (sometimes after sunset).

We are a group of high-school students in Seattle and Washington D.C. To contribute to the fundraising, several of us have taken part-time jobs (evenings and weekends) starting in November and throughout the school year and we will contribute 70% of our paychecks to this effort. At the end of the school year, in June-July, we will go to Togo to work at the factory and present our ‘gifts’ to the workers at the end of our stay. 

Our fundraising will focus on subsidizing bicycles for workers of the factories. There are over 900 workers today and we  expect that at least 400 workers would need a bicycle. As a guideline, we expect each bicycle will cost $70 USD.

100% of your donation will go to the Cajou Espoir foundation for this project and there is Zero administrative cost ( our administrative costs and costs of our trip to Togo are all taken care of separately.). Every $ raised goes straight to the benefit of the workers. If we exceed our financial goals – we will also fund one or more other projects of the foundation focused on making it more accessible for mothers with young children to also work at the factory. These could include finding motorized transport to help those who can not ride a bike (too old, or carrying young children) or building a nursery at one of the factories. 






Meet Our Team Members - 

Elias - My name is Elias, I am 16 years old and a junior in high school. I am participating in this project to understand and appreciate a culture other than mine, but also for the service aspect of the project. Due to a lack of transportation in rural Togo, many female workers have to walk long hours to get to their jobs. So, I want to raise funds and be of service to these women to acquire bicycles, a simple means of transportation that we take for granted in North America

Omar - My name is Omar and I am a 16-year-old junior high school student. I am of Senegalese origin but have lived all my life in the United States. I would like to participate in this project because I like the idea of being able to discover a new experience in a country I have never been to but also at the same time help people in difficulty. This project would also be a good way to be able to be with my childhood friends but still also to work and serve.

Ayile - My name is Ayile, I am 15 years old and I am a sophomore in high school. I am originally from France, Togo, and Gabon. I am participating in this project because I feel it is important to not stay in your own bubble. I want to experience new things, new people, learn about different lifestyles and explore different cultures.  Since I am originally from, Togo I have visited the factory and have met some people there, and their stories are truly inspirational. I want to make a change I think this is such a great place and opportunity to start off with. 

Giovanni - My name is Giovanni and I am a junior in high school. I live in Washington, DC and attend the Washington International School. I am participating in this project as a way to facilitate access to work for women in the cashew industry. The community of workers in Tchamba is very different from the communities of workers around DC, and I would like to discover and learn about their practice, traditions, and way of life. I have never been to Africa and I greatly look forward to being exposed to new cultures and lifestyles and to interacting with them. I also hope to develop collaborative and problem-solving skills while taking on the many challenges of this project. Overall, this project is a learning, giving, and growth experience and I hope to contribute with all my enthusiasm.

Wymbia - My name is Wymbia and I am a 16-year-old junior in high school. I live in Seattle. I am Gabonese, Togolese and French. I am participating in this project because last year  I went to the factory to work for 3 weeks and while I was working there I realized that many of the workers have to walk 3km, 4km or even longer distances to get to work. I decided to start this fundraiser so we could help them. I would also like to give the experience I had of going there last year and working at the factory to some of my friends as it helped me grow a lot. I am very excited about this opportunity to make a difference in other people's lives with this project!