projet IPACS

At the time of our passage through Vancouver, we met PEDAL*. We now come to the end of a too short two weeks with the incredible family of Maya Pedal, in San Andres Itzapa, Guatemala. Along with other cyclist volunteers from the United States, we have participated in repairing a few bikes, but above all we’ve lived in the midst of this organization that promotes the utilization of an alternative energy that is activated by the force of pedals.

An appropriate technology?

The artisans of Maya Pedal have made themselves apostles of appropriate technology. This consists of an affordable technology that increases the human efficiency or energy for the fulfillment of a task without bringing about the impact of conventional technology upon our health or the environment. This technology is an alternative to technology that stems from the industrial revolution, machines that use fossil fuels.

To these ends, Maya Pedal galvanizes the use of machines that are built from bicycle parts that they distribute in Guatemala at the cost of production to grassroots organizations and Mayan indigenous community groups. These groups are primarily formed of women who integrate the technology into small farm operations. Bike technology furnishes these women with more food for their family or more money from the sale of goods on local markets. Machines that can permit low income people to start a small business with a minimal investment are also developed.

And the bike machine was…

In 1997, the initiative of bike technology was set in motion by PEDAL, a Canadian non-governmental organization, and funds from CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). Maya Pedal officially became a non-governmental organization in 2001 and has been functioning without the Canadian funds since October 2003. They recently received a container filled with used bikes from Bikes not Bombs in Boston. They repair and recycle these bikes to raise funds. This simultaneously furnishes an affordable and sustainable mode of transportation to the people of the surrounding communities.

Carlos, the inventor of numerous bike machine prototypes and native of San Andres, confided with a smile that he keeps a pad and pen on his night table to draw out the ideas that come to him as he sleeps. He and Edwin, his young apprentice, work in the workshop to build the bike machines and offer repair services to the groups who own a machine. Mario, an excellent storyteller and musician in the soul, takes care of giving a complete training to the owners of bike machines and doing follow ups with the groups as well as the administrative management of the organization. Maya Pedal’s Board of directors is composed of seven members from the grassroots organizations who live the experience of the bicycle machine.

Maya Pedal, through its machines

During our stay, we did a tour of a few grassroots groups who use bike machines. All these people received us with open arms, with a touching hospitality, exquisitely prepared meals, and frank honesty.

The Bike Mill and Bike Corn Sheller

The Lirio de los Valles Group is settled in Santa Isabel, in the outskirts of Chimaltenango. We rode on our bikes for half an hour to reach the family of Everilda Larios who raise organic chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigs. Previously, the family bought industrial feed for their animals. For three years now, they use a bike mill every day to grind corn kernels and concoct their own organic feed that includes soy, bran, and mineral salt. They have succeeded in increasing their revenue by 50% through lowering their expenses and selling their grain fed animals at a higher price. In the near future they plan to increase their production.

The next day, we went by pick-up to Cruz Nueva in the municipality of San Martin down a tumultuous road with steep curves. We went to meet with Doña Cojon, an energetic and determined woman who began the Azucena group over fifteen years ago with the aide of five other women. They are now more than fifteen women who work together to increase the economic level of their families. Together, they build their own chicken coops at home, develop a diverse and organic agriculture, form literacy groups with other women in the community, and weave mats and huipiles (traditional blouses). Doña Sabine was very happy to have broken the cycle of dependence on chemical fertilizers that the Guatemalan government currently offers at low prices. Her own production of manure gives her just as much she says, and keeps her soil healthy. The women in the group use the bike mill once a week to nourish their chickens and grind coffee. During the harvest the bike mill transforms into a bike sheller, detaching the kernels from dried corncobs.

The Bike Tile maker and Lasso Bike Pump

Rolling through the hills, we arrive in Pachay las Lomas to meet Santiago Sunuc. The young man of 17 receives us at his house, the Pachay Center of Appropriate Technology. He shows us his solar oven, the rainwater collection system, and takes us across the fields to his bike water pump. In fact, the bike pump is very effective, pumping water from up to thirty meters of depth. The pump not only costs less but is also independent of electricity and more resistant to breaking down than an electric pump.

In his workshop, Santiago explained to us how he makes roof tiles. Activated by hand, the bike tile maker vibrates to compact the cement and make tiles. The result is a high quality tile that lasts up to 80 years compared to a tin roof that lasts about five. What’s more, the cost of purchase is almost the same. The project underway is to open a small factory in order to create jobs and stimulate the rural economy.

The Bike Blender

A few minutes by bike from the Maya Pedal workshop brought us to the nursery of Mujeres en Accion (Women in Action). These ten women of San Andres Itzapa are taking action to encourage reforestation by cultivating tree seedlings that they sell for 1 Quetzal ($0.15US) in schools and to the municipality. These women are attempting to increase awareness in the importance of trees to maintain a healthy environment. According to Doña Ana who received us in the nursery, they are faced with a serious disinterest in the community as people cut down or inadvertently kill young growth. These same women grow Aloe Vera to make a shampoo that is 100% natural with the help of their bike blender. The rotating power to the blender is activated by bicycle pedals and works to blend the Aloe gel. Sales of the shampoo add to the revenue of the families.

For one last visit we made our way to the Asociación Campesina, in San Andres. The president of Maya Pedal and of the Farmers’ Association, Cesar Rubelcy Molina, introduced us to the achievements of this young association that has 67 members of whom 24 are women. The association promotes organic farming and after having received training from numerous organizations they have become multiplying promoters. They initiate people into the preparation of feeds for the animals (with the bike mill), to ovens that reduce the amount of firewood, to fertilization, and many other things. With their bike sheller, they can fill 28 hundredweight bags in a day whereas by hand they can only produce 8-10. The association members develop and experiment with growing horticultural and medicinal plants as well as forest and fruit trees. The women use their bike blender to produce a shampoo with some of these medicinal plants.

In this organization everybody can work the land, not only the men. With Doña Chabe’s projects, women do the organization’s collective work. They confided their satisfaction with us to be able to learn and exchange their experience with other women. They said that without coming out of their homes, women don’t advance or learn anything. Together, we can see when there is machismo one of them affirmed and also seek aid from men who are not macho.

Nothing is easy!

Of course, Maya Pedal encounters difficulties along its path. Among other things the use of bicycle machines by indigenous women remains a difficulty because it is not customary here for women to mount a bike. Many of these women feel incapable to pedal, others feel uncomfortable to practice this kind of activity dressed in their traditional skirts. Also, in spite of the training, certain people don’t know how to repair the mechanical problems and live in far off regions where help isn’t easily available. The organization hopes to employ somebody who can travel and do the follow up of the bike machines in the field. What’s more, the lack of knowledge in the marketing of products made with bike machines like shampoo and roof tiles makes sales difficult and offers weak revenues to families in comparison to the actual potential.

Maya Pedal, existing for only three years, has already accomplished good things in Guatemala. The inventiveness, initiative, and originality of this organization make for an enormous potential for a different way of life that respects health and the environment through bicycle technology. As it still remains for them to insure their financial autonomy through the sales of recycled bikes, Maya Pedal has a long road ahead to help people better their quality of life and achieve their economic independence. Maybe the bicycle will some day become the impulse for a new revolution, that of one foot after the other.

*See article on PEDAL!

Maya Pedal theme song:

Pedales, pedales
Girando, girando
Moliendo para vivir
mejooooooooor

Website : Bikes not Bombs.