What's in a bike?
In today's story, we tell you exactly how the humble bicycle can make a tremendous difference to the daily lives of Ukrainians.
With our bike project still ongoing, you may be wondering: what difference does a bike make? After all, there is a war going on, and a bike… well, it’s just a bike. Right? Wrong. Today, we bring you a very special story from Alla, a social worker from Western Ukraine.
Since 2000, Alla has been a social worker in the town of Shepetivka, located in the Khmelnytskyi region of Western Ukraine.
Alla at work in Shepetivka
Alla’s work is at the heart of the town’s community of some 50,000 people. Every day, she takes care of its most vulnerable residents: older adults, disabled people, and anyone in need. She helps them at home and brings them supplies: fresh food, medication, sanitary and household items.
“These people have limited mobility,” Alla says. “They can’t get their own supplies. Most of the people I help are in their elder years, though we don’t like calling them that. We say they’re in their golden years.”
Even in peaceful times, this is hard work, but even more so now, with the war and its resulting fuel crisis. Alla tells us that the town’s public transport has become unreliable. She never had a car, but even if she did — fuel is hard to come by, and it’s expensive. As part of our new pilot project, we did a small thing for Alla. A thing so small that it wouldn’t be worth mentioning it if it didn’t have such a significant impact.
We gave Alla a bike.
She says that it’s a tremendous help. “I could, of course, buy supplies on one side of town and carry them to the other, but I can only carry so much. Worst of all, it eats up precious time. For most people in my care, every minute I spend with them is precious; it’s the highlight of their day. So when I’m on my bike, I can get to them fast. And it has a large basket, so I can carry many supplies at once!”
Lately, Alla has been taking care of a new group of people: refugee women and children from other regions of Ukraine who came to Shepetivka to escape the war.
The town of Shepetivka
“When the first refugees arrived, the children looked so lost… So I bought them ice cream and started giving them rides on my bicycle. Soon, they were laughing. It was such a welcome moment of joy.” Alla gets sombre then: “That’s until the air raid sirens started. Those poor children got so scared.”
Everybody in Alla’s care is affected by the war. This means that the care and human compassion she provides are as important as ever. “Grandma Rahel is in her 80s, she remembers air raid sirens from her childhood and she gets so, so scared. When she hears them, she calls me. And I get on my bike and ride to her. We sit together, and when we’re together, it’s less scary somehow.”
“I’ve added a little bell to my bike and I ring it every time I ride through town. People have learned that it’s me and they know to expect me. I’ll ring my bell, and when I ride up to grandma Rahel’s house — she’s already at the window.”
Alla tells us that she’s in a group chat with other social workers all around Ukraine and many of them are asking her when they will receive their bikes.
Alla’s answer is— “soon.”
Help us make this promise true.
You can donate your old bike at these locations.
Or you can donate money via Bunq so that we can buy bikes in bulk.