Hayley's Bikes for Ghana

"Bicycles make a huge difference for children in Ghana by giving them the chance to get an education."

UNICEF Ambassador Hayley Westenra

With your help, girls in Ghana can get to school safely.

In Ghana girls are expected to complete household chores before they can go to school. Some girls then have to walk 5-10 kilometres to get to school which leaves them tired and vulnerable to abuse from men working in the fields. Many girls cannot cope and drop out.

It's a fact that by giving a girl an education - including life skills, such as health care and nutrition - you educate a whole community. Girls educate their siblings and later their own children.

For only $40 you can buy a bike and make this happen.

Join with Hayley and buy a bike now.

So far, the funds raised by UNICEF NZ have been used to buy 5,800 bicycles for girls who have to travel long distances to get to school, and 60 tricyles for children with special needs. As a result, school enrolment is up, academic performance has improved and drop out rates have reduced.

Why do girls in Ghana need bikes to get to school?

Nearly a quarter of girls in Ghana are still not attending school, despite the fact that the government has made girls' education a high priority. There are a number of reasons why:

Unavailability of schools within easy reach of pupils - some schools are as far as 5km away and girls have to walk, even when the weather is bad.
Girls have home duties to complete before they can leave for school. This means they get to school late, tired and unable to concentrate. Consequently many girls cannot cope and drop out.
Risk of accidents and sexual abuse for girls who walk, meaning their parents become reluctant to send them to school.

To help combat these problems UNICEF NZ and Hayley Westenra, together with the Ghanaian government, are:

Providing bicycles to help girls commute the long distances
Providing tricycles to help children with special needs
Awarding scholarships to girls in need
Mobilising community support for girls' education
Giving incentives to female teachers serving in rural and deprived areas

Join with Hayley and buy a bike now.

Project Update

The project has made a huge difference to the lives of thousands of girls from rural and remote areas of Ghana, and as many as 32 deprived districts in 8 regions have benefited:

More than 95% of the beneficiary girls are attending school every day.
The majority of the beneficiary girls (70%) are achieving higher academic performance than before.
Bikes are reducing the burden of household duties.
Parents are now more likely to send their daughters to school because the journey is safer.
The bikes have also raised public awareness of the importance of educating girls.

Newspaper article about the project
Letter of appreciation from the District Director of the Ghana Education Service
Letter of appreciation from a school on the Afram Plains in Ghana

An excerpt from a letter by Rukaya who has received a bike:

"...(Before,) I found life very unbearable as I always got to school very late. Attempts by me to satisfy either my parent or my school authorities yielded as it was always impossible on my part...(However now with the bicycle) Yes, I am able to get up early, discharge my house duties in the morning and report to school very early. I also get home very early from school and discharge my house duties without any problem and do my home assignment. This is because I no longer walk and become tired."