CU Bike Coop
March 12, 2002

Canadian-run co-operative eases transport crunch in Cuba with used bicycles 

EGLE PROCUTA 

HAVANA (CP) - On a dusty sidestreet of Old Havana, a former warehouse is stocked with more than 800 used bicycles donated to Cuba by Canadians. Yet the bikes, lined up in neat rows, sit idle. 

Everyday, Cubans stop at the open doors of what is now a bike-repair workshop and ask when they will be able to get their hands on one of these coveted two-wheelers. Everyday, the shop's mechanics tell them: "Soon, we hope." 

This week, after 11 months of red tape, the Canadian-established co-operative called Bicicletas Cruzando Fronteras - Bicycles Crossing Borders - is due to receive the final Cuban government approval that will allow it to open to the public in the spring. 

"After so long, it's hard to believe it will ever start," said Linda Nauman, the project's Havana co-ordinator. 
Cuba is very bureaucratic. It's been hurdle after hurdle." 

But the delays haven't broken the enthusiasm of the 32-year-old Torontonian. "This will be a huge help to bike culture in Cuba," she said. 

Transportation remains one of the biggest daily headaches for most Cubans. Millions depend on bicycles to get around. It's not uncommon to see a family of three weaving in and out of traffic on a single bicycle. And Cubans use them to transport just about anything, from wedding cakes to pigs for slaughter. 

Yet the prevalent Chinese-made Flying Pigeons weigh around 40 kilograms and are unwieldy to manoeuvre through the pot-holed streets. A new multi-speed bike costs the equivalent of more than $150 Cdn - almost a year's salary for the average worker. 

"The new bikes available here (in Cuba) are flashy," Nauman said. "But they're made of poor quality parts. After two days, the screws are already falling off." 

Bicicletas Cruzando Fronteras was set up to make it easier for Cubans to find good-quality used bikes. 

The Canadian bicycles were collected from individual donors across southern Ontario and shipped to Havana. They will be sold to Cubans at affordable prices, mostly in the range of $30 to $55 Cdn, one-third of what they would cost on the black market. 

Cubans who live and work in Old Havana will get first dibs on the bicycles. 

The neighbourhood around the bike co-op is only blocks away - but worlds removed - from the pristinely renovated colonial mansions of the Plaza de Armas, where tourists flock to drink cocktails. 

In the teeming residential streets, a young boy plays with a broken fork in a pile of dirt. An old man with one leg rummages through a garbage container for scraps. 

Access to reliable transportation will help the people of Old Havana break out of their poverty. "Everybody here wants a bike," Nauman said. 

She explained that another of the project's goals is to train new Cuban bicycle mechanics, with an emphasis on drawing women to this non-traditional profession. 

The co-op, which received funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, is designed to be self-sustainable through profits that will be made renting bikes to tourists. 

Last spring, 12 women with no previous mechanical experience started an intensive bike-repair course given by Canadian instructors. Four ended up dropping out. 

"It was a leap for them," Nauman said. Of those who remained, four passed the final exam. 

The new mechanics, all of whom are in their 20s, are now busy making sure the Canadian bikes are streetworthy. To date, more than 350 have been fixed up and are ready to hit the road. 

A friendly, relaxed atmosphere prevails around the toolboxes, with the young women singing along to a radio playing in the background. They talk about the frustration of being stuck in dead-end jobs before getting this opportunity to learn a new trade. 

Sulema Corzo, 26, used to work as a cashier in a cafeteria for Cubans in Old Havana. 

"It was a crazy place," she said. "There were always crowds of people clamouring for food." 

She made 128 pesos a month, equivalent to about $8 - about half of what she will be earning when Bicicletas Cruzando Fronteras is open to the public. 

She said that when she first started her training, all the grease and the dirt intimidated her. But now her husband admits she's more adept at repairs than he is. 

Another new mechanic is Rita Farias, a 22-year-old former grocery-store clerk. She said she is impressed by the generosity Canadians have shown toward strangers in a far-away Caribbean country. "They donated their bikes without even knowing what will happen to them." 

The bike co-op where these women are now hard at work was established in partnership between a Toronto-based nongovernmental organization, Community Bicycle Network, and the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, the Cuban organization overseeing the commercial and residential restoration of Old Havana. 

© The Canadian Press, 2002 
http://cbc.ca/cp/world/020310/w031008.html