We took a trip to World Bicycle Relief’s headquarters, just a mile down the road, to meet and ask Jorge and F.K Day a few questions. We hopped on our bikes and headed over armed with our video camera which captured the entire interview. You can watch the interview below.
F.K., What triggered the original idea (of WBR)?
“Well, we have so many transportation options in our life…but there are many, many people in developing countries who don’t have that choice. Their only transportation method is walking. So when you add a bicycle into that mix and enable them to either purchase a bicycle or earn a bicycle, it’s like an industrial revolution.”
How long has the organization been around?
“We started in 2005 immediately following the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the first program was 24,000 bikes into disaster relief in Sri Lanka. It was from that that we saw this deep and immediate impact that transportation made on these individuals.”
Jorge, tell us a little bit about how you do your marketing and how you work with your partners, like Po Campo?
“Katie who you’ve been in contact with, will determine if an organization is a good fit and Po Campo is great. You guys do cycling stuff, specifically women’s cycling bags, and with our focus on, particularly, female students in Africa, I think it’s a perfect partnership. [As for] general marketing: We love to see people following us on facebook and liking us on twitter and really engaging with our story and spreading the word about the work that we do.”
After all the questions, we took a tour of the office with Jorge and got to see some wonderful things that they had, including sculptures made by a resident from Zambia as well as stunning photographs by Leah Missbach Day, wife of F.K. and co-founder of WBR. See it all in the video posted below.
