WH Bicycle Project Proposal

Executive summary

Wide Horizons School (WH) is located in Mae Sot, Thailand. It was established in 2006 to build the capacity of young adults from Burma and the Thai-Burma border to work effectively in civil society organizations. There are 24 students and 5 staffs. They come from multi-cultural backgrounds and the majority of students are migrants and refugees. All of the students represent CBOs and they enroll into WH to learn how to write proposals and manage projects to help their community.

            In WH school, bicycles are the main mode of transportation for all of 24 students to perform daily errands and carry out school projects. In 2012, they received 20 bicycles from Global Neighbor. However, all the bicycles were second-hand and former students have used those bicycles for a long time. Currently, 5 bicycles are still working but out of these 5, 2 bicycles have no back seats. As for the remaining 11 bicycles, 9 bicycles are in very bad condition but 6 bicycles are able to be repaired. Out of these 6 repairable bicycles, 4 bicycles have major problems and 2 have minor problems.

            Therefore, students from the 2015-2016 academic year is proposing to repair these 6 bicycles in January 2016 to get enough bicycles for 24 students in WH school.

            After this project is accomplished, 24 WH students will get 6 new working bicycles in addition to the current 5 bicycles to perform their daily duties and school projects on time. Then, they can get more time for studying and manage time effectively. Additionally, the upcoming year 24 students can use them because we would have replaced the bicycles with new parts and we will leave a list of bicycles parts in a book so they are able to use it as reference when they need to maintain the bicycles after organizers leave. As a result, they will spend less money for transportation.

            To implement this project, we are asking for 2000 baht to buy bicycle parts to repair 6 bicycles. 

Organization Background

            Wide Horizons (WH) was set up in 2006 by the Burmese Migrant Worker’s Education Committee and World Education. It is situated in Mae Sot, Tak province, Thailand. The organization focuses on young adults from the Thai-Burma border and inside Burma who are working in community-based on organizations. Our mission is to develop their English, Computer, Community Development and other skills. WH is two years program - one year is academic year and the other is an internship in their CBOs.

            WH has many partners, namely, World Education (WE), Burmese Migrant Worker’s Education Committee (BMWEC), Khom Loy Development Foundation (KLDF) and Room to Grow Foundation (R2G). R2G is the main funders for student’s community projects of Wide Horizons. There are three main subjects in Wide Horizons: English, Community Development and Computer. Since the program started, every year students receive extra trainings to complement WH’s main curriculum such as conflict resolution, video shooting, video editing, translation and interpretation. Moreover, every year students write proposals and implement a number of community development projects at different migrant schools in Mae Sot area. Students implemented a fence project in Elpis School thanks to the support of Room to Grow.

 For the last couple of years, students and teachers started fundraising parties and organizing online fundraising campaigns. There are 6 staff members in WH program: a Program Manager, 2 Coordinators and 3 Teachers who come from different countries. There are currently 24 students in WH for the 2015/16 academic year. We divided into 4 groups with 6 students in each group for student’s community projects.

Project Organizers

1.      Murng, Koung Jor, Shan Refugee Camp (K.J.S.R.C) Wiang Haeng, Thailand.  

2.      Kay Thi Thant Zin, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Nu Poe Camp.

3.      John Soe, Arakan Human Rights and Environmental Movement (AHREM), Mae Sot.

4.      Myint Zu Hmwe, Karen Students’ Centre (K.S.C) Hpa-an, Karen State in Burma

5.      Kar Dar Win, Irrawaddy Flower Garden Learning center (I.F.G) in Mae Sot.

6.      J.Ah Dau, Effectively Aid International (EAI), in Thai-Burma border.

Community Background

Wide Horizons School is located in Mae Sot, Thailand. The school was founded in 2006 by Mr. Patrick Kearns. It was established to build the capacity of young adults from Burma and Thai-Burma border to work effectively in civil society organizations. Currently, they have 6 staffs, 4 staffs are full time and the rest are part-time. The school is managed by Mr. Htoo Mai, the Program Manager and Mr. Myo Htun, the Program Coordinator.

 There are currently 24 students in Wide Horizons School. They come from multi-cultural backgrounds and the majority of students are migrants and refugees. All of the students are representative from each CBOs. There are 3 main subjects in Wide Horizons: Community Development, English and Computer. The students must complete every assignments in each subject. As extra curriculums, video editing, time management and sports training.

On the weekdays, class starts at 09:00 am and ends at 04:00 pm. Then, 4 students will go to the market in town by bicycle to buy ingredients for the next day’s cooking duty. As part of Community Development class, students have to organize community projects in different schools in Mae Sot. For these projects, students are divided into groups of 6 people for each project. Throughout the academic year, students make frequent visits to these communities to conduct researches. Usually, the teacher will send students to project sides by using the school truck during Community Development class. However, it depends on the teacher’s availability. If the teacher is not free, or if students have to visit the project sides during the weekends, students have to go by bicycles.

There are currently 20 bicycles in Wide Horizons. These bicycles were donated by Global Neighbor so that students are able to travel outside school to perform daily errands and conduct school projects.

Wide Horizons is funded by several organizations, they also work with many partners such as World Education, Room to Grow, Khom Loy Development Foundation and Mae Tao Clinic. Moreover, they have fundraising activities organized by students and teachers such as selling raffle tickets, selling Wide Horizons merchandise, hosting fundraising parties and organizing online funding campaigns.

Wide Horizons School have been running since 2006 until now. They have done many projects with migrant’s schools and students have helped to improve the school facilities for many migrants’ students.  Previously, 216 of students graduated successfully. Some students have gotten good positions and good salary after returning to their CBOs.

 Problem Statement

Transportation is one of the basic needs for Wide Horizons students to perform daily errands and carry out school projects. In WH school, bicycles are insufficient to perform student’s duties. Although there are almost enough bicycles for all of students, only a few are usable because the remaining bicycles are in need of either minor or major repairs. Therefore, we propose to repair bicycles with minor damage.

In WH school, bicycles are the main mode of transportation for all 24 students to perform daily errands and carry out school projects. The students have to attend class from 9 am to 4 pm every day. After class, 4 students ride 4 bicycles to go to market to buy ingredients for their daily cooking duty. Each cooking group has 4 students. Therefore, 4 bicycles are used to go to the Mae Sot market because the school area’s shops are very expensive. And quite regularly, the other of students also have to visit their school project. The nearest school project is located about 3 km and the farthest is 5 km away from WH school. There are 6 students in each school project group. Usually, school project groups and cooking groups have to use the bicycles at the same time.

According to the coordinator, Wide Horizons received 20 bicycles from a donor, Global Neighbor, in 2012. All the bicycles are second-hand and previous students have used those bicycles for a long time. Currently, only 5 bicycles are still in working condition but two bicycles have no back seats (refer to figure 1). The remaining 9 bicycles are impossible to fix anymore. Six bicycles can repair and 4 have major problems as no tiers, tube (refer to figure 2), and chain loose and rust. Other 2 have minor problems such as no bell, paddle pair and no chain oil (refer to figure 3).

Since the students only have basic skills in repairing bicycles, these 15 bicycles remain unusable. While some minor problems can be fixed by students, the bicycles with major problems are stored behind the toilets because there is no store place to keep bicycles. Year by year, it is exposed under the rain. And bicycles became rusty. 

In addition, we don’t have money to replace parts of materials bicycles. Therefore, we can’t repair the broken bicycles by ourselves and have to keep as broken bicycles without repairing.

As a result, there are many disadvantages for students. Students can’t go to their school project and market at the same time and sometimes, this can lead to arguments and misunderstanding. For example, it negatively affects our communication with the communities we work in because we can’t arrive to school on time.

Since students have a curfew at 6:30pm, the lack of bicycles not only causes them to arrive to their project sites late but it also forces them to leave early. As a result, they can’t accomplish a lot of work during their visit.  Sometimes students face problems with the bicycle’s chain during their trips to the market. So, students have to use their own money to fix the broken bicycles. According to a student, Than Maung, he felt very shy because his bicycle was broken on the highway and he had to carry it back until the school.

Therefore, we propose to fix 6 broken bicycles because those bicycles are easy to fix with suitable new materials and replace materials from other old bicycles. It will be convenient for daily errands and going to the projects. This solution will not cost a lot and the students who will come next year they can continue to use those bicycles without fixing again. Moreover, students can go outside to reduce their stress in the evenings and weekends.

Figure 1: Missing seat

Figure 2: Broken Tyre and Tube

Figure 3: Broken paddle

Goal, Objective and Impact

Goal

To provide sufficient transportation for students’ studying in Wide Horizons to perform daily errands and carry out school projects.

Objective

 Repair 6 Wide Horizons’ bicycles by January 2016, so that there are enough bicycles for 24 students in Wide Horizons School.

Impact

 Twenty-four students of WH school will get 6 fixing bicycles and can perform be on time in their duties. As a result, students can get more time for studying and manage time effectively. In the upcoming next year, new students also can use it.

Action Plan
Objective:		Repair 6 Wide Horizons’ bicycles by January 2016, so that there are enough bicycles for 24 students in Wide Horizons School.
Indicator:		Number of bicycles,  bicycles of quality and number of students who can perform be on time their daily errand
Means of verification:		Observation, interview and riding
No	Activity		Timeframe	Persons Responsible	Resources
1	Checking the old bicycles for recycle		9-11 Oct 2015	(John  Soe) J Ah Dau, Myint Zu Hmwe	Note book Pen
2	Making list bicycles materials to buy  for fixing		9-11 Oct 2015	(Kay Thi) Kay Dar Win	Computer Note book
3	Survey  the price of materials		17-21 Oct 2015	(Jhon Soe) Murng, Myint  Zu Hmwe	Question lists, Note book and Pen
4	Tabulate  total price that we survey price of materials		22-25 Oct 2015	(Kay Dar Win) Kay Thi	Note book, Pen and Computer
5	Apply proposal to donor		3 Dec 2015	(J Ah Dau)	Computer
6	Buying materials for broken bicycles		10-14 Jan 2016	(Murng) All members	Note book and Truck
7	Detach parts of material from old bicycles (bicycles No.1,2 and 3)		15-18 Jan 2015	(John Soe) All members	Fix tools and Students
8	Replace parts of material to broken bicycle from that we detached and what we bought bicycles materials		16-19 Jan 2016	(Murng) All members	Fixing tools and Students
9	Detach parts of material from old bicycles (bicycles no.4,5 and 6)		20-21 Jan 2016	(J Ah Dau) All members	Fixing tools and Students
10	Replace parts of material to broken bicycle from that we detached and what we bought bicycles		22-24 Jan 2016	(John Soe) All members	Fixing tools and Students
11	Rechecking all the parts of 6 bicycles (lose brake, and tight)		24-26 Jan 2016	(John Soe) All members	Fixing tools and Students

Gantt Chart

No

Activities

Week (1)

Week (2)

Week (3)

Month

Week (8)

Week (9)

Week (10)

Month

Week (14)

Week (15)

Week (16)

Oct 9-15

Oct  16-22

Oct  23-29

Dec30-Nov 28

Nov  29-Dec5

Dec 6-12

Dec  13-19

Dec20-Jan 9

Jan 10-16

Jan  17-23

Jan 24-30

1

Checking the old bicycles for recycle

Waiting for fund results

Waiting for money

2

Making list bicycles materials to buy  for fixing

3

Survey  the price of materials

4

Tabulate  total price that we survey price of materials

5

Apply proposal to donor

6

Buying materials for broken bicycles

7

Detach parts of material from old bicycles (bicycles No.1,2 and 3)

8

Replace parts of material to broken bicycle from that we detached and what we bought bicycles materials

9

Detach parts of material from old bicycles (bicycles no.4,5 and 6)

10

Replace parts of material to broken bicycle from that we detached and what we bought bicycles

11

Rechecking all the parts of 6 bicycles (lose brake, and tight)

Deliverables

The following list are parts of 6 broken bicycles that will be replaced and fixed. As a result, WH students will have 6 new working bicycles.

Bicycle list	Parts of bicycles	Quantity
Bicycle no. 1	·         Tube	2
	·         Tyre	2
	·         Mud guard	1
Bicycle no. 2	·         Brake pad	2
	·         Bell	1
	·         Seat	1
Bicycle no. 3	·         Tyre	1
	·         Bell	1
	·         Tube	1
Bicycle no. 4	·         Tube	2
	·         Seat	1
	·         Brake pad	1
	·         Bicycle stand	1
Bicycle no. 5	·         Tube	1
	·         Tyre	1
	·         Bell	1
	·         Brake pad	2
	·         Basket	1
Bicycle no. 6	·         Tube	1
	·         Tyre	1
	·         Paddle	1

Beneficiaries

24 students of Wide Horizons from the 2015/16 academic year will benefit the most from this project. They are 20 to 28 years old. They come from inside Burma and the Thai-Burma border, and they are working in CBOs in the areas of education, health, gender-based violence and human rights. After we accomplish this project, they will get 6 more working bicycles to perform their daily errands and school projects on time. Moreover, it can save time and study more affectively in learning area for 24 students of Wide Horizons.

Apart from that, this project will benefit the 6 organizers of this bicycle project they will know how to write a good proposal, how to manage the project and can fix the broken parts of bicycles. Additionally, the upcoming year’s 24 students in 2016/17 will also be able to perform their daily errands and also staff and teachers can use it. 

 

Community Participation

5 teachers and 24 students participated in the planning of this project. During situational analysis, organizers and community negotiated and came to an agreement to identify many problems that community have. Based on this agreement, 6 organizers of bicycles project collected information on the broken bicycles’ condition by doing interview and observation After we identified the bicycle problem is one of the top 5 problems, organizers and 24 WH students tried to find the way and provide the community how to solve it by small group discussion with 6 students representative of WH school project groups.

When we buy the bicycle parts and repair bicycles, we will use the knowledge and experience of students, staffs and teachers to find the cheapest price. After fixing the broken bicycles, we will let them ride and ask for feedback to know whether the repaired bicycles can perform well. After two weeks, we will interview 6 students to know if they are satisfied with the new bicycles and whether they are able to perform their daily errands and visit their school projects on time. 

Budget
Expenditure	Quantity	Unit	Cost Per Unit  (baht)	Total Cost  (baht)	Amount requested from WH Management	Amount of other resources  (in- kind)
Personnel
Volunteers	5	person	200	1000		1000
Materials and supplies
Tyre	5	piece	120	600	600
Tube	7	piece	85	595	595
Bell	2	piece	30	60	60
Chain mud guard	1	piece	50	50	50
Brake pad	5	piece	80	400	400
Oil (engine)	1	bottle	30	30	30
Seat	1	piece	100	100		100
Paddle pair	1	pair	100	100	100
Bicycle stand	1	piece	80	80	80
Basket	1	piece	85	85	85
Tool box	1	box	600	600		600
Equipment
Camera	1	piece	1500	1500		1500
Transportation
Truck	2	day	500	1000		1000
Petrol	5	liter	45	225		225
Driver	2	day	200	400		400
Other direct costs
Workshop space	1	week	500	500		500
Utilities - Water	1	week	100	100		100
Total (baht):				7425	2000	5425
Percentage (%):				100	27	73

Sustainability

The project will benefit current students and upcoming 24 students next year to perform their daily errands and school projects. For at least 1 year, they will be able to use these 6 bicycles with minimal repairing because organizers have replaced the broken bicycle parts with new parts. The community will be able to maintain the bicycles after organizers leave because we will leave a book with a list of bicycle parts with their prices to make it easy for upcoming students to fix the bicycles if they are broken again. Also, they can find funds to fix the broken bicycles because they would learn how to write proposals.

This project will also save money to pay for transportation into and out of school because they would not need to spend money on petrol for the school truck. Since we have fixing tools, students do not need to spend money to fix the bicycles in shops. More importantly, this project will help 24 students perform their daily errands and school projects on time and allow them to study more effectively. 

Monitoring and Evaluation

We are going to do an inspection to make sure the 6 bicycles we repaired have all the parts they need. As organizers, we will invite 6 other WH students to ride the newly repaired bicycles to check that the bicycles are working smoothly. After two weeks, we will interview 6 WH students to know how much our project has improved their ability to perform daily errands and school project on time.