This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
ThaiCycles is an organization started by students at Brigham Young University to improve childhood education in Thailand, where the dropout rate is more than 25 percent. Much of this problem is due to the distance of schools from students' homes. With no public transportation, many students have to walk two hours to school.
For many, the bicycle is the main form of transportation, and they are too poor to provide them. The added hours it takes children to walk to and from school places a burden on their families because most children also help parents provide food and shelter. As a result, parents actually pressure children to drop out, continuing the cycle of poverty.
ThaiCycles' helps break that cycle by ensuring that children receive their education by providing bikes to the neediest. To pay for the bikes, we sell T-shirts; for every seventh shirt we sell, we buy and ship a bike to a Thai child. This October, we're delivering 20 bikes to the Thai province of Nong Khai. We work with local Thai charities to place the bikes in the hands of children who most need them.
To buy a shirt or make a donation, go to http://www.ThaiCycles.com.
Joel Ragar
Provo