After Caracol and Limbé, Ouanaminthe was next receiving sustainable and economical transportation.
In collaboration with scholar institutions such as the congregations of the Oblate Fathers and Sisters of St. Croix in the North and Northeast of Haiti, the project École à Vélo-Bisiklèt works at increasing education access and lowering dropout rates among low income students that live far from their school. It also aims to make autonomous beneficiary institutions by strengthening their bike mechanic capacities.
During the summer of 2016, the Instution Jean Paul II (IJPII) of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at Ouanaminthe cleared its first container and allowed the establishment of a bike rental park in its institution and in the schools of the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Croix from Cap Haitien to Thibeau and Milot. CENTRECH also helped to put in place bike parks at the Grand-Bassin school.
In schools, bikes are rented at low costs (250-350 gourdes/year) during school time to students and teachers alike, and are brought back at the end of their shcolarity to be rented again to the next comers. Bike racks have also been locally fabricated and installed in schools with CENTRECH’s help and a warehouse-workshop container was set up near IJPII to facilitate stocking and repairing the bikes. The bikes are owned by the local institutions that insure the project’s management, the maintenance of the bicycles, the distribution and the follow-up with project beneficiaries.
