A new project in Ghana, set up by Carl Kurz's Bikes Not Bombs (BNB)(one of our fantastic sister organisations in America), which is now a registered cooperative.  David Branigan, field worker from BNB was there for some time, helping them set up the project, training mechanics and shop running skills. The project proded employment initially for 4 mechanics (now 5) and 2 administrators. Although David (now BNB's International Programs Director) continues to provide support and encouragement, they are running the project themselves.  There is a nice short film about their work here, their web page on the BNB site is here

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Ability Bikes Cooperative is a micro-enterprise bike shop based in Koforidua, Ghana, that is cooperatively owned and operated by physically challenged people. Ability Bikes imports bicycles, refurbishes them, and sells the bikes at affordable prices from their retail shop to people who need them. Ability Bikes also wholesales used bicycle parts to other bike mechanics and sellers in the Koforidua area, and has become a foundation stone for the bike market in Koforidua, strengthening the local economy and keeping more bikes repaired and on the road.

All of the members of Ability Bikes Cooperative are physically challenged, mostly from polio, and are “mobility challenged,” yet on a daily basis they run a business that provides a valuable service, increased mobility, to able-bodied people. Through these daily interactions with people in Koforidua, Ability Bikes members actively transform social perceptions of physically challenged people in society and redefine their role as highly valued.

Ability Bikes employs 7 full-time staff, including two administrators and five mechanics. According to the cooperative structure of Ability Bikes, these staff members are also business owners, sharing the responsibility and the gains of the business, adding value to the used bikes through their labor and owning the process of their employment. Ability Bikes represents an important model for sustainable development that cultivates autonomy through capacity building and strategic technical support.

Ability Bikes is continually developing improved systems of administration and accounting, refining their business strategy to increase their net profit and building their skills as mechanics and administrators. Only one member of Ability Bikes completed Secondary School, but all have developed the skills to successfully and cooperatively run the bike shop.

In 2008, Bikes Not Bombs helped establish Ability Bikes Cooperative in Koforidua, Eastern Region, Ghana. We sent a fieldworker for 15 months to support the early development of Ability Bikes and provide the initial training. Once the members of Ability Bikes were successfully running the business, the fieldworker stepped back, and the members stepped up with full responsibility. Bikes Not Bombs continues to ship bikes to Ability Bikes and to provide technical assistance to support their ongoing development as bike shop owners and as advocates for physically challenged people in Ghana, and throughout the world.

Ability Bikes Cooperative is featured in our new film, and we've photos here.

David K. Torsutsey ("Torsu") is one of the six worker-owners of Ability Bikes Cooperative in Koforidua, Ghana, which Bikes Not Bombs in the USA helped to establish in 2008. He is an administrator and a salesperson, and coordinates the logistics for importing containers of donated bicycles from Bikes Not Bombs and Re-Cycle.

“At Ability Bikes we repair and sell bikes and employ physically challenged people. Many people in Koforidua need bikes, and Ability Bikes provides them with high-quality durable bikes and excellent service. Right now we are six, and very soon we will increase our number to eight.

"Since I started working at Ability Bikes, in fact, my life has changed. I used to live with my father, and my only income was from selling beads once a week at the market. Due to my disability, I found it hard to get a job, but now I am an administrator and salesperson at Ability Bikes, and I have my own place to live.

"The skills I am learning are not small -- I am doing accounting and helping to run the project. I also help the other Ability Bikes workers to understand the financial progress of Ability Bikes, so that we can all be informed and make decisions as one. Because we are a cooperative, we each have one vote and decide the future of our business together.

"Very soon, we will be financially independent, and this is very important to us. I believe that the most important thing that we can do to help other physically challenged people is to give them training and employment or help them start their own business. That way, they also can be independent and provide for themselves."