Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka bicycle distribution ceremony

The concept of 'reward' changes slightly when you witness people being rewarded an object that is taken for granted so easily. A bicycle, wrapped for Christmas, used for leisure and exercise by so many South Africans can provide freedom and possibility to those with no means of transport. On Thursday, 16 November, 175 individuals from the Paarl East Community and mainly learners from Charleston Hill Secondary School received bicycles in return for work done to improve their community and to reward academic performance.

The slogan of the Qhubeka initiative, #BicyclesChangeLives,  rang true at this truly heartwarming event. The bicycles are built by previously unemployed women from the Paarl East Community. The women, now fully trained, are employed on a full-time basis at the assembly facility located at Nederburg. Earlier this year, the community further benefited when the first 50 bicycles assembled at Nederburg were handed to members of the neighbourhood watch of Fairyland, Chicago and Hillside. This week the reach of this project extended to furthering education by giving learners a tool to get them to school faster.