Trike History 2005

2004 (Pre His Wheels International as an Organization)

October 2004

Nigeria

In October 2004, Alice sensed God challenge her in a personal goal towards giving away 100 bicycles in her lifetime to give away her second $1,200 to buy bicycles in Nigeria through Tracy, a SIM missionary. “This time it happened at a church meeting in October 2004. While a missionary to Nigeria closed his presentation with prayer, I felt moved to give. After praying about it, I darted straight toward him and asked if bicycles would help his ministry. He said yes and asked, “Could I use half of your money to buy and distribute five hand-pedaled wheelchairs that are built locally in Jos, Nigeria?” The missionary went on to explain that those with polio or with other lower extremity disabilities use wooden blocks for hand shoes, dragging their legs behind them. A hand-pedaled wheelchair (often referred to as a trike), would offer them independence and dignity. Having experienced physical limitations myself, I longed to make life a little easier for others with disabilities.

My eyes were starting to open to the huge need that was out there….Before the month was over, I received pictures of the trike recipients. It was startling to see a picture of a schoolteacher dressed in a three-piece suit, walking with his hand blocks and dragging his legs behind him. It melted my heart to see the smile and the hope on each recipient’s face. An extra blessing was knowing these projects were supporting the national economy. Before I knew it, my bicycle dream was getting bigger than bicycles!

The first show-and-tell was with my small group Bible Study, which had been meeting weekly for the past five years at the Walkers’ home.

Robert Walker, then ninety-two, had been my friend and mentor for years. He encouraged me on a regular basis that despite my disability, “God still has a plan for your life, Alice.” Over the years Bob also reminded me, “Barbara and I pray daily for you.” Now God was using Bob to help me further embrace His call.

When Bob saw the pictures of the trikes, he said, “You must form an organization and incorporate the ideas God has given you. This vision is larger than your personal goal of giving away a hundred bicycles.”

What had Bob just said? Hadn’t I just stated that my personal dream was to give away a hundred bikes? Where had his wild idea come from? I didn’t think I’d ever had aspirations of becoming an executive director of an organization. Or had I?”*

*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012), 70-72.

2005

Summer 2005

In May 2005 we incorporated as His Wheels International with the goal of providing bicycles to those in need both in the United States and around the world. We didn’t have any plans of providing hand-pedaled trikes.

However, after our second local bicycle rally that we had to get the word out about HWI, “an acquaintance invited me[Alice] to a meeting the next night. An Ethiopian government official from Washington DC was going to meet with a local group interested in helping those in Ethiopia. I didn’t understand all of what was going to take place at the meeting, but it piqued my curiosity. Since the meeting was close to home, I decided to go, taking my HWI photo album with me. Before the meeting started, I showed the guest from Washington a picture of the hand-pedaled trike in Nigeria…

In Nigeria, many people who need a wheelchair cannot afford one. Instead, they use blocks of wood or sandals on their hands, like shoes, to protect them as they move along in a crawling type of motion. People with disabilities are often seen along the side of the road with their faces to the ground, navigating through dirt and sewage. A trike would allow a person to get up and out of the dirt—to look up and see the world from a brighter perspective. It would allow these individuals to travel further, while also providing a more dignified mode of mobility.

This mode of transportation enables them to gather firewood or water and participate in the life of the community. It provides a way for them to travel to school and gain an education. And for some, it is a way to carry cargo on their backs, creating a small rolling store for selling wares and allowing them to provide for the needs of their families. Trikes provide a way for disabled individuals, often viewed as outcasts, to become valuable members of their society…

The Ethiopian official couldn’t stop mentioning the need for hand-pedaled trikes throughout Africa. He shared that there were many with lower-extremity disabilities resulting from birth defects or polio. Those injured by landmines would benefit from such transportation as well. Landmines were a grave legacy of the twentieth century, having killed and maimed millions worldwide.

After the meeting I couldn’t get the idea of trikes out of my mind, and before long another dream was born. Now I wanted to take a welding class so I could build a trike. Even though my health condition made such a thing impossible, CFS couldn’t steal my ability to dream.”*

*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012), 96.

August 2005

Meeting our Engineer Kevin

“At our third bicycle rally in August 2005, Rick, a volunteer I’d met at the last rally, offered to help us set up for the event. Afterward he invited me to attend his fiftieth birthday party the next night….

As I was leaving the party, God’s next divine appointee had just arrived home, where the party was being held. A friend told me, ‘You need to talk to Kevin.’ However, he didn’t appear interested in a conversation. His body language seemed to say he wanted to make a quick obligatory showing and then dart out again. I was reluctant to intrude on his time, but I introduced myself and showed Kevin the Nigerian trike pictures.

We stuck up an instant conversation. ‘I hope to take a welding class,” I said, “to learn how to weld so I can build trikes.’

Within minutes Kevin said, ‘I’m a mechanical engineer. Can I design, build, and pay for the trike prototyping?’

However, within a week Kevin had designed our first prototype, a hand-pedaled low-rider trike. HWI was only five months old, and we were forming a new division—global trikes. Our plan was to help those in other countries with lower-extremity disabilities. We were off to a strong beginning down the research and development road.”*

Within six months of beginning HWI we had our first low-rider hand-pedaled trike prototype.

*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012), 100-101.

November 2005

North Africa

“In November 2005 I, Alice contacted Dawn Clark, the disability ministry director at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, to see if she knew anyone who could try the trike.

‘I don’t know if I can think of anyone,’ she said. ‘But I have another idea. My son, Jeremy, is in North Africa. He is looking for some type of disability ministry, and this may be a perfect project for him. Could you bring the trike by tomorrow?’

When we met with Dawn the next day, Kevin and I learned she was a physical therapist who had spent many years on the mission field in Papua, New Guinea. She went on to say, ‘We are leaving in less than a month to visit Jeremy and his family for Christmas. Could we take drawings and pictures of the trike to show him? He doesn’t know how to weld, but he has always wanted to learn. Could you teach him how to build a trike and possibly send one back with him if he is interested?’

By the end of 2005 our trike design was heading to Africa, and the God-sized dream of HWI kept unfolding. ”*

*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012), 103-104.