Our modern lives sometimes have a hard time imagining the difficulties of other cultures. Young girls in Bihar state in India, one of the poorest and most populous, had a hard time going to school, and therefore were stuck in the rut of their poverty. If they walked, it took a long time, a certain energy and when coupled with their chores at home, left no time for homework. Often they had to drop out. But three years ago the government set what it called a “gender agenda” and initiated a program giving young girls about 2000 rupees to buy a bicycle. With the bicycle they can get to school in 15 minutes and have enough time for their chores and homework. More girls are now enrolling for school, dropout rates have declined by 90%, some girls talk about going to college, some about deferring marriage until their schooling is done. The program has been so successful it is now being tried in at least 4 other Indian states.
Seems like those girls can now bicycle out of poverty.
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