The Gear Up Programme is helping learners with transport challenges get to school! Thanks to the program, numerous second-hand bicycles have been donated to learners who most need them.
Mpophomeni, South Africa (17 March 2025) — For learners who don’t have consistent access to transport, getting to school on time, let alone at all, can be a big challenge, especially in non-urban areas. In a heart-warming response to something that shouldn’t be a barrier to education but unfortunately is, the Gear Up Programme has rolled in with numerous second-hand bicycles to save the day.
A joint initiative by the Rotary Clubs of Howick and Hilton, which teamed up with community organisation Love Howick, the Gear Up Programme is ringing all the hopeful bells.
The programme made it possible for 40 second-hand bicycles to be donated to students in Mpohomeni, reaching learners across four schools, including Nhlanhleni SP School, who were thrilled to receive their wheels.
These are schools Love Howick is actively involved in uplifting through education—from literacy support to coding and entrepreneurship, as well as environmental studies. Love Howick is all about changing lives in this way. In fact, earlier this year, their EduProject initiative was the reason that disengaged learners’ lives (one whose teacher had never seen him smile before) transformed for the better.
Regarding the Gear Up Programme, Love Howick explains that the learners shared ‘motivation letters’ as well as sketches of the bicycles they’d love to call theirs. These are learners who travel far and wide just to get to school and learners for whom the second-hand bicycle means not only transport but one less thing standing in the way of their future prospects.
“Community partnerships like this one with Rotary make a significant difference to the lives of people,” shares Matt Hogarty, Love Howick’s Founder and Co-Director.
“The sheer joy and shrieks of delight as bicycles were delivered to schools shows just how much these acts of kindness are impacting our communities.”
by 