A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which often makes them heavier, more complex and less efficient on smooth surfaces. These typically include a suspension fork, large knobby tires, more durable wheels, more powerful brakes, straight, wide handlebars to improve balance and comfort over rough terrain, and wide-ratio gearing optimized for topography, application and a frame with a suspension mechanism for the rear wheel. Rear suspension is ubiquitous in heavier-duty bikes and now common even in lighter bikes. Dropper seat posts can be installed to allow the rider to quickly adjust the seat height.
A derailleur is a variable-ratio bicycle gearing system consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another.
Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.
International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country, and for a field of practice and research that in various ways engages with international development processes. There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting the "development" of a country.
A fixed-gear bicycle is a bicycle that has a drivetrain with no freewheel mechanism such that the pedals always will spin together with the rear wheel. The freewheel was developed early in the history of bicycle design but the fixed-gear bicycle remained the standard track racing design. More recently the "fixie" has become a popular alternative among mainly urban cyclists, offering the advantage of simplicity compared with the standard multi-geared bicycle.
SRAM LLC is a privately owned bicycle component manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, founded in 1987. SRAM is an acronym comprising the names of its founders. The company produces a range of cycling components, including Grip Shift, and separate gravel, road, and mountain drivetrains from 7 to 12 speed. SRAM developed the Eagle line of mountain bike specific drivetrain components intended to improve shifting performance. SRAM was also the first to release a dedicated "one by" drivetrain with a single front chainring for road bikes.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.
Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities, and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.
The Cambodia Project (CPI) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop secondary education opportunities for underserved children in rural Cambodia. The Cambodia Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization recognized under the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, Public Charity Status 170(b)(1)(A)(vi).
Bikes Not Bombs is a Boston, Massachusetts based nonprofit that uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change by recycling donated bicycles, training young people to fix their own bikes and become employable mechanics and sending thousands of bicycles to international partner communities in countries such as Uganda, Ghana, St. Kitts & Nevis, El Salvador, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, Kenya, and Rwanda. The organization was founded in 1984 by Carl Kurz, a bicycle mechanic and Michael Replogle, a Maryland-based transportation planner. Bikes Not Bombs provided bicycles and bicycle parts to Nicaragua in opposition to the Reagan administration's support for the Contra War, and in solidarity with the Nicaraguan people and in resistance to the U.S. trade embargo against Nicaragua in effect at the time. Mira Brown became involved with BNB's work while in Nicaragua and later became the organization's first Executive Director.
Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP) is developed by the United Nations Development Programme and aims at ensuring return to normal life as a realistic prospect for people living in regions affected by Chernobyl disaster. The Programme provides continuing support to the Government of Ukraine for elaboration and implementation of development-oriented solutions for the regions. The CRDP, part of the United Nations Development Programme activities in Ukraine, has been launched based on the recommendations of “The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident. A strategy for Recovery”Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, the joint report by UN agencies initiated in February 2002. Since 2003 the CRDP is constantly working to mitigate long-term social, economic and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, to create more favorable living conditions and to promote sustainable human development in the Chernobyl-affected regions. In partnerships with international organizations, oblast, rayon and state administrations, village councils, scientific institutions, non-governmental organizations and private business, CRDP supports community organizations and helps them to implement their initiatives on economic, social development and environmental recovery. In addition, the CRDP distributes information about the Chernobyl catastrophe internationally and within Ukraine.
BikeTown Africa (BTA) is a charity founded in 2006 by two cyclist friends, David B. and Steve M. Between 2006 and 2012, BikeTown Africa delivered more than 2,000 new, custom-made bicycles to healthcare workers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The charity has operated largely as a partnership between Bicycling Magazine, the Rodale Institute, Bristol Myers Squibb, UTi, and Kona Bicycle Company. In 2013, BTA incorporated as a stand-alone 501(c)3 organization in the United States. Each year, BTA donates bicycles to healthcare workers in Africa, particularly those involved in HIV/AIDS-related work. BTA volunteers travel to Africa to assemble and give away bicycles to recipient organizations. BTA then documents the impact these bicycles have on the personal and professional lives of the recipients. Besides healthcare workers, BikeTown Africa has also donated bicycles to orphans and farmers as well as working in other countries outside of Africa, notably Afghanistan. The organization also includes training for mechanics in the areas the bicycles are distributed, as well as providing tools to equip the trained mechanics.
The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program is funded by the US Agency for International Development through the US Farm Bill to assist developing countries, middle-income countries, and emerging markets around the world to increase farm production and incomes. It promotes sustainable economic growth, food security and agricultural development worldwide. Volunteer technical assistance from US farmers, agribusinesses, cooperatives, and universities helps developing countries improve productivity, access new markets, build local capacity, combat climate change and conserve environmental and natural resources. Farmer-to-Farmer also aims to increase the American public's understanding of international development issues and programs and international understanding of the U.S. and U.S. development programs.
Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in non-urban regions are in a state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the marginalization and economic disadvantage found there. Rural areas, because of their small, spread-out populations, typically have less well maintained infrastructure and a harder time accessing markets, which tend to be concentrated in population centers.
Episcopal Relief & Development is an international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church. It was established in 1940 as the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. Episcopal Relief and Development works in approximately 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, and the Middle East. They build partnerships with local Episcopal and Anglican dioceses and related organizations based on need, capacity and available resources.
Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid (HIJRA) is an African humanitarian organization focused on the implementation of emergency and resilience programming in the greater Horn of Africa, Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda.
The Roma Education Fund (REF) is a non-governmental organization established within the framework of the Decade of Roma Inclusion by Open Society Foundations and the World Bank in 2005. The organization's goal is to reduce the educational achievement gap between Roma and non-Roma in Europe through the provision of scholarships to Roma students, supporting the development of quality education, and supporting the removal of segregation of Roma students.
Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), voluntary Service Organisation established and registered in 2005 in Kathmandu, Nepal by a group of social activists, educationalists, development workers, and other professionals. VIN is a non-religious, non-political, and non-profit organization. VIN focuses on empowerment projects in marginalized communities of Nepal through its programs and projects VIN mobilizes local and international volunteers in Nepal and interns in developmental and humanitarian projects including research, education, construction, training, and counseling.
The Partnership for Refugees is a refugee public-private partnership established in June 2016 as the Partnership for Refugees by the Obama administration to facilitate President Barack Obama's commitment to creative solutions for the refugee crisis by engaging the private sector. The Partnership, an initiative established through collaboration between the State Department and USA for UNHCR with significant support from Accenture Federal Services, was established to facilitate private sector commitments in response to President Obama's June 30, 2016 Call to Action for Private Sector Engagement on the Global Refugee Crisis. On September 20, 2016, at the Leaders Summit on Refugees at the United Nations, President Obama announced that 51 companies from across the American economy have pledged to make new, measurable and significant commitments that will have a durable impact on refugees residing in countries on the front lines of the global refugee crisis and in countries of resettlement, like the United States.
