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A 10-year-old boy had an idea to help poor people. 14 years and 8,000 bikes later, he's still at it
In 2005, Winston Duncan was traveling with his mother in southern Africa when he saw an old lady and a young boy walking down a road together. He thought of his own grandmother, who used an oxygen tank, and wondered how he could help the old lady and others he had seen enduring long walks in Africa.
Duncan, who lived in Arlington, was 10 at the time, and his solution was to give them bikes.
Unlike most 10-year-olds with crazy ideas, he actually did it. With his mom, he started Wheels to Africa, an organization that for the past 14 years has taken bicycles donated from residents of the Washington metropolitan area and shipped them across the world to people in need.
Most of the 8,000 bikes they have collected have gone to countries in Africa, helping cut down hours of walking for students and other recipients. But this month, Duncan, now 24, and his mother, Dixie Duncan, traveled with a handful of volunteers and 400 bikes to a destination much closer to home yet still in dire need: Puerto Rico.
Duncan, who lived in Arlington, was 10 at the time, and his solution was to give them bikes.
Unlike most 10-year-olds with crazy ideas, he actually did it. With his mom, he started Wheels to Africa, an organization that for the past 14 years has taken bicycles donated from residents of the Washington metropolitan area and shipped them across the world to people in need.
Most of the 8,000 bikes they have collected have gone to countries in Africa, helping cut down hours of walking for students and other recipients. But this month, Duncan, now 24, and his mother, Dixie Duncan, traveled with a handful of volunteers and 400 bikes to a destination much closer to home yet still in dire need: Puerto Rico.
More by Tara Bahrampour at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/01/17/year-old-boy-had-an-idea-help-poor-people-fourteen-years-bikes-later-hes-still-it/?utm_term=.ee37ccb87de5&wpisrc=nl_optimist&wpmm=1
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