Japan Ichiban! Number One!

Just stumbled across this charity organisation Bicycles For Humanity.

Bicycles for Humanity – Tokyo (B4H-Tokyo) is a charitable organization founded by Andrew Eickhoff to further the mission of Bicycles For Humanity (B4H) to empower the people of Africa by helping them solve the basic problem of mobility. A bicycle allows a healthcare worker to visit 3 to 4 times the number of patients in a day, it allows a mother to transport water and get her goods to market. For students living a long way from schools, it allows them more time and energy for studies and helping at home.

The basic idea is to raise around ¥70,0000, collect 400 used bicycles, buy a shipping crate and send it to Africa. Together we can make it!

A bike can change a life in a poor country. Yet for millions of people on the lowest incomes, a new bicycle is financially out of reach.

Meanwhile, millions of perfectly good bicycles lie unused in North America, Europe, Japan and elsewhere in the world.

Bicycles for Humanity began in September 2005 with the simple aim of enabling people to raise funds and collect unwanted bicycles to send to reliable partners in developing countries.

In developing countries, Bicycles for Humanity, in partnership with organizations in that country, provides resources and support to make the process accountable and efficient. In developing countries, it works at the grassroots level to ensure that disadvantaged people are empowered through improved access to food and water, employment, healthcare, education and social opportunities.

Our movement continues to grow for 3 simple reasons:

1. It empowers caring entrepreneurial-minded people in Africa to step up and make a difference in their communities.

2. It links people here with like-minded people in Africa. Together, they tell the story of the need, collect the bikes and raise the funds to empower whole communities.

3. Accountability, honesty and humanity are the foundation of our movement. The more the people of Africa demonstrate this, the more support comes forward.

Our focus in 2008 was on distributing the Bicycling Empowerment Centre (BEC), a complete package that addresses bicycle delivery to remote areas, access to tools, training and spare parts.

The Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC) program was a huge success with now over twelve of them placed across all of Namibia. In 2009 we will launch Top UP, a program designed to send more bikes to communities that already have a BEC.

On this site, you will find information about volunteering, collections and developing country projects. You will come to know the people we empower and the many ways that recipients use bicycles to create new opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.

You will also find ways that you or your community group, service club, school, sport club, religious organization or business can get involved. There are opportunities to support our projects by working within your community and through direct connections with partners in a developing countries. Help send a BEC to a community in need.

Please visit our Humanity Rocks Initiative to find out more about how you can join and become a part of this grassroots movement.

Bicycles for Humanity On Facebook too:

Why Australian GEOS Schools closed
As the former DoS, as of yesterday, of one of the GEOS schools in Australia, I can say with authority, that if it hadn’t been for the fact that Japan was in financial trouble and as such sifening off millions of dollars from Australia to try and save operations there, we would still be opperational. The Australian schools all had plenty of students and were making money, but all of that money has found its way to Japan with the biggest problem being they have also taken the fees paid by future students, leaving nothing to pay for the running costs here! It makes me incredibly angry that Japan are claiming no responsibility for this, but of course it is also no big surprise. However with the cash cow now gone I can’t see that the rest of the GEOS opperations can last. If you have anything to do with them in Japan or another country I would strongly advise getting out now!

The rumors were true.
The dominoes are falling.
Won’t be long now. More homeless unemployed English teachers to hit the streets soon.
First cracks in Japan will be that students upon hearing of the Australian closure will quit and demand refunds.
Existing and new students will not re-sign their next contracts.
New customers will steer well clear of GEOS.
If they are still running by the end of next month it will be purely on the fumes of an oily rag.

Eight English language schools in limbo January 29, 2010
AAP

Eight English language schools operated in Australia by the GEOS group have gone into voluntary administration, leaving about 2300 foreign students unsure of their future.

Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young have been appointed administrators to nine companies operating the schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns.

They have about 390 employees and international students from a number of different countries.

“The financial position of the companies is such that the directors appointed voluntary administrators,” Mr Walsh and Mr Nikitins said in a statement on Friday.

“School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations of the schools is assessed over the next few days.”

The companies under administration are: GEOS Melbourne Pty Ltd, GEOS Adelaide Pty Ltd, GEOS Sydney Pty Ltd, GEOS Cairns Pty Ltd, GEOS Gold Coast Pty Ltd, GEOS Perth Pty Ltd, GEOS Brisbane Pty Ltd, GEOS Management Services Pty Ltd and GEOS National English Academy Pty Ltd.

The administrators said a better understanding of the financial situation and a decision on future operations should be known by the close of business on February 1.

“Employees, students and creditors will be advised as soon as possible,” they said.

© 2010 AAP

ANOTHER private English college has closed on the northern beaches leaving teachers and students in the dark over their future.

At 4pm last Friday GEOS Sydney’s Manly Campus was closed and the administrators brought in. Campus doors were locked, with the only information available to the 80 students and eight teachers a note stuck to the window.

It read: “Unfortunately GEOS Australia will be closed from Monday 1st February until further notice. As soon as we have more information regarding the future of the school you will be contacted by person.”

It is the second English language college to close on the northern beaches inside three months after Maewill English College in Brookvale entered voluntary administration last November.

Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins, of Ernst and Young, have been appointed voluntary administrators to the GEOS group which operate eight schools across Australia, with about 390 employees and about 2300 international students.

“The financial position of the companies is such that the directors appointed voluntary administrators,” a statement from the administrators said. “School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations is assessed.”

A teacher at GEOS Sydney, who did not wish to be named, said she was angry to learn of the closure. “It is going to be really difficult for people like me who only have $20 in the bank because I will have to find another job quickly,” she said.

“Normally when you lose your job you get a retrenchment or notice but we are getting nothing and it is appalling.”

She said last month the owners had quashed rumours that the school would be closing. “We got a letter closure rumours were hurting the business and that everything was okay.”

The college’s international students will be found alternative placements under the Tuition Assurance Scheme (TAS) which protects the interests of student’s studying in Australian on student visas.