* The Tangerine Bikes Project *

LINKS

Darna

The 212 Society

Niko Tavernise

DONATIONS:

The 212 Society
Sean Gullette, President
77 Bleeker #631
NY NY 10012

Contributions are tax-deductible
to the extent allowed by law. Checks payable to:
The 212 Society

Note in Memo: "Bikes 2006"


THE TANGERINE BIKES PROJECT For two weeks in July 2006, in Tangier Morocco, 10 students from the DARNA Youth Community Center Metalwork Program, and the Darna Teaching Farm will take part in a workshop in which they will be trained in bicycle mechanics and take part in the creation of a new sustainable small business: the DARNA Centre des Reparateurs de Bicyclettes et Mobylettes. The workshop will be led by master mechanic Niko Tavernise, assisted by translator Marushka Mujic and coordinator Tilo Ponder. Metalwork instructor and master blacksmith Mohammed Said will co-instruct on behalf of Darna. The main objective is educational -- the help students from the Darna Youth Community Center expand their portfolio of skills to include bicycle repair and service, and to provide them with a first foundation in the creation of a small business. All 10 students will graduate from the program in possession of complete basic bicycle repair skills, including tire and chain repairs, tune-ups, brake and derailleur change and maintainance, and the maintainance of hubs and bearings. The secondary objective is the creation of a permanent new unit of Darna - the Bike Shop -- which will be financially self-sustaining. We are seeking a budget of USD$20,000 to cover materials, tools, travel and project expenses. Week One: Classroom Basics Intensive bike repair and mechanics training at the Farm. From 9 AM to 4 PM daily, students will learn to disassemble, repair, clean and reassemble all the major components of 3 and 10 speed bicycles. Each student will have at least one second hand bicycle to work on and the workshop space is large enough to allow all 10 to work in the same area, with a blackboard and classroom atmosphere. A carefully prepared curriculum will allow the program to cover all its mechanical basics while allowing each student ample time to carry out each repair on a variety of bikes with close supervision and coaching. Week Two: Renovation of the Shop Darna is now in possession of a one-story building suitable for conversion into a bike shop and mechanical garage. A new door will be required along with basic interior renovation and equipment. The team will clean and paint the Shop and install the equipment. Bikes already repaired and in-progress will be brought from the Farm to the shop. The "trademark" of the Darna bike shop will be the high quality safety-orange paint job we will offer for free with every repair. Tangerine Bikes then become rolling advertisements for the shop and for Darna. The Shop is rent-free and will become self-sustaining after an initial investment in tools and materials (see budget). A website and documentary short film will record the project and the evolution of the shop. ABOUT DARNA Darna means "our house" in Arabic. For the population of street children and women in need that the organization serves, those words have a special resonance. In the houses of Darna, children and women at risk find a safe and stable temporary home, and opportunity to reintagrate into the mainstream of Moroccan society, through stable learning and living environments, skills training programs, and career-building initiatives. The organization also has a broader agenda of social change in Tangier, and seeks to empower the people we serve by explaining to them their rights and civic obligations, in the hope of creating independent and self-directed members of society. The houses of Darna are real places, open and busy every day of year, as well as symbols of a space where a sense of collaboration and sharing is encouraged. Darna employs a professional staff of forty social workers, therapists, and educators, and dozens of volunteers, run in a democratic and egalitarian process.. Darna's support comes from private donations, foundation and government grants, and the sale of goods produced in its facilities to residents of Tangier and tourists. Darna depends on private funding, the sale of goods produced in its facilities, and foundation and government grants for its survival, and delivers its services with an extremely efficient cost-per-client ratio, and very low overhead. In spring 2006, Darna's director Mounira Bouzid El Alami will receive the French Legion of Honor, France's highest civil award, in honor of her work for Darna. Darna's work has been praised by press from Time magazine to Le Monde, governments and leaders including French President Jacques Chirac and Madame Asnar of Spain, and leaders of the World Bank. The demand for Darna's services grows every year, as the root problems continue and word of their activities spreads through Tangier's communities. Fortunately, every year sees the departure of children and women who are ready to reintegrate into society--finding jobs, returning to schools and families, or starting small businesses with support from Darna--leaving space for others. Darna is continually seeking to expand its services and facilities, in response to demand. Darna was founded in June 1995, after careful reflection about how to respond to the growing number of children in the streets of Tangier. An active dialogue with the children helped define the direction of the project. Darna's founders undertook the training of social workers and technicians, and, one facility at a time, have built a network of community-based social service facilities across the city. The Darna Community Youth Center("CYC") serves over 160 boys, who receive vocational training in one of several programs, including woodworking, blacksmithing, plumbing, traditional baking, computer science, sewing, ceramics, photography, newspaper production, and theater. All students attend weekday classes in reading, French and Arabic in the remedial learning center, with the objective of returning students (age 14 and under) to regular school. In December 1999, a bilingual newspaper, "News of the Young," was created by the CYC. Established May 2000. The Darna Women's Community Center ("WCC") is a safe harbor during daytime hours, providing a literacy and training program that has provided literacy education to nearly one thousand women, approximately half of whom have also participated in professional training workshops in textiles and sewing, modern baking techniques, traditional baking, and food service. These are the professions in which WCC women later seek employment or start small businesses. There is no shelter or sleeping quarters. Established June 2002. The Darna Farm School ("TFS") serves a population of thirty to sixty boys ages eleven to eighteen. The boys take daily classes in reading, Arabic, French, and arithmetic in the Farm's two classrooms, and participate in sports, farm-related workshops, and physical education. The Farm School's objective is to educate and train the boys and then find placements in small business apprenticeships and agriculture jobs. Established 2003. The Darna Children's Shelter and Orphanage ("CSO") has been open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, since July 2001, and provides a safe haven to fifty boys seven to seventeen years of age. Residents attend classes at the CYC. The Shelter was created in response to the problem of those boys who could not go home, returning to the streets after CYC daytime programs, and "undoing the work of the day at night." The Shelter's social workers seek to engage with the boys' families to learn about the problems that lead boys to the streets. 2005 212 SOCIETY WORKSHOP WITH DARNA: The Tangier Treehouse Project On March 26, 2005, The 212 Society -- with support from Sting and Trudie Styler, Russell Simmons, and Donna Karan -- made a grant to Darna for a two-week workshop. Darna children designed and built a treehouse under the direction of American artist and treehouse designer Roderick Romero and the Treehouse Workshop group. Photos available at http://212society.org/ttpix/ Organization: The 212 Society Darna (Tangier, Morocco) Project name : Tangerine Bikes Project Address of organization: Attn: Sean Gullette, 212 Society Villa Jalobey, Route de la Vielle Montagne, Tangier, Morocco, 90000 New York: c/o Sean Gullette, The 212 Society, 77 Bleeker #631 New York, NY 10012 Telephone number: Morocco + 212 71 86 34 74 Fax: +212 39 34 36 94 US +1 212 475 1953 E-mail: Sean Gullette seangullette@gmail.com Website: www.212society.org www.darnamaroc.org Total project budget: USD$20,000 Dates covered by this budget: June 1 2006- August 1, 2006 Executive Summary The community association DARNA serves 380 women and 200 children at risk in Tangier, Morocco. The 212 Society is a New York state not-for-profit corporation, incorporated on March 1, 2005, with Federal EIN # 84-1666719. The 212 Society is raising funds to the amount of USD $20,000 ("The Grant") to finance a bicycle repair training program and the equipping, and 2 years of basic operating costs, of a Bicycle Repair Shop, which will join Darna's existing network of facilities serving women and boys.