Martin smiled as he rode his bicycle into the yard of the Evangelical Bible Church. "I told you I would learn how to ride!" he said proudly.

Martin is 19-years-old and began volunteering at the After School Program in March 2008. He couldn’t believe it when he was told that he would receive one of the bicycles donated to the Program to be given to the volunteers. "I don’t know how to ride a bike ... I've never had one before, but I will learn over the holidays," he promised.

Living only with his mother and younger brother, there was not enough money for taxi fare to the church. "Walking to the church from my house can take as long as 45 minutes," he says. But he always tried to be there at 2:00 p.m. when the Program started. "Sometimes I was late and would have to run the whole way."

He excitedly told me how the bicycle had made it so much easier for him to turn up at the Program each afternoon. "I can hardly believe that it takes me less than 10 minutes to get to the church."

Now he can contribute more to the Program because he arrives on time and is not tired from a long walk in the hot Namibian sun.