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Join Dhaka’s first all women cycling event on Feb 25th!
On Friday Feb 25th, join a group of passionate women who will get on their bikes and ride through Dhaka to generate to promote bicycles as an alternative means of mobility for women in Dhaka!
Arohi is a Bangladesh’s first women’s cycling initiative, which aims to gather a critical mass of women in Dhaka who are interested to promote cycling for women in Bangladesh be it in order to ride a bicycle to work, school or for recreation, with an aim to break the stigma attached to a girl on a cycle and promote freedom of mobility. As a Bangladeshi women, I’ve faced significant barriers from family, neighbors and society in getting on a bike a riding around town in bright daylight. Freedom of mobility is seriously curtailed in Dhaka if women don’t feel safe to travel independently in their own city! Over 35% of female commuters in Dhaka depend on a cycle rickshaw and as more roads ban these rickshaws, daily mobility for women is threatened furthermore.
If you’re interested in joining this first ride on Feb 25th and being a part of this impassioned community that aims to transform mobility for women in Dhaka, please “register” for this ride.
Send an email to arohicycling@gmail.com with the following info:
1) name, 2) residential address (area will suffice), 3) contact no., 4) organizational affiliation and 5)preference of route and I’ll put you on the list. The cycling route is as follows:
Start at Rd. 15 A in Dhanmondi (Drik Gallery, near Nando’s) –> Dhaka University Shahid Minar, via Dhanmondi
As the first step, Arohi plans to focus on sensitizing Dhaka to female cyclers through rides, events and awareness in the coming few weeks before the next step of creating a broader social impact by increasing uptake of cycling on target communities of highly mobile women (students, garments workers, NGO field workers, etc.). Let’s first create the path and then motivate others to follow!
If you’re interested in this pioneering initiative and want to get involved, send the email me at arohicycling@gmail.com ASAP!
Men have joined this group and are encouraged to do so, but the first event is targeting solely women in order to convey a strong message and understand the city’s response to women on wheels.
For the story behind the event, the name and overall mission, please ‘Like’ the Arohi FB Page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arohi/141180742613249
SPREAD THE WORD!
Introducing Arohi
Vision
To establish freedom of mobility for women in Bangladesh through owning and riding a bicycle.
Mission
We are a organization of passionate individuals who strive to empower women of all ages and backgrounds to demand freedom of mobility as a fundamental human right and promote bicycling as an alternative means of mobility for women in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Our objective is to break the stigma associated with a girl on a bicycle and ensure each and every woman in Bangladesh can cycle from point A to point B without fear for personal safety, fear of public harassment and fear of breaking social and cultural taboos. We believe riding a bicycle sends out a strong message against barriers to female mobility within a conservative society, promotes environmentally friendly lifestyle and creates a route towards opportunities for social and economic development. We will inspire collective action locally and globally in order to transform mobility in Bangladesh.
arohicycling
