Maya Pedal, developing bicimaquinas
Maya Pedal is an NGO been born in 1997, with the aim to help the development of the rural communities in Guatemala, through the utilization of the “bicimaquinas”. With the term bicimaquina (bicycle machine) they refer to an intermediate technology, developed from recycled bicycles: therefore it’s a self-sufficient and eco-sustainable technology, as it does not demand electric power or fuel for its operation; moreover it’s a reliable instrument of support for the familiar economy, as the machines produced have always an immediate functionality. In the workshop of San Andres Itzapa (Chimaltenango, Guatemala), thanks also to the contribution of a group of researchers of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) of Boston, various types of bicimaquinas are designed and assembled, just as an example: bicycle blenders (bicilicuadoras), bicycle soil mills (bicimolinos), bicycle corn degrainer and coffee depulper (bicidesgranadora de maiz e bicidespulpadora de cafe), water pumps (bicibombas de lazo), washing machines (bicilavadoras), tricycles and bicitaxis, bicycle plows (biciarados) and bicycle electricity generator (bicigenerador de electricidad). Collaborating directly with the fantastic people who create the small staff of the organization, I have been able to understand how much is appreciated in Guatemala and above all in the rural communities the activity of Maya Pedal: every day new interested people and associations come to visit the workshop or contact them, in order to buy and distribute the assembled machines on the territory. It’s so interesting to participate to the simple but brilliant production process of every bicimaquina, which is exclusively based on the utilization of parts of used bicycles, opportunely modified. This article aims to be a suggestion for all who want to get involved in a volunteering project that in concrete terms acts on the territory, carrying benefit to the Guatemalan rural communities, where still lack basic services. The web sites of Maya Pedal and Pedal Power provide a good source of information for anyone interested in the project.
Related travel posts
This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 November 2006 and is filed under bioengineering, culture and news, environment and ecology, friends and nomads, guatemala, latin america, peoples and lands, travel notes, volunteering with the Tags: bicycle machine, guatemala, latin america, nomad, nomadic, photoblog, travel, volunteering.
Need more information? You can subscribe by email 
, follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 or any feed content 
.
Join the discussion leaving a comment 
, or making a trackback from your own site. Translation: 
20 July 2010 @ 06:34
Hola, no estoy seguro en que idioma debería escribir, espero que el español funcione!
pues estamos viendo la posibilidad de organizar una feria de ecotecnología en la UNAM (unviersidad nacional autónoma de méxico) campus Morelia (es un pequeño campus en donde tenemos una unidad que está comenzando bajo el nombre de “unidad de ecotecnologías”.
su proyecto suena genial y la idea de esta feria es dar a conocer tecnologías ecológicas y lo más sustentables posible, así que creo que su participación en la feria sería muy valiosa.
Los mantendré informados sobre el evento y sus fechas (tentativamanete finales de este año).
Muchos saludos y no dejen de contactarme a este correo.
15 February 2009 @ 12:18
Hi,
Dejarè a las personas que actualmente trabajan en Maya Pedal su contacto, para que le vayan a responder cuanto antes
Gracias por comentar
(I’m going to contact them and leave them your email address… Hope they will answer promptly to your request, thanks)
10 February 2009 @ 19:15
Hola: querria saber como se pueden adquirir las maquinas, y el precio de ellas. Soy de Argentina.
11 December 2008 @ 21:04
Gracias por su apoyo,
en los próximos días quiero contactar directamente los responsables del proyecto, para que les vayan a enviar toda la información que necesitan sobre las bicimaquinas que quieren adquirir (precios, disponibilidad, entrega). Si les gusta voy a dejar sus contactos a las personas que ahora trabajan en el taller de San Andres, porque yo ahora no estoy ahí! Espero sus noticias…
11 December 2008 @ 19:55
hola… es un exelente proyecto, muchas felicidades!!
me gustaria alguna informacion, como las maquinas q hacen, precios, etc…
estoy interesado en distribuir sus productos.
se los agradezco, la info la pueden enviar a mi mail….
gracias.
6 December 2008 @ 01:05
Hola,
los conoci’ el año pasado en el foro de comercio justo y solidario del año pasado en chimaltenango y me encantaron su bici maquina…..quisiera tener unas info sobre los precios de
10-15 bicigenerador de electricidad y tambien el precio de una bicimulino. Lo agradezeria mucho si pueden responderme el mas pronto que puedan. Le dejo mi numero de telefono: 40335535
Gracias por su attencion, buen trabajo,
Sara Filucchi
Liberamente Onlus
http://www.comitatoluna.org
9 May 2007 @ 10:37
Thank you David for commenting… Maya Pedal is actually a wonderful project
8 May 2007 @ 13:37
This is one of the most interesting projects I read about, thanks moro to provide us such a useful information… I’ll definitely contact them to know about volunteering opportunities. You’re writing a very good travel blog
David from USA
29 November 2006 @ 01:32
[...] Left the colonial-styled streets of La Antigua, the road heads directly to the impressive Amatenango volcan, under which is placed the village of San Miguel Dueñas. Here, hidden by the green vegetation, we discover the “Estación Experimental Valhalla”, a project of sustainable agriculture dedicated to the production of macadamia nuts. The lovely people of the staff explain us that macadamia is a plant coming from Australia, whose properties have been extensively investigated in the last years and whose fruit is currently used in order to produce oils, cosmetics (facial creams), flour and many other products. Various hybrids of the two originary species of macadamia grow in the plantation, representing a botanical variety appreciated all over the world. The evergreen plants give fruits all the year round and easily adapt to different climatic conditions, moreover they allow to absorb much more carbon dioxide than many other plants and turn it into water vapor and oxygen. The nuts, once collected, are processed with a handmade sheller (maybe in the future it would be replaced by the bicycle nut-sheller, fruit of the collaboration with Maya Pedal) and left drying for a month, before being washed in order to obtain the end products. While we have an exquisite macadamia breakfast, we feel the enthusiasm demonstrated by the people who work in the plantation. They tell us they accept volunteers for the collection of the nuts and any person who could carry new and productive ideas in this activity. They already count on the enthusiastic support of the rural comunities, which are beginning projects of reforestation, planting macadamia instead of more aggressive cultivations. It’s another successful idea coming from people who love Guatemala and its land. For further information, visit their website: http://www.exvalhalla.net. [...]