那些废弃的共享单车，让缅甸贫困儿童圆了梦

Around the same time when bike-sharing company Obike abruptly retreated from Singapore in 2018, Burmese entrepreneur Mike Than Tun Win also read about the so-called "bike graveyards", with huge piles of shared bikes left abandoned.

At the sight of millions of abandoned bikes, Mike recalled seeing lines and lines of kids in Myanmar's villages walking several miles from home to school every day.

So, he decided to hit two targets with one arrow. 

“有了自行车，我不用再早起走两小时去上学。”

在缅甸乡村，无数生存在贫困线以下的孩子，不得不每日步行长距离上学。少则两至三公里，多则十公里。

他们大部分人没有校车可坐，甚至不知校车为何物。

很多小孩家里甚至没有雨伞，只能拿几片塑料遮雨。

“如果我们可以让上学路上的时间变短，孩子们就可以有更多的时间来学习，掌握更多知识，从而更有可能摆脱贫穷。”

2019年3月，缅甸企业家Mike Than Tun Win发起了“Lesswalk（少走路）”公益项目，向已停止运营的共享单车公司购买废弃的单车，运到缅甸，翻新后再捐给当地有需要的贫困儿童。

Screenshot of lesswalk.org

In March 2019, Than Tun Win founded the nonprofit "Lesswalk" with a mission of "buying and importing oversupply of bicycles globally and distributing them among poor students in villages so that they can cycle to school."

In the last three months, he has bought around 10,000 shared bikes from Singapore and Malaysia, most of which are yet to be used and "in top-notch condition."

Some 50 percent of the funds came from his pocket, while sponsors who believed in the cause donated the other half.

Than Tun Win said that for him seeing the "graveyards" of shared bikes was "the tipping point" to start "Lesswalk."

It solves the waste problem created by the oversupply of shared bikes, and simultaneously helps children in need.

Mike Than Tun Win, 33, founder of "Lesswalk”"/VCG Photo

Mike从8岁起便在新加坡接受教育，毕业于南洋理工大学商业管理专业。

2011年，他回到缅甸，开始创业。

在过去的3个月里，他在新加坡和马来西亚陆续购买了约一万辆共享单车。其中大概有4000辆来自工厂拍卖，大部分是尚未投入使用的ofo和obike单车。

购车的费用一半来自他本人，一半来自身边支持这项公益的伙伴。

Lesswalk运动“解决了共享单车的垃圾问题，同时以更低的价格让有需要的孩子们骑上了全新的单车。”

共享单车上学路

本月中旬，仰光郊区村庄的第一批孩子骑上了Mike捐赠的共享单车。

共享单车公司停止运营后，为了收回成本，会将过量的单车以极低的价格卖给废品厂。对于他们来说，能以更高的价格卖给Mike，也算是更好的选择。

在分发给孩子之前，Lesswalk会对车辆进行翻新：喷涂上Lesswalk的标志，换锁，加后座（让孩子们可以骑车带着自己的兄弟姐妹）。

“一万辆单车只是冰山一角。”Mike说，“全世界有上百万这样的单车，而我只需要把它们和对的人联系在一起。”

他计划在五年内购买10万辆弃置的共享单车捐赠给有需要的贫困儿童：先是缅甸，然后是老挝、柬埔寨。

"10,000 is just the tip of the iceberg," Than Tun Win said. "Globally, there are millions of these bikes, and I just have to connect them to the right people."

He is planning to buy a total of 100,000 shared bikes in the next five years to distribute them among children in need - first Myanmar, then Laos and Cambodia.

网友：中国孩童也需要自行车

有中国网友提出，中国也有很多孩子需要这样的单车。

Upon hearing the story, Chinese netizens pointed out that there are many children who face similar difficulties in rural areas. "They need these bikes as well."

CGTN亲探北京郊区共享单车“坟场”

Mike发起的Lesswalk公益项目既有效利用了资源，又使有困难的人得到了帮助。

在中国的贫困地区，一样有许多孩子日常需要步行几个小时去上学。若那些废弃坟场的自行车都能得到类似的利用，或许能将一种“失”转化为一种“得”。