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In the Netherlands the words "cycling" and immigrant women are not often seen as having any connection to each other. Yet, they go together well. Since the early 1980s there have been courses in cycling for immigrant women in the Netherlands. Not necessarily because the Dutch think that immigrant women should learn to ride a bicycle, but because immigrant women themselves express their need to do so. The main reason they want to learn to cycle is that cycling in this country is considered a basic need, especially for those who do not have enough money to buy and maintain a car.
Steunpunt Fiets (Bicycle Support) was founded in 1996 in the city of Tilburg. Here the Centre for Immigrant Women took the initiative to develop course materials for the cycling courses that are offered in many cities and villages. The aim of Steunpunt Fiets is to support the integration and emancipation of foreign women through practical support for cycling courses throughout the country.
The activities are:
• developing and distributing course materials aimed at the target group;
• organising meetings for cycling trainers;
• advising organisations that want to set up cyclecourses;
• raising the topic of cycling and immigrant women in the media, publications and conferences
Cycle ABC for immigrant woman
Hassina Sakher and Ithelma Nicolaas are two of 4000 immigrant woman who have joined a bicycle course in the Netherlands this year. The aim is that they will be skilled enough to ride with the Dutch flow.
Written by: Kathleen Lillo-Stenberg
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