HIPHaiti: Breaking the Shackles of Poverty

Artist Fernando Traverso originally created this stencil of a bicycle as a tribute to the hundreds of people who disappeared during Argentina’s “Dirty War” for speaking out against the dictatorship; often the only sign of their disappearance–an abandoned bicycle. Traverso spray-painted the image of a bicycle all over the city of Rosario, Argentina to symbolize the absence of all those who disappeared. 

In our own culture the bicycle often symbolizes recreation and mobility. Today, for most people living in the third world, recreational past times and social mobility do not exist; However, by sending bicycles and other supplies to Coco Beach, Haiti, we are helping turn our own everyday experiences into a reality for those living in the isolated village on Haiti’s northern coast. 

Using a stencil designed by Fernando Traverso, this bicycle was created by the Jeff Davis Humanitarian Club to highlight their current efforts in collecting new or used bicycles as well as rice and beans, school supplies, medical supplies, and personal care items as part of the Montgomery based non-profit organization HIPHaiti’s Fill the Container Project. Items collected will be shipped to Coco Beach, a village lacking even the most basic necessities of clean water, a  consistent food supply, and access to health care.