ADAMS — In Pauline Dongala’s home village of Bikie, in the Lekoumou region of the Republic of Congo, where the chief mode of transportation is walking, few people own bicycles, so, most schoolchildren have to walk the 4 miles or more to fetch water and produce for the home, and to get to school every day.
Last summer, during a visit to Adams, Dongala and her friend, Yolanda Minondo, got to talking with Leni Fried and Mike Augspurger, owners of the Old Stone Mill Center Zero Waste Maker Space.
The center is dedicated to taking industrial surplus and turning it into reusable items for those in need. Fried and Augspurger happen to have a hearty supply of used bikes, which Augspurger specializes in repairing and modifying using skills he has in machining, modifying and manufacturing bicycles.
With well over 200 used bikes on the premises, Fried and…
