Volunteer Spotlight: Jacob Seigel-Boettner
Jacob Seigel-Boettner, a UC Berkeley student, has volunteered for Project Rwanda both in Rwanda and the U.S. for the past four years!
In 2006, Jacob stumbled across an article about Project Rwanda in VeloNews. With his background of civic engagement and passion for bicycling, the grassroots organization immediately captured his attention. Jacob organized a Ride 4 Rwanda event with his alma mater, Santa Barbara Middle School, to raise money for Project Rwanda. Since then the event has become an annual tradition, the 4th Goleta Beach Ride 4 Rwanda event was held last March and in the past 4 years the ride has collected over $11,000 for Project Rwanda.
In 2007 Jacob led a team of teachers and students from SBMS to train bike mechanics in Rwanda. They took 200lbs of gear and tools to supply the coffee co-ops using the Coffee Bike. "I have seen first hand the impact that a properly designed bicycle can have on those who need them the most."
In 2008, Jacob took a semester off from UC Berkeley to work with Project Rwanda for independent study in tandem with his degree program. His major is in Peace and Conflict Studies, and his minor is in Global Poverty and Practice. While in Rwanda, Jacob helped distribute cargo bikes to rural coffee farmers. He made a film that documented the impact of the bicycle on a single farmer, his family, and village. The film became a documentary short called "Pascal's Bike" and premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Now in 2010, Jacob and his crew are taking the story global. With My Own Two Wheels will be a feature-length documentary film about the power of the bicycle around the world. The bicycle can't eradicate poverty, cure HIV/AIDS, or stop global warming. But it can give a farmer a hand up, allow a health worker to reach further, and take one more car off the road.
With My Own Two Wheels: The Power of the Bicycle for the other 99%
This summer, Project Rwanda will help produce a feature length documentary about the power of the bicycle around the world. With My Own Two Wheels will link together stories of individuals in America, Rwanda, Zambia, Ghana, India, and Guatemala who have been empowered by two wheels. These stories will be stitched together in a feature-length documentary narrated by 9-time Tour de France winning sports director Johan Bruyneel, the man behind Lance Armstrong’s rise to dominance in the sport of cycling. The goal of the film is to remind Americans of the magic that two wheels can have for those in need, both abroad and in their own backyard.
With My Own Two Wheels will be shown at film festivals, bike shops, and schools across the country in 2011. These screenings will be the launching point for a website that will allow audiences to “adopt” bicycles for those in need. In keeping with Project Rwanda’s grassroots youth efforts, school screenings will include a companion curriculum for teachers that brings home the idea that the two wheels that many students ride to school can change the lives of individuals both in their own community and around the world. What better way to stop bicycles from collecting dust (and get cars off the road) than to partner a young person in California with a bicycle cooperative in Boston, or a coffee farmer in Rwanda?
The entire budget for the film, including production, post-production, and distribution is $68,074. So far $25,500 has been raised through bike industry sponsorship and a grant from the University of California, Berkeley.
Download the project proposal:
With My Own Two Wheels Proposal.pdf
