Mike Augspurger is building custom plywood racks to attach to bikes. They're going overseas to the Republic of the Congo.

"It's easy enough for us here, with the facilities and all the extra bikes we have here to make nice sturdy racks to send over there," said Augspurger, of Old Stone Mill Center in Adams.

The bikes are being sent to the village of Bikie, the hometown of local resident Pauline Dongala. She said the village hasn't really changed since she was a kid.

"The children were still going to school in neighboring villages. There was no water, we have to go to the stream to shower, to fetch water," said Dongala.

Pauline said a lack of access to education is one of the biggest challenges in Bikie, so she's spent the last few years helping to build a new school building there.

"The villagers themselves put their time in, and we erected this building,” Dongala said. “It's almost finished; it's there. Students and children can sit and have a roof where they can study."

In addition to the school, Pauline said the 26 bikes Mike is working on will be a huge boost to the quality of life in the village, where there's only one paved road.

They'll also be easy to maintain once they arrive this summer.

Pauline is also working on building a new water well for her village, and a GoFundMe for the project can be found at tinyurl.com/bikiewaterwell.