My name is Ben Best and The Borrowed Bicycle is my collection of thoughts on development (of all sorts).
I am currently working in the Northern Region of Ghana, splitting my time between Bole and Tamale with Engineers Without Borders Canada. I work on EWB’s Agribusiness Ghana team, partnered with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. This experience provides the inspiration for most of the Human and Personal development I write about here.
In my other life I enjoy working on hobby software projects. You can check out my open source work on github.
Why the blog name? The bicycle is one of the greatest achievements of engineering and a wonderful example of appropriate technology. From Canadian streets (even in winter) to the tiny village of Seripe in Northern Ghana, bicycles are everywhere, moving things and people. This blog also borrows ideas from different development worlds (North and South, Human, Personal and Software). But to be honest, this is all after the fact rationalization – “borrowed bicycle” just has a ring to it that sounds great.