Yesterday we landed in Colombia!! It felt so good to be out of the cold and into the warmth. I enjoyed meeting Laura, who is with us this trip, and Mommy and I went swimming in the HUGE pool at our hotel to cool down. Afterwards, at dusk, we went to a rainbow monument to see it light up. It was beautiful to see such a big structure glow. Since I had to wake up at 2 am yesterday morning, I was SO tired at night when we went to dinner. After a good night’s sleep … Today we spent time in the morning meeting with people helping the Colombian community. I took a break in the middle of the meeting to visit the town of Barranquilla with Mommy and Laura. We walked and walked and walked … but it felt good to take a break. At lunch, my new friends at World Bicycle Relief gifted me a Colombian futbol (soccer) jersey, and we headed off to build bicycles at the Buffalo Bicycles facility. When we arrived, there were lots of people there to celebrate the opening of this bike center. There were also tons of people taking photos and videos of people and the bikes. Then there were speeches … and I couldn’t wait any longer to build a bike! When it was time to build a bike, Patchie (my grandpa) and I put it together (it was mostly me doing the work) and people were excited to watch me because I was one of or the youngest person to build a Buffalo Bike. Afterwards, Patchie and I took it for a spin and it was amazing. When we returned, I was interviewed for the Colombian news to tell them about me and building bikes. Finally, it was time … everyone got on their bikes and we rode for about an hour to a fun place on the river to get a refreshing drink. I am so excited for tomorrow to give away almost 70 bikes, and for someone to ride the bike I built.
Harper Builds Bikes In Colombia 