A “three-wheeler” for Mercy Ships

15.08.2012- 12 apprentices construct a motorcycle from scratch to support the work of the humanitarian organization Mercy Ships.

Each year, the Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy Unit of the Centre of orientation and professional education (Centre d’Orientation et de Formation Professionnelles, COFOP) of Lausanne sets up a project for their students to construct an extraordinary vehicle in partnership with an organization. The COFOP is a training center for youth who are having trouble getting into the working world. There, apprentices receive the necessary tools to increase their skills as well as improve their quality of life.

In pursuit of an organization to partner with for the project, the directors of COFOP contacted Mercy Ships, based in Lausanne, who uses hospital ships to bring medical aid to developing countries. Bryce Wagner, director of Mercy Ships in Switzerland, was “immediately fascinated by the project and how this could be completed by young people in vocational training.”

A three-wheeled motorcycle was therefore created and produced entirely for the Association of Mercy Ships. For seven months, 12 apprentices carried out diverse manual labor under the supervision of their directors. In many workshops, they assembled part by part the “Mercy Trike,” which enabled them to increase their knowledge of various trades such as polymechanics, mechanics, micromechanics, and industrial design.

The result is simply admirable. This motorcycle was, on the one hand, a major project for the youth in vocational training who saw in this “three-wheeler” challenge to take on- a challenge that motivates and engages them, and also gave them the opportunity to get involved in international aid and humanitarian action. The 1000cc “Mercy Trike” will be used by Mercy Ships to promote its humanitarian work in Africa.