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BILLINGS - After a successful collection of bicycles, the newly formed Bicycles for Humanity Montana is ready make a delivery to Africa.

The group packed the last supplies that will help change lives in Ngoma, Namibia.

Dan Austin will turn a shipping container into a bike shop.

Bicycles for Humanity Montana packed 300 bikes and supplies into the 40 foot by eight feet container that stands about nine and a half feet high.

"We'll cut windows in it, we'll cut doors in it, we'll put a roof on it to protect them from the sun," said Austin, director of Bicycles for Humanity Montana. "This container that we're looking at will go to Namibia and it will go to the village in Ngoma and we'll unload all the bikes and set it up as the next bike shop."

This is the first for the Montana chapter of Bicycles for Humanity.

Chapters from around the world have delivered 12,000 bicycles and set up 24 shops in Namibia over the last five years.

"It's basically empowerment through mobility," Austin said. "You walk what, maybe two to three miles an hour? You bike maybe 10 miles an hour. The health care workers might visit anywhere from three to four homes a day, but on bike,they can visit four times as many homes and stay four times as long."

"Kids stay in school longer. They're walking anywhere from five to seven kilometers each way to school. With a bike they're a lot less likely to drop out."

The bikes will sell for five to 10 dollars each and help sustain the shop and Austin's travel company will also be a client.

"My company Austin-Lehman is going to continue to visit the village, rent these very bikes right back from the locals and from the shop." Austin said. "and bring tourists to the village and ride around with the guys from the shop on an ongoing annual basis."

The setup will teach the people in Ngoma about the bike business.

"It's the old concept, give a man a fish you feed him for a day," Austin said. "Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. It's the same principle."

Austin will bring to another village in Namibia next year.

He says a truck will take the crate to Houston. Then the crate will be shipped to Namibia in 60 days..

Austin hopes to be in Ngoma in July to help open the crate and the shop.