OLYMPIA, Wash. – Some Western Washington high school students are helping out kids in Africa with bikes.

The unique program is providing donated bicycles to children in the West African nation of Togo. The program also benefits a number of women.

Eleventh grader Robert Hill is getting his hands completely greasy as he fixes up an old bike – and he feels great about it.

"It gives me a warm feeling knowing that some of the bikes I've worked on are over there helping people,” he said.

The Olympia high school students are fixing up donated bicycles so they can be shipped to kids in Togo. Those kids might otherwise have to walk 10 miles or more to school.

Some of the students here have been in trouble or have problems at home, but teacher Mohamed El-Sokkary says they respond well to this program.

"They also realize through this program there is someone in greater need,” he said.

The student can see exactly where their work is going, thanks to pictures and updates from Olowo-n’djo Tchala. The Togo native now lives in Olympia and coordinates the bike shipments to Africa.

The money to pay for the bike program comes from a processing facility just outside Olympia. There, the company Tchala founded called Alaffia produces chemical-free soaps and lotions made from native African shea nuts. A fair-trade co-op of 83 Togolese women gathers the nuts and pounds them into shea butter. The money from the sale of the skin-care products then pays for the bikes to be shipped to the kids in Togo.

"Not many people in Togo even have a car. So if you have a bicycle, it's almost like having a car,” said Tchala.

The Bicycles for Children program collects bikes from Seattle to Portland and they're always looking for more bikes and more storage space.