US teen Thomas Hircock sends bikes to India's poor children

Thomas Hircock first visited India when he was 12 years old. The US schoolboy, who had joined his father on a business trip, was shocked by the poverty he saw.

When they visited a school in Rajasthan some of the pupils told them they needed bikes to get to classes from homes up to 20 miles away.

Back in Philadelphia, Thomas and his family started a fundraising campaign at his own school. The first year they sent eight bicycles, and the Bike Club charity has now shipped a total of 400 bikes to schools in India.

Thomas, now 16, talked to the BBC about the project to empower some of the poorest children and about his latest visit to the Indian states of Rajasthan and Bihar.

Produced by Anna Bressanin; camera by Ilya Shnitser