Yes, I had the bike

Yes, I had the bike fixed, it costed a heafty US$ 13.25. They replaced the ball bearings and the brake shoes (for the rear wheel). Click on the photo below for a larger one with captions. This is a photo of the broken parts. Click on the second image for a diagram of the assembly for that section of the bike - the part numbers correspond to the numbers I refer to in the photo. This was a good fix because I basically have new breaks. :-) Enjoy.