DÉO GETS HIS NEW MOTORBIKE!!!
Anyone who has been following my blog por getting my emails will know that one of my projects has been to raise money to buy my moto driver Déo his own motorbike. Déo spent thirteen years in prison after the 1994 genocide but was freed immediately as soon as he was brought before a court - it was a case of mistaken identity (either accidental or malicious, hard to say). While he was in prison, his entire business (a taxi firm) disappeared as did his family house.
Today he works as a moto taxi driver - he hires a bike for RWF 5000 a day and has to earn enough to pay for that plus petrol before he starts making a proft.
When I wrote about his story, a number of people - family, friends and pupils both past and present - responded with offers to help him buy his own machine. In particular, the SUCH group in Rathdown School offered to fundraise for this (and other projects) and I received specific pledges from family members, friends and past pupils from many different places.
The one logistical obstacles was actually accumulating and transferring the funds, and indeed waiting for them to arrive in my account in ireland. Meanwhile, the lease had run out on the bike he was hiring and he was going to have to commit to another three months. So I decided to go ahead and buy the motorbike out of my own funds, knowing that so many of you guys out there had promised to help me!!
So, Monday 13th of April we went to Sameer Hussein's motorcycle franchise and bought a 125cc TVS (see picture above). It was an amazingly bureaucratic procedure, to my surprise - it took three hours to buy the bike and then Déo had to go up to Kigali Tuesday and spend all day doing even more paperwork. But he looked really happy!! He asked me to say 'Thank You' to all who contributed and is going to compose a specific message for me to send (I'm not sure exactly what his literacy skills are to be honest so I don't think emailing people directly is going to be feasible for him - I have noticed that he always rings me rather than texting, even though ringing is much more expensive).
So, if you are contributing to this fund you will have received instructions already on how to do so. If the fund is oversubscribed (hopefully!) I will circulate details of the other projects I am considering (including a new one to provide electricity to a secondary school). If you are reading this for the first time (or missed the details in earlier blogs) and would like to contribute to this or any other of my projects, please email me at roheithir@gmail.com for details of either projects or how to contribute. And, again, can I thank all those who have either contributed already or are in the process of doing so - I know times are hard for everyone at the moment but even a little can make an enormous difference out here!! Murakoze cyane!
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