CHARITY
RIDE : POLICEMAN RIDES 1 900 KM ON A YAMAHA TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ABUSED
CHILDREN
He
may not be a knight in shining armour, but Lieutenant Colonel Paul van Eeden
could be described as a ”knight on a shining motor bike”.
Van
Eeden, 41 years of age, currently performs duties at Human Resource Development
in Gauteng, but previously spent eight (8) years attached to the Krugersdorp
Child Protection Unit in Gauteng. There, while spending all his time
investigating cases of child abuse, he vowed that no matter where he was
stationed, he would always be involved in helping abused children.
Paul,
through his duties, became familiar with a charity called Matla a Bana, which
provided the Krugersdorp Child Protection Unit with child friendly facilities
for child victims and their parents.
Although
his duties are now different, Paul is an avid motor bike enthusiast and he
decided to combine his two passions – motor bikes and helping children - and
ride through all nine provinces in less than 24 hours to raise funds for the
Matla a Bana charity.
To
prepare himself for the challenge, Lt Col Van Eeden spent every weekend riding
his Yamaha Fazer distances of about 400 km at a time. In order to raise enough
money to pay for the bike’s maintenance and fuel, Van Eeden and his wife Lizelle
prepared meals and sold them either in the form of takeaways or sit-down meals
at their home. They were enthusiastically supported by family, friends and
neighbours.
On
Saturday 20 October 2012 he set off from Gauteng at 03:00, drove through all
nine South African Provinces and eventually stopped in Kimberley to sleep for
five hours before heading back home. Through a motor bike club, there were
people on standby throughout the country to assist him should he run into any
type of mechanical or other trouble, but it was smooth running all the
way.
Paul
raised R25 000 for the charity and he says that he will let them decide on how
the money will be spent because he has the utmost trust in them. Matla a Bana
assisted in raising funds by creating a facebook page for the project and
arranging for radio interviews.
Says
Van Eeden: “I am very passionate about assisting children who have been victims
of abuse as I have personally experienced their suffering whilst an
investigating officer. I did this project in my private capacity and I am proud
to say that I biked through all 9 provinces in 21.5 hours. I will definitely do
it again, it is a privilege to do charity work for the children of our country”.
Congratulations
to Lt Col Van Eeden, he is an inspiration to us all. Perhaps next time we can
arrange for his SAPS colleagues to support him along the
route!
