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The Softer Part Of A Hard Biker
By John Aritho
On 17
December, a group of motorbike riders, The Zambezi Riders, in
Lusaka decided to brighten the lives of the little ones, the
underprivileged children, to give them a cheerful Christmas.
Sporting all types of two wheeler machines, the group donated some
K6 million to buy toys, dolls and gifts for the kids. The “Run”
started at the Holiday Inn Lusaka and bikers came from as far as
Mazabuka and Chisamba to join this worthy cause. This was the
inaugural event dubbed “The Lusaka 2005 Toy Run“, an event that will
now be held in Lusaka every year.
 The
Toy Run is a popular event in the biking fraternity calendar and is
done in various parts of the world. Bikers come together and donate
money, toys and Christmas goodies, and take them to a central point
where they are collected and distributed to the needy children.
In Lusaka, the
bikers decided to actually ride their bikes to the Kids homes and
donate the gifts personally to the kids. Having bought a massive
collection of toys that ranged from soft fluffy dolls to soccer
balls to toy cars, the bikers strapped the toys onto the bikes and
rode in procession through Lusaka, to one of its largest compounds,
Kalingalinga.
The fanfare
from the residents in the area including taxi drivers and kids made
the procession a grand affair in the compound. The Venue was the
premises of a charitable organisation called African Directions; an
organisation run by Evans and Boyd Nyirenda. They give the kids
education, physical fitness, cultural activities as well as art.
 The
donations, presented by a Santa clad biker in the form of Ginty
Melville were given to the scores of kids that lined the route and
ran alongside the bikers.
The bikers
then rode to Chelstone to an abandoned Children’s home, ‘House of
Moses’ where they also donated gifts for the home and pledged their
support in the future.
The bikers
hope that the 2006 Toy Run will be much a much larger event.
This was a job
well done by a fantastic bunch of bikers that are united in having
fun riding their machines and at the same time giving some joy to
the more vulnerable members of the society.
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February
2006