Three-wheeled Transport Project

Three-wheeled motortricycle

On a holiday visit to Masindi in February 2018, David and Denis visited a number of families who are supported in one way or another by CLDC. Denis was very moved by the extreme poverty of these families living deep in the bush, and especially by the situation of one disabled boy who sat outside the family hut all day while his parents tended their land. The lad’s only wish was to attend school in Bulima and be with other children, but his family lived in an area inaccessible to vehicles and too far away for him to be carried to school.

Denis insisted that we find a way of helping such disabled children to attend school and, after some internet research, suggested that a motortricycle would provide the solution. On returning to the UK, he made a generous donation to CLDC of half the purchase price of a Chinese-manufactured cargo motor­tricycle. This enabled the Masindi CLDC Board to buy a suitable trike which, with its narrow wheelbase, is able to travel far into the bush.

With an older pupil in the school’s senior class as driver, during term time the trike makes a school run into the bush each morning to bring severely disabled children to school in Bulima, and returns them to their families at the end of the day. It also takes children to OneWorld Health’s nearby Bulima-Kitara Medical Centre on Saturdays for assess­ment of their various conditions, generously provided free by the centre, and for physiotherapy sessions funded by CLDC. In addition, it is also proving to be invaluable for trans­porting produce, materials, equipment, and livestock on our farm land.

This motortricycle has greatly improved the quality of life of many CLDC children in the Masindi area thanks, in no small measure, to the compassion and philanthropy of our friend and colleague, Dr. Denis O’Leary, who passed away a few months after his visit. He leaves behind a valuable and tangible legacy, and is remembered with great affection by CLDC Board members and by many grateful CLDC families.

...