Reliability

Why do we sometimes refuse a request? It's a fair question. 'Will you buy me a taxi?' Sorry - we just don't have that sort of money. Perhaps we don't know you? Perhaps we have given you help and you let us down? Did the money we gave you for your brother's school fees find its way into your pocket and not into your brother's school?
 Perhaps the undertaking is just too much - we are a 'micro charity'. We help in small ways: we help children attend school - we have helped about a hundred, mainly girls. Education is one of the areas we have to prove that we are reliable. Let's say we're helping Awa. Awa is five years old when we meet her. She's very bright, very lively and longing for education. her big brothers go to school but the family just can't find the money for Awa.
 But Awa doesn't want to go to school just for one day, or one week or one month or one year. Awa wants an education, and an education make take years and years. If she's going to be a nurse or a teacher or whatever, her education may last until she's 21 years old. So our funding must be reliable.
Little Awa too must be reliable - she must attend school and work hard. We need to see receipts for her school fees and we must see her reports every year. We will try to visit her school - and that can lead to expense too!
 Why am I thinking about reliability at the moment?
Joyce and I are not the youngest people on the planet so, although we have been cyclists for 60+ years we found that we would like a little help from our bikes in the form of small electric motors.
We saved up and bought one each. The shop we bought them from has proved very reliable - they gave us good advice, they let us ride round the town (Buxton - a very hilly place!) and they have serviced and repaired them ever since. They have been reliable - and that's what we try to be too.
http://www.JuicyB

ike.co.uk/  collected two of our bikes today to service them and prepare them for another beautiful British summer.
 And because the people who run the shop are really great they have given us things which we sold to raise money. And that money has gone towards helping children go to school.
Thanks for your patience!
Did I mention you can buy travel adventure stories - the Malinding village series, from Amazon ebooks? That money too goes to help people in need in The Gambia too! Ah, yes - I did mention it!
Best wishes,
Tom
P.S. Joyce has ridden her Juicy Bike in two sponsored bike rides to raise money for GOES - I may have mentioned that as well!