Week #3

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Week #3 of the six week bike raffle started out slow as had the previous weeks.  However, on Friday raffle ticket sales picked up at one of the schools perhaps because it was the beginning of the month when families received their monthly social grants.  These are like welfare payments for people with dependent children and little or no income.  The grocery stores are swamped around these days.  It seems the kids also have access to some money at home.

Anyway at Mmakau Moemise on Friday we sold about 45 raffle tickets which is the record for any day so far.  It brought our total raffle sales to 120 tickets or R1250 which is enough to buy 1 and a quarter bikes.  It's still not very good but maybe it is improving.

As an enticement for kids to buy tickets, I have been giving kids who buy a raffle ticket that day the chance to take one of the raffled bikes for a spin around the school yard.  I have to tell the older boys in stern language "No tricks" after one of them tried to do a reverse wheelie and almost crashed the bike.  Once they test ride, they all come away smiling.  Here is one of the boys trying out one of the raffle bikes.

 

I made another visit to the high school and talked to the Deputy Principal.  She had agreed last week to look into why raffle tickets were not selling.  She told me that when I spoke to the morning assembly, a lot of the students did not understand my accent (What accent? I speak perfect English!)or what I was explaining.  So she went around to the classes and reiterated details about the project.  when we met she said she thought by the end of the next week they will have sold about 400 tickets.  Although I was disappointed with my public speaking skills, I was very happy to hear this news.  We will see if it happens.

The tally for raffle donations from friends and family is at about $1500 which equates to 15 bikes.  Add the two Peace Corps bikes, possibly 2 or 3 from raffle ticket sales, and 3 or 4 from Tsogo means we might have over 20 bikes in the raffle.  Now we need to see how many boy and girl bikes to buy based on the ratio of ticket sales then order the bikes from the shop.  Two more weeks of raffle ticket sales then the drawing on August 21st.

Stay tuned....Gary and Merideth