By CASEY NEILL
CHRISTMAS raffle proceeds have bought a new leg for a boy in Rwanda.
The Dandenong Letters Centre team collected more than US$1000 for Sedrick, age 8, through the festive fund-raiser.
Logistics team member Ravinder Bhal’s daughter Saira, 25, spent a month volunteering in Kigali, Rwanda, through her university.
Sedrick had recently moved into education and rehabilitation centre Les Enfants de Dieu (EDD) when Saira met him, having previously lived and begged on the city’s streets.
He was born with a deformed leg that was amputated when he was younger and was using crutches to get around.
“He wasn’t really interacting with the other children,” Ravinder said.
“The kids left him alone because he wasn’t fast enough.
“When she came back she said ‘what can we do for Sedrick?’”
So the 1200-strong team at Australia Post’s Dandenong Letters Centre lent a hand for a prosthetic leg.
“We started fund-raising in November last year. He got his leg in early January,” Ravinder said.
“Apparently he’s running around.
“It’s going to last him a couple of years, which is good.”
She said EDD had many other projects that the centre was looking to support.
“The boys don’t have writing materials,” she said.
“The postal structure’s really bad so it might be an opportunity for us.”
Watch a video documenting Sedrick’s journey by Willy Mutabazi:
