Sabelo - Helping Hands and Spinning Wheels

June 2025

Sabelo is a bike volunteer. He moved to Southland from South Africa twenty-one years ago, finding it very different to what he had been used to. He said, “You really miss home when you know you can’t go back there.”

After suffering from a stroke during COVID, Sabelo’s occupational therapist recommended him to the Red Cross after hearing about the bike programme. She said she had a client needing to keep his hands moving. Sabelo confessed to having had no experience with bikes, but found working on them a natural transition, as he is quite practical and good with hands-on tasks.
One of the things Sabelo likes is when he sees people cycling around and he recognises the bikes they are on as ones he has worked on. He feels that, “It is great to make a positive impact on people’s lives.” He has certainly fixed a heap of bicycles since he started volunteering for the Red Cross and is known to be ‘amazing’.

Clients have said, “The bikes become the main mode of transportation for families. When you come here, you have nothing, so a bike is like a treasure.”

“For some people, a bike is something small, but for us it isn’t. It allows us to see the country, see people and commute. Thank you to Red Cross and everyone involved – we are very grateful.”

Sabelo thinks volunteering “helps others and makes you feel good too”. He believes, “The more helpers, the merrier”.