CHRISTOPHER Moore says bringing back electricity to a village in Burundi that had been without power for 25 years is among the fondest memories of his charity work.
Rebels has blown up the hydro-electric plant in Rweza and the African villagers had no money to pay for a new power source.
Mr Moore said he set up the charity Container Of Hope four years ago so he could help connect people in disadvantaged area overseas with the items that were no longer needed by businesses, charities and government agencies here.
“To get a generator was unbelievable to them,” Mr Moore says. “You could tell by the smiles on their faces. They were thrilled to have power back.”
Container Of Hope has sent good worth millions of dollars to people desperately in need in countries such as Vanuatu, India, Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Each of them is filled with goods such as clothes, linen and medical equipment, but more unusual items like a humidicrib and a four-wheel drive.
The Wynn Vale man’s work has been recognised with a nomination for News Corp Australia’s Pride of Australia medal in the Community Spirit category.
It started when Mr Moore’s wife Kerrie, who works at a nursing home at Paradise, told him about hospital beds the were being thrown away.
At the time, he thought back to hospitals the couple had visited in India as missionaries years before.
“Just compared to anything else I had seen, it was extremely primitive,” Mr Moore says.
Container Of Hope has also been helped by donations from Mr Moore’s contacts as a financial planner and by members of Rotary Club of Salisbury, where he is the membership director.
Mr Moore says he is motivated by his strong Christian beliefs.
Pride of Australia Medal winners will be honoured at a state medal ceremony at Adelaide Oval in October.
They are eligible to win the Gold Medal, to be announced at a national ceremony in Sydney on December 5.