Why “From Bosnia with Love”?

I am dedicating this Just Giving page to an absolutely remarkable human being. His name is Rod Howat. I first met Rod when he came into the cobblers shop that I run in the town of Glossop, Derbyshire, England.

We got chatting as you do in a town as ‘close nit‘ as Glossop and he told me that he drove to Bosnia twice a year (through conversation I later learned sometimes as much as Seven times) to deliver all types of aid and gifts to some of the poorest people on the planet. His memories were truly remarkable and emotionally provoking to say the least.

He first started going to Bosnia in 1992 shortly after his Wife, Jean died. He knew that he wanted to make a difference to peoples lives. He first travelled to Bosnia as an Volunteering Engineer to help rebuild some of the buildings and homes lost to war. He described his horror and unbelievable upset at what he was met by and knew then, he had to act.

Rod depends on the donations from others to take to the people of Bosnia. He visits families and even finds homeless and family-less children and gives them gifts, he says a “Small gift gives a child huge smile”. He truly is a humbling man to meet.

When Rod is back in England he tries hard to keep in touch with the families of Bosnia that he stays with. However this is hard, he does not have a computer and has to travel 20miles to use a friends. He also still uses a very old Nokia which has no camera or features he could use to show the people who’ve donated to his cause.

With this page I would like to raise enough money to buy a laptop and an Iphone so he can stay in touch with both Bosnia and the UK showing the true extent of the poorest people. Rod or ‘Santa’ Rod as the locals know him is not an asking person. But I believe that he deserves a gift in turn for his heroic and wonderful efforts of the past 22 years. Its time Rod recieved a Christmas Gift for him to be overjoyed with too.

Thank you for all you can do to help.

Matt