Chickshaws are ready to ride

Houhora's resident police officer will be taking leave in August next year, but she won't be lying on a beach somewhere ordering pina coladas.

Tracee Knowler and fellow officer Marie Stratford, from South Auckland, will set off on August 3 to drive a motorised rickshaw (hence the name Chickshaws) from one end of India to the other, all in a very good cause.

Prior to taking up her post at Houhora Tracee worked as a detective, investigating serious crime in the Far North area.

"Sadly this included a massive amount of sexual abuse, mostly against children," she said.

"As everyone will be aware due to the media spotlight the Far North has an exceptionally high level of offending in this area, not only the recent highly-publicised cases but others that are less 'media glamorous' that are never brought to public attention, and that continue to be reported on an almost daily basis.

"There are very few good agencies/groups that can give on-going support to these victims after the investigation/prosecution has been and gone, and those that are there always struggle for funding.

"They struggle to survive, and generally run on the goodwill and determination of volunteer staff to make a difference in a victim's life, empowering them as much as possible to move forward."

That's the motivation for the 3000-kilometre marathon ride in India, north to south, and while departure is still nine months away Tracee is looking to the local community for sponsorship now.

"Every cent raised will be donated to a charity involved in the on-going care and recovery of victims of sexual abuse," she said, "and I'll be looking for sponsors via a publicity campaign including social media (Houhora police Facebook page), newspapers and any other way I can think of.

"The event will take up to three weeks to complete; we will basically be given a start point and a finish point and left to our own devices," she said.

"As you can imagine we can expect to face all sorts of challenges, including the apparently quite common breaking down of rickshaws, not to mention navigating rural roads and dodging everything from camels to giant cockroaches."

Tracee and Marie already know each other well, however. Both helped police Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, in 2009 and 2011, and have the necessary confidence in each other to get going when the going gets tough.

"We are both determined to do this event on the smell of an oily rag, as obviously the aim is to donate as much money as possible to the charity," she added.

"Although we expect to enjoy the experience, and see it as the opportunity of a lifetime, it will certainly not be done in luxury.

"We will be staying in basic roadside guest houses or camping, and food will generally be from traditional roadside stalls, no doubt accompanied by more than our fair share of two-minute noodles."

Costs will include the entry fee of $2200 (per team), air fares of around $1700 each, fuel and enough cash to make running repairs.

The first $750 raised by each team will go to a charity in India.

Far North businesses are about to receive flyers detailing how contributions may be made, but anyone who doesn't want to wait may donate via BNZ account 02-0336-0039654-000 (Chickshaw Blues), or phone Tracee (09) 409-7575, or (021) 268-6920. Email chickshawblues@hotmail.com