Mechanics for Mobility – A Motorcycle Repair Workshop: Olaf Schiller

Grand Boukan is a remote village in Haiti and to travel back and for the, they mostly use motorcycles. However, the residents had only little practical knowledge about maintenance/repair of their motorcycles.

Olaf took up the challenge to work with the younger generation of Grand Boukan, fixing their bikes together and thus supporting the supply chain of goods and the transportation of people. The access to a functioning vehicle is a source of income, e.g. as taxi or by offering repairing services to other community members.

Olaf had raised over 1000 USD for his project to invest in tools, spare parts, and – as it turned out – for the continuation of the course conducted by the skilled blacksmith plus a proper workbench to also store the tools. Olaf is now showing (until 10/11/2013) some of his photos in the entrance hall of the Federal Office of Employment in Trier, Germany – a location that is frequented by nearly 500 customers and 380 employees daily. The exhibition is called Haiti – 2 weeks all-inclusive and “tells the story of the changing inner attitude of the photographers, an island that is torn apart and a multitude of impressions” (source: press release of the Arbeitsagentur, 8/26/2013).

Olaf Schiller has a Master’s degree in the history of arts, a license to drive trucks weighing up to 40 tons and likes to work hands-on. He encouraged his wife Silvia and daughter Mia to join the Deep Dive in Haiti.