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Lovemore Dube Senior Sports Editor
THERE are men and women who had no distinctive positions but whose contribution towards the development of society and sport in 2014 was  outstanding. The year 2014 will go down in memory for Bulawayans with philanthropist Raj Modi and Joseph Rego, both hailing from India, creating history with their contribution to Bulawayo and Zimbabwe sport. They are like inseparable Siamese twins driven by one heart and one set of brains as they share the passion for the common good of many.

Not to say there are no other notable contributors from Bulawayo or the region worth mentioning, but it is the commitment, undying support and passion the two exhibited that deserves mention.

Their bit will certainly change the face of Bulawayo and not far from now the country will take note of the talent whose foundation they have laid in cricket with the launch of the Heath Streak Academy and Consultancy.

It has been their ultimate luxury to combine passion and contribution and also a very clear path to their happiness and that of others.
Modi’s generosity has helped people from all walks of life over the past two decades and Joseph Rego’s “My Vision, My Dream” sports initiative was a spectacle that introduced children to big events like opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

Rego’s initiative which is close to his heart and envisaged to be the largest community development sports initiative in Africa looks set to revolutionise the development of cricket and create history in the City of Kings as it is the first of its kind to be launched in Africa.

Modi, who with his entrepreneurial mindset, lightened this sleepy city with a small 25 square-metre shop manned by two staff members 30 years ago is a household name in the city of Bulawayo. This humble beginning driven with passion, faith and trust, networking, perseverance, participation, being community oriented and most importantly hard work saw him climb the ladder of success, which in a short span gave birth to the largest chain of supermarkets in the city, the Bellevue Spar Group, today re-christened Choppies in Zimbabwe.

A genius with a great idea, passion driven and small beginning, Modi has been one of the greatest contributors to this society and country.

Being in business for the past 30 years, he enjoys a track record of managing business challenges in different economic cycles that the nation of Zimbabwe has gone through. He managed to survive the economic meltdown of 2007 and 2008 without losing key staff members and has over the years been responsible for the growth of employment in this city.

His strong social responsibility programmes, through sponsorships and incredible donations to needy causes of the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, have made Modi a household name in this country.

A winner of countless awards, Modi won in 2012 the “Businessman Award of the Year” and his chain of supermarkets, the Bellevue Spar Group, have been voted year after year as the best and most successful retail outlets in this country.

He is a family man who is the group chief executive officer of Sai Enterprises.

Modi is a modest man driven by passion, great business mind and empathy towards the poor which has seen him and his wife, Parulbhen Modi, donate to the Amai Grace Mugabe Orphanage in Mazowe, renovate hospitals, nursing homes and buy buses for use by the Bulawayo community in times of bereavement and several other charities.

In 2012 Modi donated a fully equipped ambulance to Mpilo Central Hospital. He has also sponsored mobile eye clinics in Matobo, Nkayi and Tsholotsho, and in Maphisa he has organised a multi-specialty health clinic.

He refurbished the Mater Dei ICU and generously contributed after a fire at the hospital some time ago.

Modi deservedly got special mention at the Annual Sports Awards for his contribution to Bulawayo and Zimbabwe sport.

He was recommended by Sam Dzvimbu and Isaiah Mpofu of the Southern Region Sport and Recreation Commission office for his tireless efforts in raising the bar for Bulawayo sport.

He has been chief executive officer of Bulawayo Province Paralympic and Youth Games.

Several touring cricket teams have been hosted by him and last month he sponsored a welcome party for the Zimbabwe Africa Union Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games.

Modi has been the main benefactor of the Heath Streak Foundation set to benefit close to 200 schools by 2016 and recently, 20 took delivery of full kits from Modi’s generosity.

Cricket is in the slums and such an initiative is expected to pay dividends in the future.

Rego on the other end packed his bags two years ago and followed one of his clients of repute, Heath Streak, whom he had managed for 14 years.

The idea was to explore the possibility of creating a bigger brand for Zimbabwe cricket by availing playing opportunities to the less privileged who ordinarily would have no access to standard facilities.

Cricket has always been his passion from his childhood days and he represented his school and college cricket teams as an all rounder throughout his educational career.

In the year 1984 Rego joined a leading business conglomerate in India, Walchand Group, as a management trainee and since then he has never looked back, growing into a world renowned entertainment professional and sports management icon.

At one stage he was the senior vice president of Walchand Group’s CricketNext.com, a high profile cricket portal, in its marketing and entertainment division in 2000. He was instrumental in organising four major events in his capacity as senior vice-president – marketing and entertainment.

Some of them were the ICC Cricket Week, a week-long cricket extravaganza organised by the ICC in Dhaka to promote cricket in developing Asian countries. Between 2001 and 2005 he worked with Ricky Ponting, Chris Cairns and Heath Streak on coaching clinics for budding young players in India.

It was the experience, exposure and most importantly the personal rapport that he shared with many international cricketers that shaped the birth of Global Entertainment Network in India, a sports and celebrity management company that provides qualitative skills in planning, organising and executing events of all kinds.

Over the years Rego has developed excellent relationships with top cricketers namely Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Chris Cairns, Ross Taylor and Shane Bond from New Zealand, Heath Streak, Stuart Carlisle, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Ray Price, Brendan Taylor and many Zimbabwean cricketers past and present, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul from West Indies, Hashan Tillakaratne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayewardene and Chaminda Vaas from Sri Lanka, Habibul Bashar from Bangladesh, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammed Sami from Pakistan, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist from Australia, Andrew Flintoff from England, Nantie Hayward and Shaun Pollock from South Africa and many Indian cricketers, to name a few Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

In order to help underprivileged children get a better tomorrow, Rego and former Zimbabwean cricket captain Heath Streak initiated a charity trust in India. The Heath Streak Foundation established in India by Rego brings a ray of education into the lives of thousands of underprivileged children that dot the urban landscape.

Once in three years the Heath Streak Foundation will organise the Heath Streak T20 Cricket Cup, a cricket carnival in India with the participation of Zimbabwean and international cricket stars, to raise substantial funds for the betterment of underprivileged children in India and Zimbabwe.

The cricket extravaganza would be followed by a fundraising dinner featuring corporate leaders and other distinguished guests.

Rego said that the Heath Streak Multi-Sports Academy would not be where it is today if not for the support by Bulawayo philanthropist Modi who has sunk in a fortune and other Bulawayo business houses.

He sung the praises of Modi who has been the financial backbone of the multi-sports facility.

“Modi’s generous contributions to society have been invaluable and thanks to his huge financial support Bulawayo now has a place on the world map as a sports and tourist destination,” said Rego.

“Elifasi Mashaba has been a guiding force who like Modi and a number of Bulawayans will someday see the fruits of their labour when children from less priviledged environments stand up to the challenge and compete at par with those coming from more affluent backgrounds. Mashaba is a man with a vision whose goal is to identify and nurture less-fortunate talented cricketers from the underprivileged environs of Zimbabwe.”

Rego was recently awarded the Megafest Holdings Business Excellence accolade.

Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy – true fulfillment.

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. Rego and Modi are a living example for all Bulawayans, hopefully other sporting disciplines could find  people with such a drive to turn around sport in the country.