Jose Ignacio Bermejo - The other talents of the ULMA Group
| THE FASTEST IN SOLIDARITY
Brothers José Ignacio and Juan Carlos Bermejo, partners of ULMA Construction, participate in a charity rally in Morocco.
“I have always liked four-wheel drives, so I bought an old one and did it up. Then I entered a charity rally with my brother, who is a mechanic, and we went on an adventure”. With these words began the story of José Ignacio Bermejo, who participated in the Atlas Solidario Classics Rally, which is held in the foothills of the Moroccan Atlas Mountains.
It is a 10-day charity competition during which the participants must meet two basic requirements: they must have a 4x4 more than 20 years old and they must transport a package of products to be distributed along the route.
We help other participants; anyone we come across. We don’t compete
Additionally, participants can transport the supplies they consider opportune to distribute among the inhabitants of the villages in the Atlas Mountains, a mountainous system that is a natural border between the North Coast of Africa and the Sahara desert.
Workers and partners of ULMA Construction for almost 20 years, José Ignacio and his brother Juan Carlos started out on the journey without knowing what to expect and receive the best recognition possible because they won the best solidarity category.
“We helped everyone. We helped other participants, anyone we came across. We didn’t go to compete,” he said.
They actually towed the trapped vehicles of other participants and repaired local villagers’ cars.
“If we came across someone with a broken down motorbike we helped them to repair it, gave them parts...,” he said.
But despite the contribution and the charity package they distributed, José Ignacio regrets not having taken more things for local people.
“Next time we will take less equipment and more products to distribute. We felt like we were not well-prepared. We didn’t know that we were going to find such poverty”, he added.
On their journey, the Bermejo Bros discovered desert areas and moonscapes, but the images they will remember forever are those of the people.
