Thursday, September 24, 2015. BMG: The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) tells the story of 24 year old car wash entrepreneur Roy Geban, who says that with hard work he has become his own boss after years of drug abuse and police trouble.
Geban owns and operates Roy-O’s Car Wash on Fabers Road, started with seed funding from the U.S. Embassy in Belize and training in business management from the PADF’s Youth Engagement Services Program. The grant helped Roy purchase a pump for his pressure washer as well as a tool set to work on cars. So far, he has diversified to washing motorcycles and has about 30 regular clients.
It is a far cry from his recent drug abuse troubles and run-ins with police, though he was never arrested.
Geban, who lost his father at the age of nine, was determined to breakout of the gang violence-plagued Southside and got a job as an apprentice at a car wash. He worked there for seven years in the hopes of one day starting a business of his own. He is now a respected member of his community and father figure to his younger brother, who is struggling with the law. He plans to eventually hire at least two young people as apprentices at his own business and says he now wants to move forward, not stay down.