SOCIAL activists, Jabulane Hope Thabethe and Bongani Luvalo, completed a 645km walk from Johannesburg to Durban on September 12.
The walkers, together with a group of six supporting volunteers, left Pinetown early in the morning and finished the final leg of their journey on the steps of Durban’s City Hall. The group, over a two-week period, walked an average of ten hours daily, travelling approximately 40kms between towns.
The sixth iteration of Walk for Change was undertaken with the aim of raising funds to buy school shoes for children in impoverished communities and to promote present fatherhood.
The walk was organised by Thabethe’s Hope for Africa Foundation and Luvalo’s Cool Dads Foundation. In addition to successfully raising funds for the causes which are close to their hearts, the duo was inspired and motivated by support they experienced en route.
ALSO READ: Modelmaker harnesses the force to create Star Wars characters
Luvalo says, “It’s been a beautiful journey. We felt encouraged by people who stopped to talk to us or opened their homes to us. We slept for free in some places and were thankful for the coffee, rusks and meals and the warm water. A gentleman passed us on the road, parked his car and crossed the traffic to donate to our cause. People have walked with us for parts of the journey.”
Thabethe is a social entrepreneur and civic leader from Katlehong in Gauteng. He founded Hope for Africa in 2016, and originated Walk for Change and the Barefoot Walk. Thabethe undertook the journey for the sixth time and was motivated to start his NPO by the spirit of ubuntu.
“There are several kids who are orphans in my area, and many didn’t have school shoes. I wanted to walk for two days without shoes and then that became more. It started as a joke but became a reality. When children don’t have shoes, it destroys their self-confidence,” says Thabethe.
ALSO READ: Varsity College learners take part in awareness campaign
Luvalo started the Cool Dads Foundation in 2012 with a network of friends, with the aim of promoting present fatherhood.
He says, “I was motivated by my own personal experience of growing up without a dad. Many children in my community had no father, and it’s the norm in society for fathers to be absent. We were a group of guys who said, “Let’s spend time with our kids”. It grew to being a fully fledged organisation that mobilises fathers and shows them the importance of being present in their children’s lives. We teach each other how to be fathers because most of us didn’t have a role model growing up.”
For further information or to donate to Walk for Change, please contact : Bongani Luvalo 072 087 5798, thabethe @hopeforafricafoundation.co.za
