Nostalgic walk to finally overcome her ordeal
Leilani Kuter has been walking hundreds of kilometres over the past two years and now she's finally ready to let go of the thoughts and memories of the sexual assault she experienced as a teenager.
Over the past two years, Leilani Kuter has taken it upon herself to show the women of the world that there is life after trauma.
She has grown to be the cornerstone of what it means to be a powerful woman who can overcome the worst thing that can befall one person.
In September 2019 she kept her promise to walk 27 kilometres every day for 27 days straight as she celebrated her defeat of the monster which kept her awake for basically her entire life.
In the same month 27 years ago Leilani, a teenager at the time, was sexually assaulted and left for dead in her room at the NG Kerk Youth Centre. Her 729km journey inspired women all over South Africa to come forward with their stories and finally start the road toward closure.
ALSO READ: Rape survivor on a mission from Pretoria to Krugersdorp [https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/440487/rape-survivor-on-a-mission-from-pretoria-to-krugersdorp/]
In September this year, Leilani took on a 448km ‘nostalgia walk’, not in remembrance of that horrid day, but as a way to show the world and herself that being raped and almost killed all those years ago no longer has any power over her.
On 1 September, she set off on her first 28 kilometres a day walk, 28 years after the day that changed her life forever. In Danville in Pretoria she visited here grandfather’s old ‘sinkhuisie’ before moving on to her childhood home in Die Moot in Pretoria where parts of her daily walk took her to the street where she played as a child and past her alma mater, Hoërskool Hercules before visiting the OK Bazaar where she worked as a teenager.
In the following days, Leilani completed her walks in Middelburg, Vanderbijlpark, Muldersdrift, Sunnyside and at the Ninon flats where she lived after the assault in 1992. She started the last portion of her trek in Potchefstroom where she, as a young girl, learned to drive, then to Sandton, Sterkfontein for two days, Moreletta Park, Cullinan, Irene, Maropeng and finally finished her emotional journey in Krugersdorp.
I am completely over it now. I never even want to talk about the rape again!” the always smiling Leilani said as she caught her breath at the finish line in Viljoen Street. She said she’ll continue on this path, but now she only wants to look to the future and walk to support others.
Her Yellow For Survivors NPC, in partnership with SPAR, has been set up to fundraise for other organisations that help those affected by gender-based violence across the country.
On her final day in Krugersdorp, Leilani was greeted by Charlie Hollingsworth and Lizet Rosen, representing the SA Women Fight Back foundation, at which time Leilani handed over R28 000 to support their cause of helping women across the country deal with the same kind of trauma that Leilani faced at age 18.
To donate to Leilani’s cause, click here.
