Rookhuyzen braves Africa for orphans in South Africa

TO spend three and a half months on a bicycle throughout Africa to raise funds for a good cause is no mean feat.

“This concept all started through a mutual friend,” said Shayne Rookhuynzen from Brackenhurst, Alberton, who currently stays in Holland, when he visualised the idea to raise funds for Support in Orphanage South Africa.

“I saw a logo on the cloting of one long-time friend, JP Skinner, while visiting a mutual friend’s Facebook. The logo was SOSA.”

And then this all kick-started the long journey that Rookhuyzen called a “mad idea”.

The long journey to raise funds for a good cause started on Sunday February 16 in Cairo, Egypt and ended on Wednesday May 28 in Cape Town, when he reached his final destination. He spent 102 days to accomplish this feat, of which 82 days was on the bike riding, while 20 days off the bike due to forced delays and rest days. In total he covered 11 664km. On average he covered 142km per day through rough areas, over mountains, tar or dust roads in the rain and sun, through villages and towns.

This “mad idea” of Rookhuyzen was to raise funds for a good cause on a bicycle from Cairo to Cape Town for SOSA.

“My biggest day was when I rode for 277km on one day, spending 12 and a half hours on the bike. That was to get in time from Cairo to Luxor in Egypt, as somebody arranged for me to stay in a hotel.”

SOSA is a charity organisation that supports four or five orphanages or institutions in South Africa. They decide who to support. Currently they have the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Atlantic Hope, Out of Africa in Cape Town, and in Johannesburg they support Cotlands and Oasis Haven.

Rookhuyzen raised a total of R413 000 through sponsorships with his attempt to ride on a bicycle on route from Cairo to Cape Town. He received help from DHL and Ricoh, who supplied him with equipment, travel arrangements and satellite cellphone.

“My journey actually started a whole year before I set off in Cairo on February 16,” said Rookhuyzen. “I met with my friend JP on a rainy day in Holland, who had a connection at SOSA, and told him that I had a mad idea. He was all for it and then we started to plan.”

He did a lot of investigation and planning before going on the Cairo to Cape Town route. He did not make use of any maps and had no GPS. “The only help I had was a satellite cellphone, which I could activate after each day to let SOSA know where I was. They contacted me via satellite during the journey and read out some of the messages people send on Facebook.”

He also mentioned that he didn’t have any supporting team. “I cycled solo through Africa and had no support. I also didn’t want my family to know where I was for mental reasons. I told them no news were good news.”

He mainly cooked for himself on a little gas stove. “I camped in the desert, bushes, sometimes I found a cheap room or a bed and breakfast, but the important thing was, as I went through Africa, I asked around for the route and where I could stay over, eat or have a good bath. The longest I went without a bath was three days.”

He travelled through Egypt, then north Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Apart for his mountian bike each and every day he carried some 25 to 30kg consisting of his bedding, clothes and necessities. “I mainly used my Dutch passport and a South African passport in the latter part of the journey. In the beginning I had to have visas to travel through the borders.”

Describing his worst experience, he mentioned an incident in northern Kenia, where three tribes were at war.

“They stopped us at the border and after three days they said it was safe and escorted us through the area. At a certain stage they said that it was safe to travel and I went on. In a certain area where I was cycling, three guys jumped out of the bush with a AK47, pointing the rifle at me. I made a U-turn, but they waved me back. When I passed them, it was all OK, then suddenly one ran after me with his AK47 meaning to shoot me. But I just kept calm the whole time and rode off.”

After the incident he still cycled for 100km before stopping.

“The other bad thing was when climbing the Kenia Mountain an oncoming truck’s brakes failed. He swirled right in front of me and crashed on my side. I saw the truck crumbling in front of me. The driver survived. If I was just a few metres ahead, the truck would have hit me.”

Mentioning his endurance, he said that of the 90 per cent survival he had to undergo to fulfil his dream it was the 10 per cent of joy he had that was so intense and incredible that it pulled him through.

“I prayed all the time through Africa, but it was the 10 per cent of good things that pulled me through. The country that I liked most was Zambia. The people there were very pleasant.

“When SOSA phoned me and told me about the 1 000 followers I had, I could feel the energy which lifted my spirit. I had to focus and could not speak to my family for three and a half months.

“As I went through Africa, I could feel I was coming home the more south I cycled. When coming through the Namibian and South African borders, I knew my destiny was close and that I have fulfilled a wonderful experience, but above all, through my endurance I can help orphans. I knew that my strain was about to end, but their’s will continue for maybe the rest of their lives and that they are in this every day. My endurance was just for three and a half months and their’s a lifetime. It was all worth it.”

He made his destiny and today, even though he lost his work in Holland as a result of being off for more than three months, he said, “It was all worth it and I feel that I am giving hope to children who are in need.”

Rookhuyzen will leave for Holland at the end of July. Currently he is enjoying his family and the good weather of South Africa.