What a day it was!?! Up at 5am on Sunday. Runners on. Tea in a travel mug. Out the door.
I left my husband in bed sleeping while I slowly rolled my lifeless car out of the driveway trying to avoid waking up my tenants in the semidetached cottage. On the he road, lights on and I headed for Waterfront part of Cape Town almost an hour from home.
The sky faded to morning as I drove into the parking lot at the Waterfront near Green Point. The whole morning had been put aside to walk 10 kilometres in aid of the Peninsula School Feeding Association. The charity walk is called Blusters for Bread because every R100 entry fee ensures that 33 children get a meal at school. To some kids this is the only meal they will have each day so it’s a privilege to get this opportunity to serve our community in such a simple way.
I met my buddy, Michael, in the parking lot and gathered our few bits and pieces from the car and then took a slow walk along the beach road towards the start line.
The walk was starting at the Green Point Cricket Club and we were early. Almost an hour early. We were about to walk 10 kilometres for a non profit charity called the Peninsular School Feeding Association which feeds 25 967 children across 170 schools in the Western Cape every day. The walk is aptly named the “Blisters for Bread” walk and our small R100 registration fee would feed 35 children.
I love any event that gives back to our community so walking 5 or 10 kilometres was an easy way to have fun with 2000 other people and make a difference to hungry kids. The motto of the PSFA is “You can’t reach hungry kids.” And I totally agree. To some kids this will be their only meal for the day.
Even though parts of South Africa are first world there is a very definite disparity between the have’s and the have nots. And this gap is ever widening amongst our city vs township folk.
The crowd of 10km walkers slowly grew as we waited for the start and soon we were listening to speeches from sponsors and the City Deputy Mayor, Eddie Andrews (ex Springbok Rugby player) who inspired us to do our best and make the city proud. And just like that the whistle blew and we were off.
The route took us from the Green Point cricket club towards the beach and the beautiful urban coastal route. The views in the Moullie Point and Sea Point area are magnificent with Lions Head peak and Table Mountain in the background.
We powered through the walk at a fast pace closer to speed walking and I wondered if my hips would be ok the next day.
Folk chatted and walked and chatted some more until we got to the 5km turn around point and a very welcome coke table. Feeling refreshed and ready for the next 5 kilometres we made quick work heading back down the coast to where we had began.
Just as I felt so proud of myself for keeping up the pace, a tiny little lady came walking straight passed me! I commented on how fast she was and she just laughed and kept moving.
We had begun to catch up to the 5 kilometre walkers who had started about 15 minutes after our group. Their slower pace made for a bit of an obstacle course but we were determined to finish.
Soon we were on the final stretch and cheering on our fellow walkers headed for the finish.
We walked through the giant red Coca Cola banners to the finish and collected our medals. Our 10 kilometres had only taken us 1 hour and 44 minutes and boy! was I ready for a coffee.
Happy with our small contribution to the world for the day, we headed to a local market for coffee and snacks. But that will be a post for another day.
What have you done to make the world a better place lately? I’m constantly challenged to make
positive efforts to make a difference however small it may be. Blisters for Bread made it easy for us to make a difference.
