Crossing the finishing line!

Thohoyandou, last stop! Vendaland welcomed the Sport Heroes with buckets of rain that cooled down the hot spell of the past few days. The downpour paused for a while and the entourage was able to do a walkthrough long the bustling streets, singing and handing out condoms for the last time. They were joined by quite a few local boxing and running heroes, and as usual the boisterous parade attracted a lot of attention.

In town to welcome the Heroes, and walk the last five kilometres with them was Sport and Recreation Director General Vernie Peterson, who also handed the SRSA sport equipment over to the local municipality for distribution to sports clubs in the area. SABC was also in attendance and conducted interviews with various of the Heroes as well as the Director General.

Due to the rain the coaching clinic was moved to an indoor sports arena. Despite the rather cramped conditions – try practicing running, football, boxing and cricket with two hundred children an a smallish hall – as usual the children were all smiles and laughter. Most of them were from a local school for the disabled.

The last activity on the 2009 Sport Heroes Walk Against HIV/AIDS was a visit to the Bushveld Foundation, a small children’s home in central Thohoyandou that houses about thirty orphaned go a long way in improving the children’s simple, very basic living conditions.

Everyone was visibly relieved when they left the centre, their task that has taken them to sixteen stops across Limpopo finally complete. As them about what they remembered most and it was the intense heat and many uphills they faced during the 1 751km walk, the faces of children at the care centres they visited, and the joy when children received their balls at coaching clinics. Many also talked about the talent they saw during clinics, and how they hoped that somehow the simple tricks and practices they taught during the clinics would have a positive result.

Next year’s Sport Heroes Walk will be the last in a nine year cycle, and will take place in Gauteng. For now however everyone were simply in a hurry to get home and recover from an intense but satisfying experience.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!