Day 1: Sunday 18/11/12

Will start at Sterkspruit 0km

Day 2: Monday 19/11/12

Sterkspruit to Lady Grey 53km

Day 3: Tuesday 20/11/12

Lady Grey to Barkly East 69km

Day 4: Wednesday 21/11/12

Barkly East to Dordrecht 90km

Day 5: Thursday 22/11/12

Dordrecht to Lady Frere 80km

Day 6: Friday 23/11/12

Lady Frere to Eliot 78km

Day 7: Saturday 24/11/12

Eliot to Maclear 66km

Turn left into R56

Day 8: Sunday 25/11/12

Maclear  to Mt Fletcher 66km

Continue straight on R56

Day 9: Monday 26/11/12

Mt Fletcher to Matatiele 68km

Continue straight on R56

Day 10: Tuesday 27/11/12

Matatiele to Mt Frere 102km

R518 to Lebowakgomo

Day 11: Wednesday 28/11/12

Mt Frere to Flagstaff 110km

Turn left onto N2

Turn right towards Ntabankulu

Continue straight onto R61

Day 12: Thursday 29/11/12

Flagstaff to Lusikisiki 45km

Continue straight onto R61

Day 13: Friday 30/11/12

Lusikisiki to Port St Johns 41km

Continue straight onto R61

Day 14: Saturday 1/12/12

Port St Johns to Mthatha 93km

Continue straight onto R61

Total distance is 961km

Address: ZD12, Sakhile Location, Standerton, 2431

Contact Person: Windy Tshabalala 079 977 3186

Volunteers: 7

Primary Objectives:

• Reach out to HIV/AIDS affected and infected people.
• Provide emotional support to infected and affected people.
• Provide nutritious food and clothes to the needy.
• Provide referral services to the needy.

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Home / Hospice: Umvoti Aids Centre Hospice – - R 100 000,00

Address: Lot 568 Bell Street Extension. Greytown, Kwa-Zulu Natal

Postal: P.O. Box 716, Greytown, 3250

Contact Person: Mr Philani Madi - 033 413-2746 / 079 897 1857 / philanimadi@unvoti.co.za

Volunteers: 20

Primary Objectives:

• Improved delivery of health support and care to HBC patients and men and women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Increased awareness of HIV and AIDS issues, thus reducing stigma and increased availability of condoms in Umvoti Municipality.

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Home / Hospice: Siyabakhulisa Care Centre – - R 100 000,00

Postal: P.O. Box 1424, Estcourt, 3310

Contact Person: Zanele Zamise – 073 190 9881

Volunteers: 5

Primary Objectives:

• To provide meals, school support, security and guidance.
• To provide psychological support, and possible PH clinic and laundry services.
• Educate and self-equip community.
• To assist children who are still waiting for grants or who never accessed grants and provides short interventions.
• To provide extra mural activities for after school and holidays.
• Outreach services.

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Home / Hospice: Ilungelo Home Base Care Training & Development – - R 100 000,00

Address: 584 Ibisi Extention, Umzimkulu, 3297, Kwa-Zulu Natal

Postal: P.O. Box 482, Umzimkulu, 3297

Contact Person: Siphumelele Ndzimbomvu – 082 229 7878 / 073 392 1623

Volunteers: 45

Primary Objectives:

• Community home base care.
• Home nursing and counseling.
• Elderly Day Care.
• Early childhood and development.

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Home / Hospice: Qaphelani Community Outreach Project – - R 100 000,00

Address: Newcastle

Postal: P.O. Box 76019, Osizweni, 2952

Contact Person: Sbusiso Dladla – 082 506 6712 / 076 133 4669

Volunteers: 24

Primary Objectives:

• Community home based care service.
• Education and training of general community regards HIV/AIDS through high school peer education groups; community workshops and public meetings.
• Community outreach project garden.
• Provide a referral service to the needy.
• Assist in the removal of HIV/AIDS stigma from youth citizens.
• Providing nutrition for terminally ill and for those on anti-retroviral treatment (ART).
• Providing meals for youth and helping children with their school work (initiative awaiting funding).

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Home / Hospice: South Coast Hospice – - R 100 000,00

Address: 29 Connor Street, Port Shepstone, KwaZulu Natal

Postal: P.O. Box 504, Port Shepstone, 4240

Contact Person: Barry McDaniel – 039 682 3031

Volunteers: 35

Primary Objectives:

• Integrated home and community based care service.
• Inpatient Unit.
• Identify Orphaned and Vulnerable Children.
• Bereavement and Psychosocial Counseling.
• Training.
• Monitoring and Evaluation.

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Home / Hospice: Vryheid Hospice – - R 100 000,00

Address: 90 High Street, Vryheid, 3100

Postal: P.O. Box 210, Vryheid, 3100

Contact Person: Cecilia van Wyk – 034 980-9888 / 072 726 7133

Volunteers: 20

Primary Objectives:

• Home based community care.
• Provide porridge supplement to all patients once per day.
• Train community in home based care.

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Home / Hospice: Peace of Mind Home Based Care – - R 100 000,00

Address: Kokstad

Contact Person: Mrs Kisiyane – 083 367 4441

Volunteers: 20

Primary Objectives:

• Visit those who are ill in their places of residence and ensure they take their medication.
• Identify necessary resources and refer those in need to relevant institutions.
• Access the impact and effect of chronic illness (including HIV/AIDS) to the target region and assist if possible.
• Insure terminally ill persons are cared for in an environment which is conducive to good hygiene physically and psychologically supportive but outside the hospital setting.
• Obtain statistical data of persons who are infected and affected with HIV and provide emotional and psychological support to whom the organization has obtained contact.

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Home / Hospice: Sizanani Outreach – - R 100 000,00

Postal: P.O. Box 12, Nkandla, 3855

Contact Person: Mrs Maphumulo – 035 833-0110 / 079 317 7190  Or Ryan Haas – 035 833 0110 / 073 688 8143

Volunteers: 20

Primary Objectives:

• To protect and care for orphans and vulnerable children, disabled and the elderly.
• To communicate and educate on the prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB and other preventable diseases.
• To identify and support primary care givers of infected and affected persons.
• To monitor adherence to treatment for chronic diseases.
• To develop and promote a model of family gender empowerment and responsibilities.
• To have a compliant and functioning Board of Management.
• To adhere to financial compliance with all funders.
• To access Government funding for Home Based Care and the children of the Sizanani Child and Youth Care Centre.
• To develop staff skills in line with job descriptions and the organizational service.
• To have proper structures in place to guide staff of their performance requirements.
• To continuously monitor and periodically evaluate the work done by the organization so as to guide the necessary adjustments.

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Home / Hospice: Ikhaya Lokuthula Hospice – - R 200 000,00

Address: Orange Farm, Johannesburg, 2006

Contact Person: Mrs Thandi Nkosi – 082 467 9241 – 083 487 7704

Volunteers: 5

Primary Objectives:

• To assist the sick people.
• To assist the orphans.
• To assist vulnerable and old age people.
• To assist the infected and affected people with HIV/AIDS pandemic.
• To assist people who have poverty and women starvation.
• To assist youth with developmental programs.
• To assist against child and women abuse.

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Home / Hospice: Tholukukhanya Women’s Club – R 100 000,00

Address: Ulundi

Contact Person: Mrs Sbekezelo Buthelezi – 079 550 2492

Volunteers: 14

Primary Objectives:

• Cooking for people who are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases related to HIV. (Soup kitchen or coked meals)
• Care for Orphans & Vulnerable Children’s (OVC) caused by HIV/AIDS.
• HIV/AIDS awareness programmes (Community Outreach Programme)

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Home / Hospice: Sivikindlala Project – - R 100 000,00

Address: Nongoma

Contact Person: Mrs Thandiwe Mathe – 083 773 9354

Volunteers: 20

Primary Objectives:

• To protect and care for orphans and vulnerable children, disabled and the elderly.
• To communicate and educate on the prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB and other preventable diseases.
• To identify and support primary care givers of infected and affected persons.
• To monitor adherence to treatment for chronic diseases.
• To develop and promote a model of family gender empowerment and responsibilities.
• To have a compliant and functioning Board of Management.
• To adhere to financial compliance with all funders.
• To access Government funding for Home Based Care and the children of the Sizanani Child and Youth Care Centre.
• To develop staff skills in line with job descriptions and the organizational service.
• To have proper structures in place to guide staff of their performance requirements.
• To continuously monitor and periodically evaluate the work done by the organization so as to guide the necessary adjustments.

KATLEHONG – 70 KM - BALFOUR (5km Walk )

Turn right onto Motaung Street, Continue straight ahead onto Vlakplaats Road, Continue straight ahead onto Bierman Road, Continue straight ahead onto Barry Marais Road, Turn right onto R103 Road, Turn right on R23

DAY 2: FRIDAY 18/11/11

BALFOUR - 75 KM - STANDERTON

Continue straight ahead onto R23 Road

DAY 3: SATURDAY 19/11/11

STANDERTON - 80 KM - VOLKSRUST

Continue straight ahead onto R23 Road,

DAY 4: SUNDAY 20/11/11

VOLKRUST - 55 KM - NEWCASTLE (5km Walk )

Continue straight ahead onto R23 Road; Turn right on N11, Turn left onto R34 Road

DAY 5:    MONDAY 21/11/11

NEWCASLTE - 90 KM - VRYHEID

On Allen Street turn left into N11 and right into Madadeni Road towards Utrecht-junction turn right onto R34, Continue straight ahead Turn left onto R33/R34 Road, towards Vryheid, continue through Vryheid on Kerk Street, turn left into R69 towards Lousberg, continue for 21KM and turn right onto R618 towards Tokozani Lodge, continue through gravel Road for 500m and tar road and another 00m gravel road, turn left into R66 towards Nongoma.

DAY 6: TUESDAY 22/11/11

VRYHEID - 115 KM - NONGOMA

continue through Vryheid on Kerk Street, turn left into R69 towards Louisburg, continue for 21KM and turn right onto R618 towards Tokozani Lodge, continue through gravel Road for 500m and tar road and another 00m gravel road ,turn left into R66 towards Nongoma.

DAY 7: WEDNESDAY 23/11/11

NONGOMA - 97 KM - MTUBATUBA (5km Walk )

Go through Nongoma into R618 to Mtubatuba. First circle turn right and second circle go straight in R618 to Mtubatuba.

DAY 8: THURSDAY 24/11/11

MTUBATUBA - 60 KM -  ULUNDI

Use N2 free way towards Empangeni and be led by traffic officers from Mtubatuba.

DAY 9: FRIDAY 25/11/11

ULUNDI - 65 KM - NKANDLA

Turn left onto R66 Road; Turn right onto R68 Road, Turn left onto (No name Road)

DAY 10: SATURDAY 26/11/11

NKANDLA - 111 KM - GREYTOWN

Continue straight ahead onto R74 Road, Turn left onto R74 Road, and Turn right onto R33 Road

DAY 11: SUNDAY 27/11/11

GREYTOWN – 98 KM - ESTCORT (5km Walk )

Turn right onto R74 Road, Turn left onto R622 Road, Turn right onto (No name Road), Turn Sharply right onto R103 Road,

DAY 12:  MONDAY 28/11/11

ESTCOURT - 200 KM - UNDERBERG

Take R103 out of Estcourt left towards Mooi River, continue with R103,at the circle continue straight towards Mooi River, carry on R103 towards Rosetta, continue towards Nottingham, T-junction turn right towards Bulgowan,carry onR103 towards Lion River, stay on this R103 towards Tweedie, continue on R103 towards Midmar, continue on R103 towards Pietermaritzburg, T-junction turn left and cross over N3 towards Howieck, cross the robot T-junction turn right on R103 towards Merryvale, at the traffic light carry on straight ,another traffic light turn right , T-junction turn right into R617 towards Kokstad, and then left towards Kokstad. All the way until Underberg

DAY 13:  TUESDAY 29/11/11

UNDERBERG - 110 KM - KOKSTAD (5km Walk )

Carry on straight on R617 to Kokstad.

DAY 14: WEDNESDAY 30/11/11

KOKSTAD - 72 KM - UMZIMKHULU

Continue straight through Kokstad on Hope Street, turn left towards Portshepstone on R56, stay on this road pass the turn towards Portshepstone on your right,  just carry on straight on R56 towards UMzimkhulu, until you get to the City Hall on your left hand side.

DAY 15: THURSDAY 01/12/11

UMZIMKHULU - 110 KM - PORTSHEPSTONE (5km Walk )

Here we will be led by the traffic Chief from UMzimkhulu through to Harding and then be picked up by UGu District traffic officers to take us to the UGu Sports Complex for the World Aids Day celebrations and our last day of the walk.

TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED – 1408 KM

DAY 1: FRIDAY 19/11/10 :   DUDUZA - 37KM – DAVEYTON (Ekurhuleni)

LEFT THRU’ TSAKANE, RIGHT ON MODJADJI ST., RIGHT ON MALANDELA ST., LEFT ON NDABEZITHA ST, CONTINUE STRAIGHT ON MAJOLA ST, RIGHT ON KGASWANE ST, LEFT ON DR JOE MZAMANE, RIGHT ON R554, LEFT ON R51 THEN LEFT ONTO DAVEYTON.

DAY 2 : SATURDAY 20/11/10 : DAVEYTON - 43KM – KATLEHONG ( Ekurhuleni)

LEFT ON HEALD ST, CONTINUE STRAIGHT ON MODDER B RD, RIGHT ON MAIN REEF RD, RIGHT ON R45, LEFT ON R23, RIGHT ON M56, CONTINUE STRAIGHT (SECOND EXIT) ONTO READING RD, LEFT ON DUBE ST, RIGHT ON SESEDI RD, RIGHT ON MAMOKELE (GLASCOW) RD, LEFT ON VAN DYKE RD, CONTINUE STRAIGHT ON BARRY MARAIS (M43), STRAIGHT ON BIERMANN RD, RIGHT ON SONTONGA ST, RIGHT ON BLACK REEF RD (MASAKHANE)

DAY 3 : SUNDAY 21/11/10 : KATLEHONG - 55KM – TEMBISA ( Ekurhuleni)

STRAIGHT ON M37 (BLACK REEF RD), VIE LEFT ON M93 (N), STRAIGHT ON REFINERY RD, RIGHT ON SHORT RD, STRAIGHT ON BRANCH RD, LEFT ON JUNCTION RD, LEFT ON M53, STRAIGHT ON CEMETREY RD, RIGHT ON CYDONIA RD, RIGHT ON CHURCHILL AVE, LEFT ON M37 (N), STRAIGHT ON EDENVALE RD, STRAIGHT ON VAN RIEBECK RD, LEFT ON MODDERFONTAIN RD, RIGHT ON M30(W) WORDWORTH RD, RIGHT ON A CANNING RD (M30) TO ALE STADIUM

DAY 4 : MONDAY 22/11/10 :   TEMBISA - 76KM – BRONKHORSTSPRUIT ( Metsweding)

Right ON JABU MDUNGE DR. Left ON REV RTJ NAMANE DR, Right ON DM MOROKANE ST., Left ON ANDREW MAPHETHO DR. (M18),Right ON R25 LEFT ON SAM MULELE ST., Left ON R50 TOWARDS KEMPTON PARK,TAKE R25 (N) FROM R25/R515 JUNCTION

DAY 5 : TUESDAY 23/11/10 : BRONKHORSTSPRUIT - 39KM - CULLINAN ( Metsweding)

Right ON R25 (S) TURN Right ON R513,

DAY 6 : WEDNESDAY 24/11/10 : CULLINAN - 76KM - TEMBA   (Tshwane)

TAKE right ON R515, Right ON ZAMBEZI DRIVE, right R101,

DAY 7: THURSDAY 25/11/10 : TEMBA - 49KM - SOSHANGUVE      ( Tshwane)

Turn right at D2757 to Temba turn right at D318 towards Soshanguve T. Head northeast towards D318,

DAY 8 FRIDAY 26/11/10 : SOSHANGUVE - 138KM? - KAGISO  ( West Rand)

CONTINUE ON TO R80, TAKE EXIT 42 FOR R55/ BREMER STREET TOWARDS LAUDIUM, TURN RIGHT AT CHURCH RD, TURN RIGHT AT QUAGGA RD/ M22 / R55, TURN RIGHT ONTO N14, CONTINUE ONTO R28, LEFT AT SEBENZISA DRIVE, LEFT AT MAIMANE DR

DAY 9: SATURDAY 27/11/10 : KAGISO - 63KM - KHUTSONG ( West Rand)

FROM R28 RIGHT ON WINDSOR RD. (MAIN REEF), RIGHT ON R41THEN RIGHT ON R41(TAMBOKIES), TAKE LEFT ON R500, TURN RIGHT TOWARDS KHUTSONG

DAY 10 : SUNDAY 28/11/10 : KHUTSONG - 72KM - BEKKERSDAL  (West Rand)

TURN LEFT TOWARDS ANNAN RD/ R500, RIGHT AT ANNAN, TAKE FIRST LEFT TO R500, TURN RIGHT AT N12, TAKE LEFT ON R28, TAKE RIGHT ON R93 TOWARDS BEKKERSDAL

DAY 11: MONDAY 29/11/10 : BEKKERSDAL - 47KM - ORANGEFARM ( JHB)

TURN LEFT TOWARDS N12, EXIT TOWARDS GOLDEN HIGHWAY, TURN RIGHT AT GOLDEN HIGHWAY/ R553

DAY 12 : TUESDAY 30/11/10 : ORANGEFARM - 35KM - SHARPVILLE (Sedibeng)

TAKE PALM DR. THROUGH EVATON, TURN LEFT AT ST PATRIC RD. R551, TAKE THE FIRST RIGHT INTO 53^RD ST., CONTINUE ONTO SEBE ST. THROUGH SEBOKENG, TURN LEFT AT HOUTKOP RD., RIGHT AT HOUTKOP RD/R541, LEFT ON R28, RIGHT AT LAGER

DAY 13 : WEDNESDAY 1/12/10 : SHARPVILLE 16KM   SEBOKENG ( Sedibeng)

RIGHT AT SOBHUZA, LEFT AT RAPOROKO, LEFT TOWARDS MAREKA, CONTINUE STRAIGHT, LEFT AT BAPEDI, RIGHT A THAKA BANNA, LEFT ATNOBLE BLVD, RIGHT AT FRIKKIE, CONTINUE ONTO MOSHOESHOE

TOTAL DISTANCE IS 746KM

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.

Would she rather be climbing mountains? Evelina tries her hand at golf.

In the next town, Makhado, things went slightly better, despite it being a Sunday and the town’s streets being almost deserted. The Heroes received an official welcome at the local municipality building, and after a brief lunch went to the venue of the coaching clinic at the town’s showgrounds. They were greeted by dead silence and not a soul in sight. So they they had to entertain themselves for a while. Now, how do top sportspeople entertain themselves on a lazy Sunday afternoon? they play sport, of course!  In no time a few of the Heroes were playing cricket among themselves – which of course gave top cricketer Daleen an unfair advantage – while some distance away others were receiving golfing lessons from someone who had brought a club and a few golf balls along.

It’s worthy of repeating – nothing keeps a good sportsperson down!

After a while some young people started drifting in, and soon enough the coaching clinic got under way, though it wasn’t the highlight event they were at Tzaneen or Makhado, or even at the dusty field in Mogwadi. But there’s still a firm, highly visible determinination among the Heroes and their entourage to, no matter what, make sure they leave a stamp on every community they visit.

The municipality’s inability to provide a coherent list of the local beneficiaries of SRSA’s equipment handover meant, once again, that the cricket bats, softball and cricket helmets, whistles, stop watches and other items stayed in the  entouragevehicles, rather than being passed on to the municipality. Since this is the fourth time it’s happened on the walk, this approach to helping rural communities with sport will probably have to be reconsidered, perhaps by bringing on board other community organisations such as NGOs and schools.

To stops remain – the village of Giyani and the final destination, Thohoyandou.

After the very successful Sport Heroes Walk stop at Tzaneen, Polokwane followed in much the same vein, even though the coaching clinic was a bit smaller. However, and fittingly so, the Sport Heroes had what was surely the equivalent of a ticker tape parade through the mains street of the city, complete with brass band. At the end of the parade, which took the Heroes to the sports ground next to the newly completed Peter Mokaba Stadium, every passer-by knew that the Heroes were in town.

The following day the Sport Heroes and their entourage started the long trek into the rural areas around Mogwadi (Dendron), Vivo, and Alldays. The Mogwadi stop had, for the first time on the Walk, a rural feel to it. The Heroes’ welcoming was very low-key, and the field where the coaching clinic took place was grassless and dusty, without any seating facilities, no toilets, nothing. Fortunately quite a number of children arrived for the clinic, and the lack of good facilities didn’t dampen their enjoyment.

Show us your stuff.... trying to qualify for a soccer ball.

Because each stopover now attracts more kids than there are SRSA soccer balls to hand out, elimination competitions are held in cricket, football and athletics (there are normally few enough boxers among them). It has added an extra element of excitement to the clinics, and it’s satisfying to see everyone doing their utmost to qualify for a soccer ball, and watch the joy when they receive it. Normally more than 75% of kids receive a ball this way.

Unfortunately it was yet another municipality where SRSA couldn’t be sure that the sports equipment earmarked for handover would be distributed transparently and equitably. Squabbling among municpal and sport club officials resulted in SRSa unceremoniously packing up the boxes with equipment into the vans. It’ll be handed over to the provincial sports authorities, who must first ensure that the local authorities are able to apply the equipment for the community’s benefit before handing it over.

Due to changes in arrangements the next stopover, Alldays, have been moved to a village only about 10km from where the Mogwadi clinics were held. This adds a long distance to the Heroes’ travel plan, and much negotiating and persuasion took place before this change in plans was accepted.

From there it’s a long, very long drive to Musina, the fourth last stop on the Heroes Walk.

On the way to the Nkowakowa Stadium, venue for the coaching clinics, the Heroes had a parade that was joined by about two hundred people from the surrounding community.

Gogo in action during the coaching clinic

The subsequent clinic was one of the most disciplined and well-organised events of the Walk so far. And what made it unique was the participation of several of the area’s gogo (grandmother) football teams, who not only took part in the clinic, but treated everyone to a ten minute soccer game. Most laughter erupted when one gogo lost here shoe while kicking the ball!The seriousness of HIV/AIDS and brought home most vividly when the Heroes visited St Anne’s, a care centre about 50km from Tzaneen, in rural Limpopo. It’s home to more than sixty orphaned and mistreated children, many of them sick with TB and other AIDS-related illnesses. For an hour or so the Heroes danced and sang with the children, who seemed to have boundless amounts of energy.

St Anne’s good work was rewarded later the day when a donation from the Sport Heroes Walk was presented to the care centre.

The heat is slowly picking up, and will probably not relent for the rest of the Walk. Yet, especially after the success of the Tzaneen day, the Heroes are in high spirits. ‘Everyone is keen to do their part of the Walk each day, and support staff are also now doing some walking’, says Mbabala, the Walk’s logistics manager.

Tomorrow the Walk takes the Heroes through the beautiful surroundings outside Tzaneen. It’s an uphill affair though, so could be tough on the non-professional runners. Their next stop is Polokwane, provincial capital.

Come on everyone, run! Willie inspiring the kids.

The wear and tear of day-in and day-out running, coaching, getting up early and driving long distances is starting to show. Tempers are getting shorter when dealing with stroppy municipality officials, and misty eyes say much about how everyone’s missing home. Yet they’re still doing their best, putting in everything to make every day a success.

‘As long as we do our miles every day and connect with the community,’ Cynthia says. ‘Then we’ve achieved what we’ve come for.’

And that mantra is by now a steady rhythm that, to a greater or lesser degree, repeats itself every day.

It’s fascinating to how different municipalities work – some highly efficient, others floundering and disorganised. Some mayors of town are highly involved and hands-on, arriving unobtrusively in non-descript cars, and taking active part in in the coaching clinics and other activities. But yesterday the mayor arrived in a black Mercedes, emerged for about five minutes to hand out twenty condoms, and then promptly got back in and left.

Some municipalities bring sport clubs and local organisations to the coaching clinics to take part, and are able to organise hundreds of kids to come along, while others manage to only produce a few dozen school children and a teacher or two.

What is of concern is that in quite a few places there was a clear ’spirit of entitlement’ with people ranging from anonymous bystanders to municipality officials complaining about the fact that so-and-so didn’t receive a t-shirt, a ball, or any of the equipment that was handed over to the municipalities. They’ll argue with SRSA and Walk officials while standing in the middle of a field of a hundred or more needy children from their community, smiling and joyfully playing with their soccer balls they’ve just gotten, care of SRSA.

Then again, we’ve seen dozens of community volunteers, local heroes and local coaches taking part enthusiastically while receiving no pay or handouts. In some places these people displayed amazing talent and energy. Perhaps these people should be rewarded with equipment with which to help sport in their communities?

Today the Heroes walk from Phalaborwa to Tzaneen, a picturesque route though the fruit producing valleys in and around Letsitele. They’ll only pass briefly through the town centre – as they mostly do – before moving on the main activities in the neighbouring community of Nkowakowa.