GEORGE NEWS - Two athletes from George, Sebastian Prentice and Jason Hofmeyr, will be challenging themselves on Friday 24 May with a 100-mile (163km) race in the Outeniqua Mountains in aid of members of the local community who face challenges of a different kind in their daily lives.
Sebastian and Jason will be running the race to raise funds for the George-based non-profit community upliftment organisation, Usapho Indlu. The 100-mile race forms part of the Mountain Ultra-Trail (MUT) of the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc (UTMB) festival of trail races that held from Friday to Sunday, 24 to 26 May.
The two athletes will be covering varied terrain and will face a true test of human endurance.
And they are combining it with an effort to raise R350 000 to equip a learning centre for local students in and around the community of George, as well as to buy a vehicle to get students to and from the centre.
Usapho Indlu CEO Sally Versfeld says their programmes are aimed at empowering families by helping them unlock their potential and understand their identity.
"Each household is surveyed and through the survey they inform Usapho Indlu of their individual needs. Support is tailored to map out a pathway that is sustainable, healthy, and realistic for all members of the family."
Sebastian and Jason say they were both fortunate enough to receive a quality education and believe that it is their duty to create this opportunity for others. It is estimated that less than 40% of South Africans achieve a high-school education.
According to Versfeld, one of the main requests by the families that form part of the outreach are for better education and a better future for their children. Many of the adults are uneducated, unemployed and despondent.
"Extreme challenges facing these families include lack of transport for children, poor nutrition, no support system with homework as well as abuse in schools.
"This will be the focus of our fundraiser. Our aim is to better equip the Education Centre, where 42 children from 27 households attend. In addition, the transport situation in the community is unsafe, expensive and out of the reach of the learners.
With too much money being spent on other forms of transport methods such as Ubers and hiring transport, Usapho Indlu is in need of a mini van for transport to improve service delivery to the families."
Donate on BackaBuddy
The fundraising is done online through BackaBuddy and members of the public have so far donated just over R18 000.
People can support this valiant attempt by the two athletes by visiting the BackaBuddy website and donating under '100 miles for education'.
Call Sally Versfeld on 072 241 5442 for more information on Usapho Indlu, or visit https://usaphoindlu.org.za.
Jason Hofmeyr (left) and Sebastian Prentice will be in action at the 2024 MUT.
‘Ons bring jou die nuutste Tuinroete, Hessequa, Karoo nuus’
