Samuel Ntsanwisi got tired of sitting and watching while many women and children in his village became victims of abuse. Instead, the 25-year-old Durban University of Technology graduate decided to take to the streets by running 1 010km across four provinces to protest against the abuse of women and children.
Samstar, as he is popularly known, began his protest last year when he ran 120km from Polokwane to Nkowa-Nkowa to create awareness around the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. This year, he has challenged himself to run across four provinces to make his voice heard.
He also hopes his efforts will help raise enough money to build a multipurpose centre which will also house an orphanage in his home village of Haenertsburg, in Nkowa-Nkowa, Limpopo.
“My organisation works with children and what we discovered is that a number of them are victims of abuse - this includes their mothers. I wanted to change that by building a multipurpose centre and an orphanage where victims can find a safe haven,” says Samuel.
The marathon will take place over 16 days to coincide with the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
“We take our hats off to this young man. His efforts speak volumes about the kind of young people we have in South Africa. The efforts he has made highlight two of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)’s key performance areas, namely Social Cohesion which refers to the importance of young people giving back to their communities and patriotism.
Social Cohesion also relates to how we as the NYDA are engaging young people in activities that build their social capital, networks and strengthen the relationships that bind people and communities together. Samuel also brings to meaning our efforts of promoting Health and Wellbeing among our young people. We are glad to have him on board as one of NYDA’s ambassadors,” says Steven Ngubeni, Chief Executive Officer at the NYDA.
As one of the main sponsors of Samuel’s ‘Crazy Marathon’, the NYDA will host Samuel and seven additional runners, two of whom are women and three cyclists who have joined in on the ‘Crazy Challenge’ in a sendoff event in the NYDA Durban Branch.
“I would like to urge business as well as government to throw their full weight behind Samuel by making his dream of a multipurpose centre and orphanage a reality,” Ngubeni adds.
The ‘Crazy Challenge’ kicks off at the Durban University of Technology on Friday 11 November 2011.
Youth from Durban, are encouraged to make their way to the Durban Branch located at 5 Walnut Road, SmartXchange Building or call 031- 327 9903 to access more information about how the NYDA can give them assistance on the respective journeys in life.
For media enquiries contact:
Linda Mbongwa
Tel: 011 651 7053
Cell: 082 315 3217
