Cycling 3000km for 10000 school shoes

Here’s the link to the Google Map

1. Why School Shoes?

What is the first thing you do before leaving the house?  Probably put on a pair of shoes.  Well, imagine not having shoes at all.  Better yet, imagine having to walk 5 – 10km every day to school without shoes.  Yes, you may put a plastic bag around your head when it rains, but your feet soak in all the mud.  And if you have shoes, half your foot is ticking out.   You get cut by bottles and thorns.

This is the norm for thousands of kids in our country.  For a small price of R100, you can make a huge difference in their lives.  You will improve their health,  safety, school attendance and overall confidence.  The price of skipping one burger will make all the difference.  Let’s do it!

2. Who is Vusi Sindane?

Vusi was born in 1985.  He is a husband of 10 years and a dad to six children – Yes! He is also a software engineer (two decades), entrepreneur, former corporate executive, and an active citizen.

Vusi served in corporate, leading the disposal of the official residence of the Gauteng premier via online auction in 2016.  Between 2018 – 2020, in his capacity as project manager, Vusi led the promotion and revitalisation of the South African auction industry, in partnership with the Services SETA. He delivered the first industry-wide auction conference, represented by professional bodies and industry leaders in every sub-sector of auctioneering.  He also delivered the first industry-wide research paper (co-produced with Plus94™), and over-hauled SSETA’s auction qualifications to align with SAQA standards.

In 2021, Vusi was appointed executive director of Nyukani Education Centre, a private school in Limpopo.  With a combination of rolling out e-learning in 3 months and changing management and systems, the school’s performance improved by an average of 10% across all grades compared to the previous years.  The matric class of 2021 doubled their distinctions and produced the best results since the school’s inception – a 96% pass rate.  In the first term of 2022, the school produced the best learner in Limpopo (in Matric), dominated the national accounting and math olympiads and produced the best results in the circuit.

During his time in Limpopo, Vusi saw thousands of hundreds of kids walking (rain or shine) for at least 10 km per day to school.  More recently, he saw a campaign of Mr Beast, one of the most popular Youtube creators, donate 20,000 school shoes to kids in Cape Town.  Although this cycling challenge was already in the making, the mission to donate school shoes became a perfect match.

More information about Vusi is available on www.vusisindane.com

3. Who will produce the shoes?

Barefootnomore is a South African non-profit organisation that turns recycled plastic into school shoes.  They recently collaborated with the world’s most popular Youtuber to produce 20,000 shoes for children in Cape Town.

They also work with several reputable brands, including Brand South Africa, Nelson Mandela Foundation and Bidvest.

The picture below is a testament to their great work.

4. When does the challenge start?

The cycling challenge starts on 13 April 2023 (or sooner), but you can submit your donation today.  The journey will last 35 days, beginning at the border gain between Zimbabwe and South Africa and ending at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.  Vusi will share frequent highlights of the journey on his social media channels.

Follow Vusi on your preferred channel to get daily updates on the journey:

https://twitter.com/iamvusisindane
https://instagram.com/vusisindane
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vusisindane/
https://www.facebook.com/vusisindanelive

5. How will my donations be managed?

Between 5 – 10% of all donations are retained to fund the cycling challenge.  This includes accommodation, food, cycling and filming equipment.  The remaining funds will go straight to Barefootnomore to manufacture the shoes and deliver them to nominated schools.  When making your donation, you can nominate a school to receive the shoes.  Also, note that the final decision remains with our team because donating shoes is better to donate to an entire school (or grade) to avoid leaving some children behind.

Barefootnomore is also registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and is able to issue Section 18A certificates, which allow individuals and companies to claim their donations back from SARS.  To this end, after donating, you will receive a Section 18A certificate for peace of mind that your money went to the right place and was spent on a good cause.  Please allow a week to process your certificate.

6. Donors’ Gala Dinner

After the challenge is complete, all donors will receive an exclusive invite to a gala dinner and meet the school representatives who received shoes.  The dinner will be communicated from June 2023, after completing the cycling challenge.

7. Let’s make it happen

You are probably wearing shoes right now.  Imagine not having shoes at all, and having to walk up to 10km to school every day, and another 10km back home.  Yes, we cannot solve all the problems of the world, but R100 can make a difference to a child for 2 years.  So, take the challenge.