Durban - If the folks of the Southern Drakensberg weren’t aware that some residents of the local Pevensey Place, a sanctuary for those living with cerebral palsy, are sexagenarian orphans, they are now.
This month they watched, and even joined, the institution’s social administrator Rodreck Nyathi walk 100km through the foothills of the range to raise money for their fees and awareness of their plight, and celebrate his 50th birthday.
“There’s a need within a need,” he said, describing the awareness factor.
Many of the residents of Pevensey Place, who are all adults, hail from Durban. The home grew out of Brown’s School in Pinetown, which is for children.
“A few residents here will be over 60 and have been here about 40 years and the people who brought them here are now deceased,” Nyathi told the Independent on Saturday.
“Their support fizzled out. They need people to be available for them. Their fees need to be paid.”
Covid-19 had impacted on Pevensey Place’s usual fundraising activities.
With his family away in Dubai, Nyathi, who comes from Zimbabwe, one day sat alone in the shade relaxing when the thought of helping the elderly orphans by doing a walk came to mind. He plotted a route from Pevensey Place to Drakensberg Gardens, which passes through “the spine of the community”, including the villages of Himeville and Underberg and in the shadow of towering features such as the Giant’s Cup and Garden Castle.
He walked it in two days, starting on the eve of his birthday and finishing the next day, May 16.
“I did only 12km alone,” he said, adding that a highlight was the community buy-in.
“It shows that people have got it in them to attach importance to a cause if the cause is good.
“I felt that this is what it means to be human – that connection with other people. That’s what we crave for. And that applies to these orphans too. They must feel that there are people around them.”
Among those who joined the throng were child orphans from the local orphanage, Clouds of Hope.
“I never considered myself a walker,” Nyathi said.
“I would like to think that the way I grew up, in rural Zimbabwe, we walked everywhere.
“If you wanted a loaf of bread, you walked to the store. You walked to school, to the clinic and often some distance. When I thought of walking, I knew it was not impossible.”
At Pevensey Place, which includes a farm, Nyathi’s job involves arranging jobs that suit individuals, outings so they don’t feel trapped and counselling.
“It works like a kibbutz.”
And how would he wish to celebrate his 100th birthday?
“I think I’ll just ask people to come and say Happy Birthday. They must do the walking for me!”
Anyone wishing to support Nyathi’s walk can do so through https://givengain.com/c/pevenseyplace/.
The Independent on Saturday