Nuno Morais, Child Welfare SA – Edenvale’s chairperson, and friend Nik Muiznieks, recently set off for the coast to create awareness about the organisation.

Aiming to walk to Durban, the duo set off on December 17.

Explaining how the idea came about, Morais said he and Jenny Kennedy, the welfare office administrator and centre manager, were discussing fundraising possibilities when the idea for the walk came about.

“Jenny and I were chatting about what’s happening here at the welfare. The staff work so hard,” said Morais, adding that the welfare desperately needs donations, specifically food and financial contributions.

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Morais said the idea behind the walk was to raise awareness for Child Welfare SA – Edenvale and to get the community to support it.

Setting off from Childwelfare SA – Edenvale on the first day, he and Muiznieks walked to Vosloorus.

“I could hear Nik was battling, and once we pulled into Vosloorus, he took off his shoes; it was just blisters. After looking at the condition of his feet, I ordered him an Uber and sent him home.”

With cool, rainy weather on day two, Morais walked to Villiers before heading off to Warden on the third day.

“On the stretch of road I was travelling, there was no water or shops, but my GPS kept on telling me there was a petrol station 10km away.”

Although he never found the station, Morais did find a farmhouse where he could refill his water.

Morais said because of a technical issue with his GPS, he never made it to Warden on day three and instead had to head to the nearest town, Vrede.

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On day four, after speaking to a farmer who advised him to use sand roads, Morais spent a day in the sun and returned to Vrede.

He said his GPS kept redirecting him.

“I had done about 40km that day and gotten completely lost. I decided to run back to Vrede before a driver found me and offered to drive me back.”

On day five, Morais headed off again, “I did a couple of kilometres. I was trying to find a quick route or a lift back to the highway, but there was nothing, so I again returned to Vrede.

“When I got there, I phoned Jenny, who told me to take a personal day and relax, and the next morning, we decided to call it off,” said Morais.

“Unfortunately, that time of the year was just a bad time,” said Morais.

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The walk was called off after five days of being on the road.

“People were on holiday, there were accommodation problems, and we didn’t have enough support,” said Morais.

Kennedy said that despite postponing the walk to a later date, there had been increased community support since Morais set off.

“Awareness was created. Many people in Edenvale said they followed Nuno’s Journey, and they see the great work we are trying to do,” said Kennedy.

“Even school children have told me they saw I did another walk and asked if they could be part of the next one I do,” said Morais.