Margate scout Taotitian is a trooper
A Scout from the 1st Margate pack, has walked 1290km in support of his scout group.
Taotitian Sinclair (15), a Scout from the 1st Margate pack, has walked 1290km in support of his scout group.
He walked the distance as part of the global #HikeToMahikeng Challenge which was launched by Scouts South Africa when lockdown regulations were relaxed to permit outdoor activity and exercise.
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Scouts South Africa challenged its members and families to ‘virtually’ follow in the footsteps of scouting founder,
Robert Baden-Powell and ‘hike’ around their homes or neighbourhoods.
Baden-Powell had travelled 1290 km from Cape Town to Mahikeng where the seed of scouting was planted.
Scouts who completed 20km received a badge, and when scout groups cumulatively completed 1290km, they received a commemorative certificate.
Taotitian was determined to succeed for his troop and he personally completed the full 1290 kilometres.
“It was during lockdown that my scouter Chris ‘Rhino’ Pieters encouraged us to take on the #HikeToMahikeng Challenge,” he explained.
“So I walked 14 843 laps around my home. It took me 186 hours and 30 minutes to complete the full distance. I did not start out intending to walk so far.
“I had worked out that for the whole troop to do 1290 kilometres, 65 people would have to walk 20km and my troop is not that big. Therefore, my intention was to hike 200 kilometres.”
To complete that impressive distance, Taotitian had to wake up very early, once or twice even at 3am, when he set out walking by torchlight. “But normally I started at around 4.30am,” he said.
“It was very tiring and I was exhausted, but I wanted to carry on. During this experience I learnt about a Buddhist practice called Jongram.
“Jongram is a Thai word and means pacing back and forth on a straight path. “It’s a practice of concentrated walking where you focus your attention on the movement of your feet and body from the beginning to the end of your path. It’s a training in patience and visualisation.
“You visualise what you want to achieve and then watch yourself do it bit by bit,” he explained.
Taotitian’s mother Carla is very proud of her son.
“It was hard work and it tested his perseverance and his determination to fulfil a commitment he had made to himself,” she said.
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