Last month I reported my Waterford challenge – walking 280 kilometres in a month – was successfully completed. This month I can confirm that I raised the target amount. When I signed up, in 2023, my goal was to raise R67,000, R1,000 for every year I had been alive. Unfortunately, I had some health issues,1 so only embarked on the challenge on 16th June 2024. Given the delay and the passing of another birthday, I felt morally obliged to raise at least R68,000.
Tag Archives: Waterford Challenge
Waterford Challenge
Dear Friends,
I promised to not misuse my subscriber list and keep to one post a month. I did a weekly post for about ten months during Covid. This was at a time when there was not much information about and I had some knowledge of the issue. It was widely read and reproduced which was hugely complimentary.
Why, you may ask, am I doing a second post in July 2024? Well, I undertook to raise money for my school in Swaziland, by walking 250 km in a month, to raise R67,000. I have done the kilometers, but am battling to get the last of the money.
I would really appreciate it if you looked at the website and considered making a small donation. To those who have already done so thank you so much. I will make it!
All the best,
Alan
Birds and Walks in Durban
It is relatively unusual for there to be rain in winter in Durban. Weeks have passed with a succession of sunny days. Walking, except at dawn, means wearing a hat. It was quite a surprise when, this week, the first cloudy day in ages ended with a short but heavy rain shower in the evening. I could hear it coming across the city and, at first, was unsure what it was, it had been so long.
Health, Hearts, and Hope
At the end of July, I drove up to Eswatini to participate in the events marking the 60th anniversary of my school, Waterford Kamhlaba United World College. It is at least a seven-hour drive, so I stopped overnight at the Ghost Mountain Inn in the little Zululand town of Mkuze. The town lies at the foot of the Lebombo mountains – they are part of a chain of low volcanic hills that run for 800 km in the east of southern Africa. There was conflict between two Zulu factions and a battle on one of the hills. Hundreds died, according to Rider Haggard (famous for King Solomon’s Mines, partly set in Swaziland), and the souls manifest as flickering lights, hence the name.
Alan Whiteside 