A group of more than 70 staff members, students, alumni and friends of Stellenbosch University (SU) participated in the world’s biggest individually timed cycle race, the Cape Town Cycle Tour, to raise funds for struggling students on Sunday 10 March.
One of the 70 cyclists was 13-year-old Efrayim Els, a learner of Boland Agricultural School in Paarl, who tackled the gruelling 109 km race for the first time. The early teen’s participation in the tour was for a combination of reasons. “This is the biggest one-day cycle tour in the world, at the same time raising funds for charity,” he said, “so it is a two-in-one combo for me. I think it’s an accomplishment.”
Speaking about his experience, Efrayim said the race was challenging, but he was happy for the support of his family along the way.
“The competition was very hard, perhaps the most challenging one I have ever done, and also the longest one. My uncles who cycled with me helped me a lot, because they motivated me en route especially on the hills.”
The youngest in the Maties group of cyclists, he believes it was important to raise funds for SU students, so no-one is left behind.
“It’s important to help people who are in need. What if you find yourself in that position of need
The Grade 8 learner raised over R4 000 and completed his race within four hours and 46 minutes. He said as the youngest in the group he did not really have the network and social media platforms to raise more funds, but he is glad that he could raise some funds to aid others.
According to Efrayim, he would love to enter the raise for charity next year again. “However next time, I will try to round up my time at four hours,” he pointed out. In total, the Maties group raised over R109 000 for the cause, with SU’s Development and Alumni Relations Office saying the figure is expected to increase over the next few days. “We have raised over R109 000, but we still have to reconcile with other donations that will come in this week,” said SU’s Alwin Mabuza.
- Anyone who still wants to contribute to the project can donate via the GivenGain platform.
