For the road ahead (31 Oct)

It’s Not Over 

Walk Day 31

By Lala Steyn, Walked 31 days during Blocktober 

Stepping up for Saartjie: carrying the Blocktober flag against gender based violence for 31 days 

Thank you! Dankie! Enkosi!

• For walking
• For cycling
• For running
• For swimming
• For donating
• For participating
• For sharing
• For comforting
• For blogging
• For reading
• For brotherhood
• For sisterhood
• For talking
• For connecting
• For taking action against gender-based violence

From Bernadine Bachar, Director of the Saartjie Baartman Centre: 

“We are speechless and deeply, deeply grateful - the passion, commitment and dedication of everyone in this group is awe inspiring. Thank you to each and every one of you for showing up and making a difference.”

What we did

During October we were active: about 16 700 kms of walks, runs, rides and swims, taking 2 150 hours.

Walks to the Blockhouse in October

Cumulatively we walked 3 225km to the Blockhouse during this month. That is equivalent to walking from Cape Town to Blantyre, Malawi.

In October there were 430 walking ascents to  the King’s Blockhouse. That’s a combined ±3 225 km on foot and around 1 037 hours on the mountain (at ~2.5 h per ascent). Walkers keep saying the long, steady climb is perfect for real connection and conversation.

Broader Blocktober activities

Beyond the Blockhouse: Supporters have logged Blocktober activities on Strava in Kenya and further afield (including Sweden, the UK, Switzerland, New Zealand, Italy, Mexico, the USA and China). Blocktober is wherever you move—together for this purpose—even if not on the same trail.

Using a sample from the Strava records of these participants, we estimate an additional ±13 700 km and 1 100 hours involving activities such as walking / running / riding / swimming.

We wrote 31 blogs with there being 6 585 views.

Donations

We exceeded our donations target of R450 000, with donations received currently standing at R529 409. This means in 2025 we have made and raised donations more than double compared to what was raised in 2024. If you planned to donate please go ahead, as every contribution will help build future sustainability. 

As Jean du Plessis said: “Thank you, everyone, for believing, participating and donating. And thank you to the wonderful people at PCI Africa, for helping to take us beyond our wildest expectations for this year with their generous contribution. Although important, Blocktober never was or will be only about the money. Our mission is about building constant and genuine solidarity and collaboration to help eliminate the scourge of GBV. "

For the Road Ahead

We look forward to:

• Monthly Sunday Solidarity Hikes with the Saartjie Baartman team: dates will be provided on the Blocktober WhatsApp Group.

• The scaling up of economic empowerment opportunities by the Saartjie Baartman Centre through, amongst other activities, employing a full-time Entrepreneurship Manager because of your donations.

• The formal launch of the Saartjie Baartman / SSISA / Blocktober health, fitness and wellness programme in November this year.

• Steps for Saartjie blogs to continue to tell our stories.

• Blocktober 2026!

• Remain part of the movement by joining the WhatsApp Group. 

Why not read the blogs you have missed?