Sarah Camp, a final-year medical student from Stellenbosch University, has raised more than R30,000 for struggling students with a bicycle trip from Stellenbosch to Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal.
Camp, 25, will finish her final exam on Friday but is still basking in the success of her fundraiser.
“I will be graduating in December, but a lot of other students will not be in the same position due to financial constraints,” she told TimesLIVE Premium.
She decided to do something about it.
“I was inspired by Thuli Madonsela’s Pilgrimage of Hope where she walked 300km from Stellenbosch to the southern most tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas to raise funds aimed at ensuring academic inclusion and clearing historical debt for all deserving students.
“I became aware of the issue of student debt, especially graduation debt, and I wanted to also do something and help.”
Camp opened a profile on the fundraising platform GivenGain.
“All the money we raised will go directly to #Action4inclusion, a bursary fund started by Thuli Madonsela at SU’s Centre for Social Justice. They will dispense the money as they see fit,” Camp said.
So Camp and fellow final-year med student, Bianca Tout, 26, hit the road.
“Bianca was in the support car, and I was on my bicycle. We left Ukwanda Medical Campus — a Stellenbosch University satellite medical campus in Worcester — on Thursday, October 26, and arrived in Hillcrest on Saturday, November 4. The total distance was about 1,500km, but I cycled about 1,200km of that,” Camp said.
They planned to camp every night, but the kindness of strangers prevailed.
“We phoned ahead every day to ask guest houses in the place where we wanted to overnight if we could pitch our tent in their garden. In all but one of the destinations the guest house owners, once they heard what we were doing, gave us free accommodation for the night.
“It just shows that South Africa is not all doom and gloom. The kindness of strangers is built into our foundations in this country,” Camp said.
She believes in reaching out with a helping hand herself.
“So many of my fellow students come from backgrounds where they have very little financial support. Many of them are the first generation in their family to attend university. We must all do what we can to help these trailblazers to fulfil their destiny.”
To do that Camp started cycling every day at 6am.
“We would be on the road until about 4pm or 5pm. After that I would join Bianca in the support car for the rest of that day until we reached the guest house where we would sleep.”
She laughs.
“Phew! I was on my bicycle for at least 10 hours every day for 10 days. I was tired at the end, but very pleased with the adventure and the money we raised. Bianca was worth her weight in gold. I don’t think I would’ve managed without her,” Camp said.
In a press release Stellenbosch University praised their soon-to-be doctor.
“To put Camp's achievement into perspective: at an average of 150km per day, she has completed a Cape Town Cycle Tour plus, every day for 10 days, without a break. Or tackled a South African version of the Tour de France, amateur style,” the university wrote.
Madonsela also had words of praise for the fundraising medical cyclist.
“It was heart-warming when we received news of Sarah's intention to undertake a cycling pilgrimage in support of our Pilgrimage of Hope, which is an extension of our #Action4Inclusion crowdfunding initiative. I was moved deeply by her generosity of spirit and immediately indicated to my CSJ team that we must support her,” Madonsela said in the university’s press release.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.