General9.05.2018

OCAL Global Journey for Change challenges the belief system around disability

By weich

On the 10th May 2018, a team of 12 ordinary people (11 runners and a hand cyclist) will do something EPIC; they will take on an incredible non-stop, 24-hour journey that spans 2,200 km over a 10 day period.

The journey will start in Tshwane (Pretoria) making its way through the Kalahari, hug the border of Namibia, the Cederberg Mountains and will culminate at the start line of the FNB 12 OneRun in Cape Town on the 20th May 2018, this being the third OCAL Global’s annual Journey for Change initiatives to challenge and change the perception around disability.

“People are disabled not because of their condition, they are disabled by the poorly accessible world we currently live in. With all of those daily challenges, disability can be something that you create within yourself… that disables you from living a life that’s whole and that’s full and that’s meaningful,” says OCAL Global founder Nicolene Anley.

The new team will no doubt face extreme challenges on their journey – from sore bodies and self-doubt to soaring temperatures and driving rains – but in their darkest hours, they will endure, knowing that their efforts will not be in vain.

The OCAL 2018 Journey for Change is not only being run to raise awareness around “disability”, but will also be raising funds for “Differently Abled” children in the Northern Cape. In October 2017, OCAL founder, Nicolene Anley had an eye-opening experience in the Northern Cape which has the highest prevalence of persons with disabilities in South Africa (11%).

In her time spent in those local communities the harsh reality was realised of just HOW little to no support there is for mentally and physically differently abled kids in the rural communities of the Pixley area of the Northern Cape. We have identified and profiled 133 children with immediate, short and long-term needs.

We will continue to look for funding and partners to continue making a sustainable long-term change in the lives of these most vulnerable, precious children.

Because of OCAL, they are not forgotten, not broken, but “Differently Abled” and deserve the right to mobility, health care, education and a brighter and sustainable future.

We will be taking on this 10 day, 2200km, 24hr non-stop Journey For Change to start making a change in the lives of these mentally and physically “Differently Abled” kids. The handover and day dedicated to them will be held in De Aar on youth day, 15 June 2018.

It will be an EPIC journey for the team, one that will forge new bonds and friendships, but ultimately it will be about challenging a perception that “Differently Abled” people are broken in some way.

OCAL Global’s mission and aim is to ensure that a physical and active environment is created for everyone and has proudly partnered with Totalsports for this year’s OCAL Global Journey for Change.

Other proud partners of the OCAL2018 Journey include: Sportraxs, Flexfit, Happy Socks, Lucan, Corevest, Nissan, XSV Laboratories, Blue Print Corp, DSC Attorneys, Little Tuscany and PUMA.