729 kilometres for a cause – will she make it?
She is strong, independent and motivated, but Leilani Kuter had to fight back the tears as she explained why she intends to walk 729 kilometers in less than a month.
Twenty-seven years ago, one of the world’s greatest horrors befell Leilani Kuter when she was just a teenager. A man forced himself on her, and she lost consciousness before the worst happened.
“I still remember his smell and that he had a sore on his hand. He strangled me and must’ve thought I was dead and left me.”
Her emotions overcame her for a moment, but she put on a brave face, smiled again and explained that she wanted to show others that it’s possible to move on, and how important it actually is to do so.
Now, 27 years later, she will walk 27 kilometres every day for 27 days on the anniversary of that dreadful day. She’s taking on this massive undertaking to spread her message of positivity to other women and to raise funds for the fight against the abuse of women.
“I hope to raise R270 000 for the Tears Foundation Charity, which helps women who have been a victim of sexual abuse,” said Leilani, continuing with the ’27’ theme of this entire project.
“Yellow is also important. I spoke to a woman who said she couldn’t wear yellow for many years because one of her rapists wore a yellow shirt. She recently bought a yellow jacket for the first time, but then I realised that the man who raped me also wore yellow. My colour scheme for the run will be yellow, to show that I’m stronger now,” Leilani explained.
Every day she’ll have a new destination. On one of the days she will even be taking on the 27 kilometres with television personality Mike Bolhuis to help raise awareness. She will start the project on 16 September, and will set off from Key West Shopping Centre on 10 October, walking a 27 kilometre route to Little Falls.
“I pray the blue hell out of myself when I go walking. I have a conversation with God and it gets me through when it’s too tough to go on,” Leilani said.
Leilani is hoping that people and businesses will open their hearts and donate through her BackaBuddy page at www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/leilani. Her journey can also be followed on her Facebook and Instagram accounts on @DateNightIdeasSA and date_night_ideas respectively.
