A personal story from Walking The Talk Foundation’s founder, Dale van Blerk:
This didn’t start in a boardroom.
It started on a road.
In 2022, after devastating storms tore through KwaZulu-Natal, I laced up my takkies and began walking.
600 km from Gauteng to KZN.
Then another 1,250 km across the region.
What was really happening inside our schools?
I expected storm damage.
What I found was something deeper.
Yes, the floods were brutal. Communities lost homes, infrastructure, stability.
But in school after school, I saw damage that had nothing to do with recent storms.
Roofs that had leaked through multiple presidents.
Mud floors that had never known concrete.
Windows patched with cardboard so many times the cardboard had become permanent.
Every day spent in a collapsing classroom is a day falling further behind children just a few kilometres away in better-resourced schools.
That realisation changed everything.
It became my life’s work.
There’s one moment I carry with me.
A Grade 3 classroom. Failing roof. Worn chalkboard. Rain channels carved through the floor.
At the back sat a little girl — eight, maybe nine.
She was reading aloud from a worksheet.
But she wasn’t really reading.
She was sounding out. Letter by letter.
The worksheet was in English. At home, she spoke isiZulu.
Her teacher later told me, “She’s one of the brightest. But she translates every word in her head before she can answer. By midday, she’s exhausted. By Friday, she’s behind.”
That child isn’t struggling because she lacks intelligence.
She’s struggling because language is a barrier she must climb every single day — in a classroom that’s falling apart around her.
That is not a mystery problem.
It’s a fixable one.
After 1,850 kilometres, here’s what I know:
The problems we call “too big” are usually problems we haven’t committed to solving yet.
That little girl needs three things:
Hard at scale? Yes.
Impossible? Not even close.
On 12 April 2026, we gather at Herman Immelman Athletic Stadium in Germiston.
That’s it.
Your R190 registration helps us build an AI-Powered Language and Literacy Lab at Galway Primary School — a permanent solution designed to help children understand what they’re being taught.
This is not a patch-up job.
It’s a fully equipped learning lab featuring:
This lab will serve hundreds of children year after year.
Long after the 5 km walk is over.
Individual ticket: R190
Family pack (4): R600
Group pack (10): R1,500
The first 200 entrants receive a branded cap, goodie bag and water.
We’ll share food, music, and the kind of atmosphere that reminds you what collective action feels like.
But the real reward?
The moment a child finally understands something that once felt impossible.
I took the first step in 2022.
Now we take the next step together.
You don’t need four months.
You don’t need blisters.
You just need one morning.
Five kilometres.
One decision.
A lifetime of difference.
I walked 1,850 km to find the truth.
Picture one of your learners sitting in class. The lesson is important. The concepts are within reach. But the language doesn’t quite fit. They spend the period translating in their
A personal story from Walking The Talk Foundation’s founder, Dale van Blerk: This didn’t start in a boardroom. It started on a road. In 2022, after devastating storms tore through
Discover how Walking The Talk Foundation is using EdTech to combat low literacy in South Africa. Plus how to get the most out of your Classroom of the Future. Across
