The sun had shone so brightly that morning…

Saturday, February, 25,the sun had shone so brightly that morning but there was no sign of it now. Everyone would swear it was going to be another beautiful Johannesburg weekend. Instead everything looked grey and gloomy.

A storm was brewing up in the sky and heavy dark clouds began to hang over our heads. The clouds were so heavy with rain and would relieve themselves on us anytime. We were determined to do this. Just the five of us (Colleen, Mukayi, Gladys, Lucia and I) we were going to have fun. We waited for the rain to pass and then took off. Little did we know that the slow drops of rain that had seemed so innocent would grow in magnitude and speed, until finally a steady down pour came down on us. Thanks to the city of Johannesburg we sheltered ourselves from the rain and soon we were off.

We had very interesting conversations, got to see interesting yards and “Top Billing ” type of houses in Observatory and Linksfield. It was such a eye opener and pleasure to our imaginations. We then had to climb a hill. It was steep and sloppy and we all needed to be careful. Climbing the hill I was the last one to ascend the steep slope. But, well Gladys waited for me and never got tired of it. Indicative of great team spirit. We help each other tackle difficult tasks that our colleagues may face even if it means just cheering them on. As I stood at the crest of the hill I looked back and had an overwhelming feeling of pride and couldn’t believe we had made it that far.It felt so good.

On that day it occurred to me that we were actually very determined walkers.It builds fun into our work, makes us friendlier and healthier and builds stronger interpersonal relationships. Our determination to go on regardless of the rain only showed the spirit of resilience that GL possesses.

It was tiring but exciting. We could not wait to get out of our wet clothes, take a shower and crawl into our cosy blankets.It was a Saturday well spent. Well, in no time our facebook updates were reading 16KM walk all worth it.