Recently, two men, Marc Bührer and Shane McConnachie embarked on a journey placing themselves in the footprints of the homeless and destitute on the streets of Cape Town. An initiative in conjunction with Dare To Share, Marc and Shane spent 7 days on the streets and enlisted the support of a few friends including Nick French, Brad Bodsworth and Dene Botha to join for 24 hours, relinquishing their affluent lifestyles, cars, phones (and even extra changes of clothing) to spend a week on the streets as homeless people. The project was created to highlight the plight of the homeless in Cape Town and South Africa in a effort to create awareness and encourage aid. This is just one of many initiatives these men are involved in to encourage support and responsible giving to Cape Town’s homeless community. At a screening held at the 15 on Orange Hotel in Cape Town, Marc and Shane premiered a 12 minute film (reduced from over 45 hours of footage) titled “Walk The Walk (Life On The Streets)”, showcasing their journey. The documentary-film consists of a sequence of “diary entries” of their experience, from the positive to negative and clearly demonstrates the realities of life on the streets with conversations with the homeless individuals the men encountered. The film demonstrates their search for money for their next meal, finding a warm, safe place to sleep, a place to wash and so much more, that before this journey, they could have easily have taken for granted. It was an enlightening experience as invited guests including Dare To Share, various representatives from organizations including prominent food retail stores and The City Of Cape Town were encouraged to assist with solutions and “giving responsibly” projects. Find out more about this initiative (including diary entries) at http://www.daretoshare.co.za/about/walk-the-walk/.
