How it started
It was 2015. A colleague and friend had contracted cancer and was undergoing the chemotherapy.
Around the same time a team member’s young cousin was bed-ridden, his body ravaged by cancer. It was the story that led up to that point that really hit home.
He did not have a medical aid, so he had to rely on state hospitals. When he first experienced some stomach pains, he reported to his nearest state hospital in the Western Cape. After a round of examinations and rudimentary tests, he was sent home – with no clear diagnosis, or treatment.
To cut a long story short: by the time he landed up at the right doctor, it was too late. After an explorative operation to determine the extent of the disease, the doctors told his family there was nothing to be done. The only thing to do was to make him as comfortable as possible while life ebbed from this frail body.
Finally, he passed away peacefully, at home, with his mother next to him.
All these bits and bobs made us ponder the meaning of life, death and cancer.
And we came to a conclusion: cancer is a horrible, terrible thing. No matter if you have the highest tier medical aid plan, or if you rely on state hospital services. Cancer is cancer. And cancer is a horrible, terrible thing.
The ones most dramatically affected by cancer are the kids. The small kids. They had no life choices to make that affected their medical condition. They could not choose between healthy and unhealthy food habits. They were dealt their cards – and they have to deal with it, no matter if they are four or 16.
And so, the vision of helping these kids was born.
We looked at options on how to help the kids. With more than 20 years of relationships in the motoring and adventure travel genres… a mad cap idea was born: drive 7 000km in seven days, visiting seven hospitals in seven countries, delivering gifts to kids with cancer.
In retrospect, it was quite the ridiculous plan. But we mentioned the idea to Kia South Africa. And they decided it sounded just wonderful. So we had a Kia Sorento 2.4 FWD, and we had a bit of a route.
We spoke to Manny de Souza at Wrap Vehicles SA, and we had a custom wrap design. We mentioned the idea to Bridgestone, and we had all-terrain tyres. We spoke to Opposite Lock, and the company provided six high end spotlights. Weca Offroad Centre provided a custom roof-rack.
And with the help of Margaret Pretorius, our own cancer survivor, we had bags full of gifts to hand out to the kids.
The first driving day of Seven7 Drive was the longest we have ever done… about 1 800km, from Pretoria to Windhoek. We departed from Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria at midnight – and arrived in Windhoek late in the afternoon.
In Windhoek we experienced our first, er, ‘cold shoulder’: after arriving a whisker after 5pm in the afternoon, the local organisation we had arranged to deliver the gifts to kids with cancer completely and utterly ignored our calls and messages.
So we headed to the local hospital, and stated our case to the powers that be. Finally, exhaustively, we managed to convince the hospital’s powers-that-be that our intentions were above-board – and we handed over our offerings to the kids with cancer.
It was to be the first of many challenges. But we stuck it out. And somehow we managed to pull it off… seven hospitals in seven countries in seven days. 7 000km.
Back in 2015 our budget covered only the basics. To save on costs, we decided to camp. A great idea… if you are on a holiday. In our case, it was a bit of a challenge. We’d arrive at the campsite at 11pm, set up camp, cook dinner, and get to sleep by about midnight. Then, at 4am, we had to strike camp in the dark, and start driving. Not so much fun.
Over the years The Drive has evolved. After four years of cross-border expeditions, we decided to stick to South Africa only, and focus on local hospitals. We no longer camp but stay over in affordable guest houses and hotels.
Kia South Africa has been by our side since day one. We’ve completed The Drive in almost every model in the company’s inventory. For some reason they didn’t want to us to build a Kia Picanto with 30-inch off-road tyres and roof-rack and the Kia Stinger’s twin-turbocharged V6 engine.
In 2023 we had a meeting with the folks at Kia South Africa. We agreed that we needed to take Seven7 Drive in one of two directions: either call it quits. Or take it to the next level.
Together we decided on the latter.
Seven7 Drive is now a registered non-profit company, and we’ve opened up the floor to all car brands, providing the initiative with a much bigger platform. We are also expanding our music shows and other fund-raising efforts to bolster the programme.
Hopefully, as Seven7 Drive’s platform grows, we can take Seven7 to other African countries again. We also have bags of plans, with a bunch of new initiatives in the pipeline.
For the kids.