COFFEE AND KINDNESS PISTEE

His café caters for the homeless and he runs to create awareness about human trafficking – Gideon Swart just wants to make the world a better place

- JANICE BECKETT-MSIZA

TRAINING for a 75km race isn’t for the fainthearted. You need to be disciplined and determined and ensure your days are structured so you don’t drop any balls – especially when you have as much going on as this guy.

Gideon Swart is a husband, father, sports missionary, barista, coffee shop owner, human rights activist. . . the list is so long it’s enough to make you tired just by looking at it. Yet the 45-year-old thrives on it. Anything he can do to make the world a better place is what drives him and pushes him to the limit.

When YOU meets Gideon he’s training for the maxi race in the Cape Winelands on 30 September, which winds through beautiful vineyards and up steep rocky mountains. He’s done the brutal 75km race before, taking 13 hours to reach the finish line.

“We were given 16 hours until cut-off,” he says. “This year the cut-off is 17 hours because there’s a total elevation of 4,000 m. It’s tough but I’m more prepared now because I know what to expect.”

Gideon, who lives in Garsfontein, Pretoria, isn’t doing the race only for personal gratification and a sense of achievement. He’s running to raise awareness of the scourge of human trafficking, a cause he’s dedicated himself to through his non-profit organisation, Brave to Love.

The NPO works with law enforcement agencies to find safe ways for victims to escape traffickers and to help them overcome their trauma and reintegrate into society.