Rally puts shoes on young feet

Three young Namibians have formed a crew called the Kübel Crew that will represent the country at this year’s edition of the Put Foot Rally and will distribute school shoes to children in Zambia while enjoying a fun-filled 18-day adventure rally.
Twenty four year old Tim Wucher, Daniel Theil and Oliver Pieters are high school friends with a passion for adventure travelling. The three had always dreamt of travelling across Africa in a wagon and have finally made their dream come true six years after completing school.
They will be competing in the 2013 edition of the Put Foot Rally. This event was held for the first time last year. Response from both participants and communities that they visited, was so positive, the organisers immediately decided to continue the rally as an annual event.
The three members of the Kübel Crew are all mechanical engineers and have managed to transform the 1970 Type 1811 Volkswagen, popularly known as a Kübelwagen into a creative masterpiece in just eight weeks. According to Wucher, earlier this year they purchased a worn out wagen from a farmer in Outjo. “The engine was very bad and the car looked rusty so we made some work on it and also repaired the engine,” said Wucher. The recently restored wagen will be the oldest vehicle to participate in this year’s rally and likely the one with the most character.
This year’s rally attracted 60 participants with over 150 members. Two teams from Namibia, the The Kübel Crew and the Nam Extreme will represent the country.
The 18-day rally starts on 17 June 2013 in Cape Town heading to Etosha and then cross the Zambezi Waterfront into Zambia and ends in Inhambane, Mozambique.
While in Zambia, the participants will take part in the “Shoe Drop”, an initiative of the Put Foot Rally Foundation that distributes shoes for free to school children.
“We want to prove that 4x4s are definitely not required to travel across Southern Africa by completing the rally in our 43 year old Volkswagen,” the three young men noted. During the rally, the crew said they will act as ambassadors of Namibian hospitality, pride and spirit.