My name is Josh Sanabria; let me introduce you to an incredible story from my close friend Wandile Mthiyane.

1,600km Walk for Home: From a Durban Waiting List to Harvard University #RUNFORESTRUN

My aunt spent 25 years on a government waiting list for a house that never came. She passed away last month in the same two-room mud-brick home she was born in.

The hardest part is that I became an architect specifically to change her life. I spent years in studios with her in my heart, but the system is so broken that she passed away while I was still building the solution to help her. Even as an Obama Foundation Leader, my degrees could not move the needle for my own family. I am done waiting for a silver bullet. It is time to build our own homes.

The Solution: Ubuntu Home I have spent the last year building Ubuntu Home. It is an AI-powered platform that gives families free, build-ready architectural designs tailored to their location. By removing the "architectural tax" and connecting families to local builders and financing, we help people build within their own budget and timeline. I am already testing prototypes with banks, but to scale this for the 3.4 million South Africans still waiting, I need to redesign the system itself.

The Hurdle: Harvard I have been accepted into Harvard’s Master in Design Engineering as one of only 25 people globally. This is my one shot to scale Ubuntu Home into a national solution. But without funding, I cannot go. I need to raise R3 million ($160,000 USD) to cover full enrollment costs, including tuition and boarding. If I do not reach this goal, I lose my seat, and the solution stays small while the waiting list grows.

The Work: 1,600km in 60 Days. On the 15th April 2026, I will begin a 1,600km journey from Durban to Cape Town. I will walk an average of 35 km a day, meeting fellow South Africans from different backgrounds and asking them “What is a home to you?” I am also walking to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1976 generation, who died fighting against the unjust system of apartheid. Their fight was not in vain, but the echoes of the system they fought to oppose still linger on today. My walk serves as an effort towards silencing it for good. Together we can continue their fight not by waiting, but by building, one step at a time.

How You Can Walk With Me

Sponsor a kilometer for R2,500 ($135 USD).

Your support sends me to Harvard, funds the Ubuntu Home platform, and builds real houses for those still waiting. Anything raised beyond enrollment costs goes directly into construction.

Follow the journey at @wandileubuntu

My aunt spent her life waiting for a door that never opened. I am walking to make sure the next generation can build their own.

Chicago