Port Sudan , Sudan ( CNN ) -- A humanitarian land convoy heading to Gaza from South Africa reached Port Sudan , Sudan on the Red Sea Wednesday and is destined to become the first relief mission to Gaza from Africa . `` I was inspired last year by the convoys that went to Gaza from Europe , so we asked ourselves ; why not from Africa ? '' said Sheikh Walid al-Saadi of the South African Relief Agency ( SARA ) . After eight months of preparation , the land convoy which consists of ten trucks , explained al-Saadi , departed Durban , South Africa on June 26 and has passed through seven countries thus far including Botswana , Zimbabwe , Zambia , Tanzania , Kenya , Ethiopia and Sudan . It is to unload its shipment of humanitarian aid in Port Sudan on ships that will head to Suez , Egypt where members of the convoy will receive their trucks after flying to Egypt from Sudan . The convoy has received the support of several South African leaders including Bishop Desmond Tutu who said in a YouTube video message : `` I want to congratulate SARA and wish them well . You are helping to do God 's work ; God bless you . '' Gaza has been under a land , sea and air blockade by Israel since 2007 . Israeli authorities say the blockade is to limit rocket attacks fired from Gaza and to prevent Hamas authorities who govern the Gaza from obtaining weapons and funds . Egyptian authorities had maintained a blockade on Gaza from 2007 to 2011 . Last May , United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said that the blockade of Gaza has resulted in a stifling of economic activity and a serious decline in education , health care and water and sanitation services . The Africa to Gaza Aid Convoy 's mission follows recent attempts by European and American ships to reach Gaza as part of a coalition known as Freedom Flotilla II but were blocked from doing so . They include the American ship The Audacity of Hope flotilla that was prevented by Greek authorities from sailing to Gaza from Athens and the French ship Dignite-Al-Karma that was intercepted by an Israeli naval ship . Last year , Israeli commandos prevented the Gaza Freedom Flotilla from reaching Gaza from Turkey and bordered the ship Mavi Marmara . The raid on the ship led to the death of nine Turkish activists . `` We are a peaceful convoy on an aid mission , '' affirms al-Saadi . `` We ca n't predict what is going to happen , we know there 's pressure on the Egyptian government , but you never know . '' According to al-Saadi , the Egyptian government has not allowed the convoy to drive on Egyptian land and has requested they go straight via sea from Port Sudan to Al-Arish near the Egyptian-Gaza border . `` [ But ] the ships from Port Sudan can only go to Suez , so we are trying to solve this problem , '' he says . The trip from South Africa to Sudan has had its challenges , al-Saadi explains . `` We were delayed at some borders for no clear reasons and some of the roads were very bad , '' he says . `` We got to a place between Zambia and Tanzania that was full of pot holes ; I think if one of the trucks had fallen into one you would 've needed a crane to take it out . '' The convoy 's shipment , al-Saadi continues , is carrying aid to the people of Gaza including `` one hundred and twenty two generators , diapers for the elderly and children , cloths , stationery , and we intend to buy medicine in Egypt . '' Palesa Rasekoala , 46 , an architect and member of the convoy says `` after the last Gaza War , the images I saw , of legs being amputated without anesthesia , for me , that was it , I do n't ' know the details , but I know a wrong is being done . '' Rasekoala , a granddaughter of South African ANC activists , continued : `` As a South African and after what we went through and coming out of that and having the support of the world , and as a Christian , I had to take a stand . ''
Land convoy from South Africa is bound for Gaza . The convoy has crossed seven countries so far . Prospects for driving across Egypt are uncertain , organizers say .