i would love to take this opportunity to give you a brief introduction to Zaan Cilliers and the Pikkewyntjies Pre-Primary school located in Mooi Uitsig, Betty's Bay. Last week i had the privilege of driving the most beautiful route from Cape Town to Betty's Bay for the purpose of meeting up with Zaan and taking a look around the school. My sister Sue who lives in Austen, Texas in the States was introduced to [...]
As i reflect back on what has been the most bizarre year for the world in my lifetime, one person's name pops up a lot more than most: Megan Furniss Choritz. We have been friends since 1999 - well, that's the year we met and i stepped into her Improv world and so friends probably happened a year or two later. Especially as one of my final moves before leaving for an 18-month journey [...]
i absolutely love the people in and around my life. It really does feel like a gift and on top of any male or white or anything else privilege that i recognise and acknowledge, the privilege of quality people is one i am most grateful for. The other night a new friend Mzi was visiting Cape Town from Joburg and we got to have dinner with him and spend an evening just chatting and reflecting [...]
A few weeks ago i got to help out at a camp with The LifeMatters Foundation, on this occasion with grade seven pupils from three different schools in the Cape Flats. They are doing some incredible things in schools and so i asked them to share a little bit of who they are: Who we are We are The LifeMatters Foundation, a proudly South African Non-Profit Organisation promoting holistic development in children through literacy, numeracy, life skills workshops, counselling and [...]
i know a lot of people in Cape Town who are involved in some exciting educational non-profit organisations doing a range of inspirational things with the young people in our province, particularly those in less resourced schools. One such group is Outliers and i asked them to share a little bit about what they are about: In South Africa, only 50% of children who originally enroll in school make it to matric. In addition, an [...]
Last night i went to support my friend Megan Furniss, by watching a group of high school learners perform an improv show following some training she had done with them. It was aptly titled, 'Oy's Line Is It Anyway?' and ended up being quite delightful. Let me be honest. Heading off to go and watch school kids perform improv is not something that in itself excites one. Not this one, anyway. However, their first game [...]
"Where did you two meet?" "That's easy. He [me] is an activist and I [Napoleon] am an activist. We were introduced by another activist [Nigel Branken]." That was part of an exchange that happened yesterday as i got to hang out with my friend Napoleon Webster who i hadn't seen since he was released from spending over 200 days in prison for a crime he did not commit. But let's backpedal a bit... The Marikana [...]
By now you have probably heard about the Roseanne Barr racist tweet and cancelling of her show incident. i have maybe watched Roseanne the show once in my whole life and it didn't do enough to get me back. So i don't really know Roseanne Barr much besides glimpses of her on interview shows and random celebrity news from time to time. But this post isn't really about her. In a nutshell, Roseanne posted a [...]
When i say "Cape Flats", you say "Violence!" "Cape Flats!" "VIOLENCE!!" "Cape Flats!" "VIOLENCE!!" Because, along with Nazareth and townships and maybe even Africa as a whole, that is the kind of mindset that too many of us hold, right? The mindset that says [or suggests, or at the very least thinks]: What good ever came out of the Cape Flats...? Time to flip this narrative This past weekend i had the privilege - and [...]
Last night tbV and i attended the end of year function - AGM and celebration - of the local non-profit organisation Bottomup. Who are Bottomup? i will let them introduce themselves to you in their own words: What is Bottomup?: Bottomup positions itself as a catalyst for organizational change in the under-resourced schools in the Grassy Park, Lotus River and Ottery area. We aim to apply an assets based approach, assisting schools to leverage their existing [...]
