settling in to life back in South Africa

saturday chillout at Camps Bay

we'll we've been back in South Africa for two weeks exactly and it seems like we have never been away, it's been wonderful to see old friends and to make new ones as we undertake the work that we have been set for the next three months.

we certainly 'hit the road running', landing on Sunday morning, picking up our rental car and travelling to the stunning accommodation in Grabouw that will be our home for the next three months. we unpacked our meager luggage into the huge wardrobes and then set about delivering the Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' programme to a group of school teachers on the Monday.

working with the farmworkers

a lot of the preparation for the first month of the three months that we are going to be based here was done in November and December so we haven't stopped since arriving. 

each of the four modules lasts about three hours and we have worked on two different farms with three groups of people, two schools and a large packhouse, delivering 13 modules over the first ten days.

the awesome Pool Room

if you have been following our story you will know that the Leadership for Life programme is very interactive and its been great to see people open up, to start to see themselves as leaders, in whatever they are doing in their lives, to start to pick up their 'life pen' and look at what it might take to write a new story for their lives.

xhosa farmworkers

we have also had some great meetings, both with the exporters of the fruit which is grown in South Africa and with some influential people in local government and other businesses who are very excited to see how the programme can impact the hearts and minds of the wider communities that live 'beyond the farm gates'.

maz and some of the teachers

it is our dream to have the new 'Lead Now', children's programme, piloted in a couple of the local schools so its very important that the school teachers are understanding and living out the leadership principles that make up the programme. it has been wonderful to work with these people and we hope that they will now be 'seeing themselves as leaders' as they provide the role model and examples to the children that they teach.

working together on our 'Here to There'

we did enjoy a 'date night' out at the Pool Room at Oak Valley, where we were welcomed with open arms by Gordon and Emma who own that awesome restaurant, we also went into Cape Town and had our hair cuts sorted by the guys at 'Scar' and we spent the couple of Saturday's at the beach, first at Camps Bay and yesterday in Hermanus, we also went into Cape Town to watch the third T20 cricket international between South Africa and Sri Lanka.

SA lose to Sri Lanka at Newlands

it is also lovely to have our 'own' space, to be able to relax, read and enjoy the beautiful views that surround our rental home, we have both been running around the vineyards and apple orchards which also helps us to relax and unwind.

new haircuts

this coming week is another busy one so we'll update via Facebook as and when we can but till next time please keep us in your prayers as we firstly look for a longer term solution to our extremely high rental car costs and as we see those that we are working with 'lift up their heads' and start to see a different future for their lives, the lives of their families and their communities.

back in busy beautiful South Africa.....

maz and joe running a leadership for life module
in the hot South African sun!

so we've been back in South Africa for just over a week now, after arriving on a very rocky and hair raising flight through the thunderstorms from Antananarivo, via Johannesburg, to Cape Town and we have certainly hit the ground running.

it was very sad to say goodbye to our friends in Madagascar but we leave them with the knowledge that we have delivered on all aspects of our vision for our time there and have left an amazing team of trained trainers in both Antananarivo and Toamasina with the knowledge that we will be returning to work with these people in 2017.

Lekker braai 

this first week here in Grabouw has been a time for us to not only catch up with some of the wonderful local people who we'd grown to love during our six year stay here when working with the Thembalitsha Foundation but also setting up and attending meetings with different farms, businesses and organsiations who we are looking to work with to deliver the awesome Emerging Leaders, Leadership for Life, modules to all members of the local community and beyond.

initially we were hosted by our good friends Sandy and Ali before moving onto a local farm where we are also staying with some people who have become part of our lives over the last few years. one evening we were served a wonderful meal by Rob and Emily House at their newly built home in Sir Lowrys Village.

Our great friend 'Big Mike' who helped us with our xhosa
translation at our first training

on Friday evening we were interviewed by the local radio station on a programme talking about the 2020 vision of Grabouw, it was wonderfully to be able to share the dreams that we have for the next few months with some people of similar heart and mindset.

today we ran our first ever Emerging Leaders training on a local farm, it was fantastic to work with the existing team here in South Africa, as well as to see the eyes of the farm workers light up as they began to see themselves as leaders and the realisation that their lives are real stories which they are writing.

catching up with old friends in the community!

we've enjoyed lots of braai's, hugs and smiles since returning and although we think we've got our work cut out to deliver the numbers we have been set but we know that we have until the middle of April to work towards those, and its with great excitement that we look to the next steps of this journey, seeking to bring a tangible difference via mindset change to a town and people group that we love so much.