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.

so that was Christmas 2016......

Grandad playing subbuteo with Alfie!

well it's been over a month since we last posted and once again so much has happened since our last update, as we sit here back in sunny and warm South Africa we can hardly believe that Christmas 2016 has passed, however we move into 2017 with excitement and expectation, we hope you do too!


as a brief update we enjoyed a wonderful month in England celebrating the Christmas season with our family and friends which was a true blessing and one that we wouldn't have wanted to have missed for the world, we hadn't seen these precious people since leaving for Madagascar on the 6th September and what with our current scehdule won't see them again for another six months! ;-(

we arrived home in time to celebrate Maz's sisters birthday which was important to us as she and her husband have been hosting us for all of the time we were 'at home' in 2016, it was a lovely evening in the fancy dress theme of 'the 1950's'.

it's Christmas!

we also managed to get to see Josh (our middle son) and his fiances new home in London before rushing down to Bristol to join our eldest son (Chris), his wife and our three awesome Grandchildren to help out with some 'babysitting' prior to spending Christmas Day with them and seeing the children enjoy that special day.

New Year eve was a blast from the past, where we spent it with our good friends, along with their children, we must be honest and say that we didn't get to bed too early and were soon up again to travel to Northampton to spend New Years day with Tim's sister and brother in law, his Mum and Dad, Faith, Joel and Charlotte (who were married earlier in the year (2016). 

Grandchildren full of delight

whilst we didn't experience the 'white Christmas' we had wished for we did spend a night in Tim's sisters summer house without any heating which certainly tested our resolve as the temperatures dropped below freezing, however we soon warmed up as we ran about 7 miles around a local reservoir the next morning!

Happy 2017 everyone!

our friends at the Aylesbury Vineyard church made us feel welcome as usual and we very much enjoyed their carol service and had a chance to share our vision for 2017 with the congregation prior to our return to South Africa last Sunday. 

one note of sadness was that we didn't get chance to see our youngest son (Arron) who was sailing away to the Caribbean with his new job, however we are looking forward to catching up with him during some special days in 2017, more news of which will follow shortly.

a New Years run...welcome 2017

so we sit here with the doors of our rented home open to the sounds of Africa which are bursting through the darkness with great expectation of what is in store for us both in 2017, some known, like a trip to Uganda following this time in South Africa, prior to a return to Madagascar for a month or so in May and some unknown, we hope you will continue to journey with us and we thank you all again for joining us so far.

an update from the tip of Africa

farm workers participating in module three

it's been awhile since we posted and so much has happened since then, this post is a short update that includes some of the highlights of our time back here at the tip of Africa in the beautiful but challenging Elgin valley where the small farming town of Grabouw sits amongst high mountains, ever dwindling lakes and dams with the struggles of daily life in the informal settlements bumping up against those of us who have the opportunity to 'live in the first world' where cappuccinos flow faster than the much needed rain!

a drive to work

firstly we must say that it feels like we've never been away, yes things have changed, often for the worst, but the people remain the same, friendly faces greet us from our former colleagues at ThembaCare and the Village of Hope whom we visited on 'World AIDS Day' to children calling out our names as we drive to meetings in the informal settlements, faces of friends we have met at various gatherings, including those from our 'old' home group who were celebrating the end of year with a Christmas 'get together' and others who we have joined at a meal and film night at a local vineyard.

painting with the kids at the village of hope on
World AIDS Day

our work here has led us to meet up with some incredible people and organisations, we are excited by the opportunities that are presenting themselves to us as we seek to gain some much needed traction to the work that Emerging Leaders are doing here. we are blessed to have two wonderful local colleagues who really have the heart and passion to see transformation come via the Leadership for Life modules and we have already had the chance to work together with Joseph and Sharene who share the same love of the material as we do.

Maz swimming in the dam whilst I ran around it!

we have also had help in translation from English to Xhosa from some of our friends who we got to know during our six year stay here from 2008-2014 which has been great, its amazing to see the lives of these young people transformed, incredibly they attended the original Leadership for Hope three day event in October 2014 when Trevor Waldock first led the programme, to say they have gone on from strength to strength is an understatement. they have certainly picked up their 'life pen' and started to write a new story for their lives, two of the boys are now at university and one lady has just graduated from the Pinotage Youth Development Academy and who is now working at a senior level at one of the local packhouses.

it would be foolish for us to say too much on this social media site but just to say we have been working closely with our UK funding partners who have enabled us to have access onto the farms in their supply chain. we've run three modules at Paul Cluver we have had some great fun with their workers who have embraced the Leadership for Life principles via our interactive delivery.

Stunning Spring flowers and a very low dam!

we have spent a lot of time in meetings securing dates for the delivery of the programme and now have six farms, two schools, where we will be working with the teachers to help them 'see themselves as leaders', and one huge packhouse, with further discussions with the World Wildlife Fund who have already used our programmes in other areas of South Africa and who are keen to help them with the success of their projects and initiatives.

a visit into the community on World AIDS Day
with old friends

Maz has been able to swim most days, even venturing out into the Ekienhof dam with her friend Ali whilst myself and Sandy ran around the new 'mountain bike track', around 9kms, which was wonderful.

this time next week we will be back in England where we will be spending Christmas with our family before returning to South Africa in mid January for a further three months, all of which seems a long way off as we sit here in the hot African sun having delivered module three 'Lead your finances' to some farm workers this afternoon.

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.

thoughts from a morning in Madagascar....

The sun rises early, it's Wednesday morning in a coastal town in Madagascar, a town that sits upon the stunning Indian Ocean. People have been busy for many a long hour drawing water from hand pumps outside their bamboo structured homes preparing a simple breakfast of rice over charcoal fires. The noise of Chickens and children and the smell of smoke has woken us as we think about setting off via Tuk Tuk through the crowded colourful streets.

Streets adorned by market stalls selling every imaginable commodity, from locally grown exotic fruits, banana, pineapple and mango alongside fresh homemade breads that wouldn't look out of place in a Parisian cafe, to patched up inner tubes for bike repairs and second hand Manchester United football shirts.

Streets where our Tuk Tuk struggles to make its presence felt amongst many of its own kind, the driver however skillfully negotiates his way between Scooters and rickshaws who's passengers cling tight over potholed roads avoiding the stinking exhaust flumes belching from the huge articulate vehicles carrying cargo containers bought swift from the port. 

The destination of our journey is to visit 30 or so men who gather weekly for their informal bible study in a recently built church, these men come from various towns and villages across this huge and inhospitable island. They arrive at the Church past a tended garden complete with a vegetable patch and bushes which hold freshly washed clothes that dry in the hot morning sun. 

The men arrive in dribs and drabs, clutching their dog eared bibles to their thin and tatty tee shirts, most have no shoes but all are clean shaven with bright eyes held in sunken faces. The church building is one of many set within four high walls of their community and their only commonality, other than seeking God through his word, is that they are the inmates in the local prison.

This prison is a place we have grown to love, the hard faces of the guards who had originally welcomed us with suspicion as we entered their domain through the high rusty gates are now open and others who greet us at the transition building are now friends who accept our entrance, past walls with chalk boards containing the number of men, women and children held here, without question, which brings joy to our hearts.

Offers of help to carry a bag come from those who are being readied for their release,  more responsibility is given to either lifers or those who will be returned home soon and its those men who lead us through the dark passageway, where families are able to visit, into the stark sunshine of the prison yard.

It's hard to describe the feeling as you hear the metal door close behind you and you are confronted by around 1000 pairs of eyes who have raised their gaze from their labour or contemplation and which stare right into the depth of your very being, I can't imagine what Maz must feel like but time really does seem to stand still as you adjust to your surroundings, then you begin to realise that behind these cold eyes are men who just want to engage and find some meaning to their existence.

The yard made up of fine dirty sand is quite vast, in the middle there stands a run down basketball court and a full size football pitch, abet one with the far corner cut off for a toilet block or some such structure, and is surrounded by a large number buildings in various states of disrepair, none of them are new and those which make up most of your view to the left are where most of the men sleep and spend the majority of their day.

It would be unfair to paint too bleak a picture around the insides of these 'cells' as we haven't experienced them first hand but we have gained an idea of what they are like from the few conversations we've had with those willing to share with us. However it doesn't take too much imagination to bring to thought of over 200 adult men sharing a space no bigger than a standard classroom built for 30 children to study in, what with the hot and humid conditions where the occurrence of malaria is at one of the highest in the world, so let's forget scene of TVs, ensuite bathrooms and flat white sheets!

As we make our way past hundreds of men who are undertaking their daily chores under simple hand made structures of plastic bags stitched together to provide shade from the sun and rain (and when it rains in Toamasina it rains, being situated on the cyclone belt is not a great benefit to the towns location) we are welcomed with 'bon jours' from those who have taken time to look up from the pots simmering over the charcoal fires, all the inmates are left to fend for themselves so everyone is busy, many of them sit over their small bowls filled with their meager belongings that they are washing to rid them of the fleas and ticks that abound in their dark cell spaces. 

To say that the conditions are challenging is an understatement but it's with warm smiles that we are welcomed into the small Church by those that we first met during our trip to Madagascar in 2014, back then I had an opportunity to bring a team of local people who are involved in sports outreach to play on the lopsided pitch against the inmates team right here in the prison, since then we have been able to build further bridges via the Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' training that we shared with over 50 of the inmates and guards early in 2016.

As we gathered around on unstable benches, window shutters constantly bang against the concrete walls in the ever increasing Ocean breeze, we not only share in the Bible study but hear stories of hope that have resulted in these men picking up their pens and writing a new story of Hope in their very own community. The things they had learnt from the Emerging Leaders modules have enabled these men to change their own lives in very tangible ways, they now understand that each of them 'has potential', he 'sees himself as a leader'. They have understood that leading starts with the ability to 'lead ourselves' and they have not only done that but they have also seen and 'taken responsibility' of their surroundings, the wellbeing of their fellow inmates and with the help of the guards, who also attended our training, they are now being seen as human beings who have something to offer this dysfunctional community rather than being those who just need to be suppressed whilst they serve their time.

Through the glassless window we are aware of the guard who's tower overlooks our end of the compound, his automatic weapon poised at the ready as we sing songs of a God who as able to 'help in times of trouble' and who 'sets the captive free'. It's all quite surreal but we continue to be encouraged as hear of how some of the lifers who attended our training are now sharing the principles with their fellow inmates and those who head up each cell are keen to be trained to be Trainers within the prison so that they can help others receive this life changing material which will not only make a difference whilst they are inside but also enable them to bring hope to their remote villages when they are released, leaving a legacy which will live beyond this time and space.

Time has a weird habit of racing away for those who want it to slow down and it seems to drag on for those who are wishing it's sands to move slightly quicker through the hourglass of their lives.  So it is within this space and it soon emerges that it is time for us to leave, words of thanks and a 'hope to see you again' soon follows and then one or two tough questions 'what are you doing for the rest of the day'? or 'where are you off to next on your adventures'? How does one answer these truthfully and without sounding blazé or heartless?

Tears well up in my eyes as I type this, just thinking of those face, those lives, those conditions which sit against my backdrop of excess and opportunities and so as we ventured back towards that rusty door, it was with heavy hearts knowing that this door is opened to us, a door to a world of freedom and choices for us and a door which many of these men, now our good friends with a shared vision to bring change to a challenging community will never have the opportunity to walk through. 

Yes some of these men and women have committed crimes worthy of punishment but it's never easy to say goodbye knowing that we are leaving them to another day of endless boredom borne out of the fact that there is little access to 'the outside world', even access to books and other learning materials is limited but we live with the hope that we have bought some light via our visit and can't wait to reacquainted ourselves with them again very soon.  

As that rusty door shuts behind us we are once again welcomed into the real world, a world with its busyness, a world full of choice and options but sadly not for all, if that were true then there would be no need for places where people are removed from society for the protection of others and so we set our sights on helping to create sustainable and viable communities through the Leadership training that we believe can help all men and women, boys and girls to 'see themselves as leaders', reaching their full 'potential',  picking up their 'life pen' and writing a different 'story' for their lives, the lives of their families,  their community and even their nation.

so we've got news......

....what news we hear you cry!

well you're never going to believe it but Emerging Leaders have asked us to help assist in establishing a 'new model' of sustainable training which will help bring transformation into the farming communities in.....


.....South Africa!

yup you read that right and not just South Africa but specifically the Western Cape which is a place we know and love so much.

this opportunity came totally 'out of the blue' and the six month contract will mean that we will leave Madagascar in the middle of November and travel straight to Cape Town, we have already changed our existing return flights to England and we will initially be staying in the very valley where we spent near on seven years of our lives as we set up and then ran 'The Village of Hope' under the Thembalitsha Foundation.

there is a lot of work to do within this short space of time, but we are very excited to have this opportunity to work within a community and alongside people whom we have grown to love.

we are going to be looking at a this 'new model' for the UK High Street retailer, Marks and Spencer who are working towards their 'Plan A 2020' (should you wish to read more then please follow the link), with the wonderful existing Emerging Leaders 'team' in South Africa. 

this will include an integrated plan of community engagement via farms, schools and wider social networks with the understanding that without 'good leadership' there is no tangible change, therefore it is important for us to ensure that the leadership principles of the Emerging Leaders material is delivered, understood and put into practice by as many people as possible as we seek to show that 'everyone is a leader' and it starts with being able to lead your own life.

we will update further nearer the time, but just to say we are still very much focused on the work we are currently undertaking here in Madagascar and hold both opportunities to see communities transformed via 'leadership mindsets' at the forefront of our hearts.

Catching up with old friends and training trainers in Toamasina

see yourself as a leader

firstly we're very sorry for the lack of blog activity over the last three weeks, whilst the internet is capable of allowing us to post a few photos on Facebook it isn't quick enough to allow us to access this platform which enables us to provide a longer update.

today we have ventured to a 'hotel' in town, from which we could hope to hear the gentle lapping of the Indian Ocean however the hum of buzzing tuk tuks and scooters kinda drowns that peaceful idle out! however it does allow us to send out some emails and complete this long post.....hurrah!

since our last post we have made our way to the east coast port and second largest town of Toamasina, this is where we spent three months earlier this year and was the first place we visited on our initial trip to Madagascar in 2014.

the place holds some precious memories for us, as well as precious people, so it has been great to 'escape' the hubbub of the capital and enjoy some 'freedom'. once again Cho and Deborah have made us feel very welcome, although they were in Cape Town for a church conference when we arrived so the first two weeks were spent reconnecting with other friends we'd made during our previous visits.

rickshaws

Toamasina, also known as Tamatave, is a much more accessible town, sitting at the edge of the ocean it is very flat and has a well thought out, if not well maintained, road network. there are very few 'metal'/tar roads and once you reach them you are share them with the hand pushed carts, rickshaws, tuk tuks, scooters, motorbikes, cars, 4x4's, minibuses, buses, lorries of various sizes and huge articulated vehicles which carry the shipping containers from the port out into the country.

we have probably said it before but driving here is a bit like one of those crazy arcade games where some unbelievable situation happens which you must navigate before moving onto the next level, level one navigate around the rickshaws, level two introduce the tuk tuk, level three now involve some scooters, level four drive in the rain etc!

tim sharing at the street feeding programme

we landed in Toamasina on a Saturday morning, which was just in time to join our great friend and translator, Theo, at the 'street feeding programme', it was humbling to spend a precious hour or so with these dear people who are mainly women, of various ages, and their children. it's hard to understand all of their stories but to end up on the street is no place for them. Love'NCare now provide a nutritional meal to these street people each and everyday and it seems like the time sharing is the highlight of their dull and mundane days.

maz sharing at Bethany service, they don't look very
engaged do they!

on the Sunday morning we had the opportunity to share at the Sunday service that takes place at the largest of the Love'NCare schools which sits about 20 minutes outside the 'main town' in a semi rural area. Bethany is not only a place for education but also provides a home to some of the children and women, who are now employed as cooks, whom the Love'NCare team met during their 'street feeding programme'. it is such a great model and one that is having a tangible impact on the lives of those who had previously chosen the street as their home.

sharing at this 'church', which is mainly made up of the children and the staff who live on site, is always a joy and as you can imagine myself and Maz try to engage them in stories, games and activities to get the point across.

meeting with the prisoners

during our first week we also had the chance to catch up with nine of the 30 inmates who had attended the Emerging Leaders - 'Leadership for Live' training that we had delivered in the prison earlier in the year. it was awesome to see them and the joy on their faces as they saw us walk through the 'gate' was a memory that we shall treasure for many a year.

we can't say too much around the visit, other than it was hard to see the conditions that these guys have to endure, we are well aware that these people are inside for good reason but to hear their stories is so heart breaking, but there is hope and they told us of the transformation that they have seen both in their own lives and the life of the whole prison, as not only they but around 20 of the prison guards attended Leadership for Life training and have put the new mindsets in place to see change within the cold walls.

the main reason for our return to Toamasina was to run a 'Train the Trainer' week, similar to the one that we had just completed in Antananarivo a few weeks before. the great thing about working with the guys here is that those who we were planning to train had attended our Leadership for Life modules earlier in the year.

Maz training trainers

this group then had the benefit of seeing the new mindsets of 'seeing themselves as leaders' in whatever role or situation for near on six months and it was so awesome to hear some of their stories of how they had applied the training to their own lives and the lives of those around them.

once again we had a wonderful week with these 20 people from various organisations from around Toamasina, church leaders, prison staff, children's workers, heads of large institutions working in the social welfare sectors and younger people who had just graduated from university.

coffee time, with rice and rice tea!

as always there was an element of 'fun' during the training, although the material is very transforming it is also very accessible and to be able to encourage people to think in new ways and also new ways of training in so cool.


unlike the Tana training we weren't able to host the people but this all seemed to work out fine, we'd hired some local people to undertake the daily catering, cooked outside over a charcoal fire, this meant that we shared time around the table, which is always a great time for bonding. once again the food was great, always traditionally Malagasy which means rice, rice and more rice with different accompanying dishes.

Pastor Reynaud practicing his delivery!

the training is all about practice and it was great to see each person develop over the week, they grew in confidence and by the end we were very happy with what they had been able to deliver back to the group.

at the end of the training we have encouraged both of the groups to work through the simple but effective 'project plan' which takes us from 'the here' (reality of today) to 'the there' (what will the project look like in six months or a years time), therefore our two teams, Team Tana and Team Toamasina, have set realistic goals and we are so encouraged to think that now 50 local and passionate people will be able to deliver this training into the groups and organisations where they work which will see others in their communities transformed in the same ways as their lives have already been.

our 'Team Toamasina' Trainers

we promise to update the blog later in the week where we will be sharing some further stories of hope from our time here in Madagascar as well as some exciting news about our next steps!