Challenging but productive times in Zimbabwe

Maz sharing about 'leadership mindset' #1
Lift up your head, become like an Eagle!

As I type away at my laptop my immediate view is overwhelmed by the high rise buildings that dominate the Cape Town skyline, it is quite a thought to behold that the whole of the African continent lays spread out north of where I sit, stretching over 5,000 miles beyond those buildings. It is also somewhat overwhelming that it was less than 24 hours since we were walking the broken streets of Bulawayo which had become home for the second part of our trip into Zimbabwe and those self same streets are still home to the dear friends that we spent time with since our last update.

Meeting up with old friends in Mutare

During our last blog post we left you with the news of a successful time spent in Zambia and the continuing feedback coming from those who we trained up is encouraging, however since then we have had further interesting times in Zimbabwe, a nation at such a turning point in its history and one that has been dealt a blow in the eastern highland region of Chimanimani with the horrifying effects of cyclone Idai leaving a trail of devastation that will take months if not years to repair.

Preparing our daily meals

We flew into Robert Mugabe airport in Harare, on the short hop flight from Lusaka with the ill fated Ethiopian Airways (who were to suffer an awful air crash only a few days later, such sad news to hear of the lives lost in that tragic accident) and were picked up by our friend Bob who was to drive us across to the eastern city of Mutare where we had spent a couple of weeks last August.

Mutare sits in the mountains and is blessed with a wonderful climate, however what we noticed since our last visit was a downward trend with mountains of daily issues that people have to face each day as the economic climate takes its toll on these mostly peace loving and so very very tolerant people.

Making sure that our trained facilitators are
able to share the amazing Leadership
for Life material is a key part of our Training weeks!

Life seems to be getting tougher for the common man and we know that could be said of any man in any nation in this crazy world, but just trying to work out how much things are and then how to pay for them is taxing enough. We either had to do this via US$ (which were much sought after when we were there last year but have now become less de rigueur) or RTGS (the new local currency which isn't recognised outside of Zimbabwe and has replaced the old 'Bond notes', although those Bond notes still exist within the system!) or via money held virtually on your mobile phone (of which we had to convert US$ to RTGS then convert RTGS to the 'virtual' mobile money). All of this is somewhat of a challenge in itself and given that different shops or vendors provide you with either hugely different prices for the same item or offer you hughley different rates for your $ or RTGS (we had a low of 1$=2.5 RTGS to a high of 1$ = 4 RTGS). It's all quite mind blowing.

Stuart with Maz and George

We were able to meet up with some of the local friends who we'd been introduce to last year by Martin and Jackie, one of these incredible people is called Stuart Dore, an amazing and humble man who runs a daily feeding programme for over 100 orphaned children. Since we last met Stuart he has lost his wife in her battle with cancer, so it was a bitter sweet reunion for us. However it was great to have Stuart, and his son, join us at the Leadership for Life training, and he will now be sharing that programme at his homework clubs with some of the older young people he supports.

A morning walk up Christmas Pass with
Maz, Alick and Rosemary

It was also wonderful to stay with Alick and his wife Rosemary, who we also met last year and who had recently converted their garage into a self contained flat, complete with kitchen, lounge area, two bedrooms and a shower (cold and intermittent given the state of the water supply situation that again seems erratic, but that also builds character!), it was a great base and the safe neighbourhood allowed us to get out a run/walk each morning.

Running and or walking each day has been a source of refreshing to us and has helped enormously with our physical and mental well being. The challenge of running up Christmas Pass, a pass that links Mutare to Harare in the west, was too much for me (Tim) to ignore, the 3.5km uphill run (of which there is an obvious downhill section on the return) was made all the more risky with the thundering or lumbering trucks flowing to and from, the now famous, port of Beira in Mozambique and or taxi buses which seem to career around its sweeping bends.

Our 9 (+1) trained facilitators in Bulawayo

The main focus of our trip in both Mutare and Bulawayo was to train up some local people, whom we had shared the Leadership for Life programme with last year. These people would then become facilitators of the programme themselves, thus being able to share the programme within their local communities, networks and groups. We ran a training group in each city, with 25 people attending the full week long training in Mutare and 9 people in Bulawayo.

Our 25 trained Facilitators in Mutare

The makeup of each group was quite diverse, with our youngest trained facilitators being two young guys aged 24 who we truly believe will open up amazing opportunities within their peer groups, as well as two other young men in their late twenties who are heavily involved in the Scouting movement (where we see some incredible opportunities opening up as we seek to raise up a generation of role models who will have good leadership at the heart of their lives), our eldest a lady in her late sixties and she runs a women's support group for widows living with HIV, others who we trained were in the age groups and had various outreaches in between!

That's me and Maz enjoying our daily food

There were a few challenges for the people who we trained, such as transport to get to the venue, what with the shortages in fuel and also getting time off of work and or time away from their market stalls which they run each and everyday. However it didn't stop them attending and we were extremely pleased with the progress of each one of the people who came and are very excited about the forthcoming stories that will come out of them sharing of the Leadership for Life programme and the impact that it will have on their communities.

Leaders lift people up, not push them down.....

March is normally a wet month, sitting at the end of the rainy season, so we had expected both Zimbabwe and Zambia to be greener than when we visited last July but unfortunately it had been quite dry with little rain, with the signs of drought meaning that the maize meal (sweetcorn) was left dry and dying maize meal (sweetcorn) plants (a staple in that part of the world) which weren't bearing the much needed fruits for harvest. 

People were already worried about further challenges that would bring hunger and even starvation, however as we neared the end of our first week of training we became very worried as we heard of a cyclone that was building off of the coast of Mozambique and which was heading towards us, via Beira, in Mutare.

Little did we know at lunchtime on Thursday what
destruction would lay in the wake of the storm on
Saturday morning.

By Thursday afternoon the rain had started to fall in Mutare and on Friday evening the wind had also picked up and joined the rain. Little did we know the huge and destructive effects that this cyclone would have in the region at the time, so other than impacting our travel plans to Bulawayo as we headed off on Saturday morning which meant taking a route across country rather than via the original route we got off lightly. In Fact Mutare just missing the eye of the cyclone by about 100km as it swept in and had a huge impact in Chimanimani.

Our road blocked by a rescue truck

Unfortunately our driver, Bob, had some very sad news as we travelled on that Saturday morning, hearing that a good friend of his had been killed in his rural home village due to a landslide that had destroyed the home she was sleeping in on Friday night and these stories grew as our understanding of the destruction that had taken place became clearer. Many many other people known to our newly trained friends started to share their stories of how their lives had been affected by what would become world headlines, at least for a few days.

Many of you will have seen the heartbreaking pictures from both Mozambique and Zimbabwe but just how much impact the cyclone will have over the longer to medium term is worrying with the poor existing infrastructure taking such a huge hit, with roads washed away, peoples homes lost and an already poor harvest destroyed. We are extremely worried for the future and wonder how to best support the ongoing rescue and then clean up operation as we are already hearing of misuse of funds that have been given towards those most impacted!


Upon arriving in Bulawayo, a journey of over 7 hours where we had a few challenges, including coming across a flat bed lorry that had lost the shipping container which it was carrying, apparently blown off in the wind!, blocking our road, we were greeted with the sad news that our local contact there had just received new that his son, in his early thirties with a wife and family, had passed away in South Africa. The day to day issues that people have to contend with is so sad and certainly puts some of our first world challenges into prospective.

Not just a punctured tyre but one ripped apart and
the space was also flat.....doh.

All this said we had a wonderful time investing in our local friends and other than being extremely drained by our 12 hour days we did manage to get a day off on Sunday before flying into Cape Town for a few days to tie up some Emerging Leaders oppertunities here before flying out to Madagascar on Saturday morning.


To end this epic post we wanted to share one further story about our last day which once again was very eventful, as you can only imagine as is the case in our crazy lives!. We had got to know the owner of a local bar, popping in to hear a local band play one evening, and he had offered to take us to the local national park where Cecil Rhodes amongst his other friends, is buried and which contains some incredible natural stone structures.

At least we had some beers!

Anyways to cut some very long stories short we had a tyre blow out and rip to shreds on the way to the national park, upon stopping in the middle of nowhere we found that the spare was also in a state of disrepair meaning that our friend had to catch a taxi bus, which fortunately for us was passing by at just the right time, back to Bulawayo to have the tyre replaced, all on a late Sunday afternoon. Myself and Maz were left minding the car and took time to loosen the wheel nuts but in the meantime finding out that the jack was not suitable to lift the 4x4 we were in off the ground enough to get the tyre back on once it arrived! We ended up driving the vehicle onto a rock we found and dug out a hole deep enough for the tyre to fit into then jacked it from there.......

Cecil Rhodes grave

....the park was awesome, it's called Matopos and has amazing rock formations with huge rocks balancing on top of each other like a couple of gods had once played a giant game of marbles and had left them where the landed for us all to enjoy, it also is home to a large herd of Rhino and the largest population of Leopards in Africa, we have included some photos for you to enjoy.

FYI there is quite a lot of background stuff and detail missing from this post as we are mindful of respecting people and the current situation in Zim, we are sure you'll understand.

Huge stones in Matopos

Sending much love to you all and we'll be back in touch once we have settled into life back in Antananarivo!

A few weeks in Zambia

The crazy Violas who are doing an amazing
job here in Zambia

As you may be aware we have spent the last few weeks in Zambia, staying with the wonderful Viola family who live just outside the town of Kabwe. Chris and Rebecca Viola head up a charity called Driven Ministries which they set up when they moved out from their home in the United States with their family, of four children, three years ago.

Driven Ministries has a heart to help create sustainable community initiatives by either partnering with local people who have a similar vision or bringing in programmes like the Leadership for Life which has a proven record within the community development sector. They work within the more challenging areas of the town and their outreaches extend to a daily sports outreach similar to the one we set up in South Africa, where they also support the children who attend those clubs with school fees and basic needs to ensure that they get an education and amongst other things Chris is involved with the weekly pastors meetings and he has recently started visiting inmates in the local prison.

Our new Leadership for Life
TEAM KABWE 

We came to Kabwe last August to deliver the Leadership for Life programme to around 70 local pastors and or youth workers, since then these people have been putting the leadership principles into their own lives and it has been great to catch up and hear some of those heart warming stories.

Maz running the training of local people who
we have now trained to deliver the
Leadership for Life programme

Last week we ran a week long training for those wishing to be able to share the Leadership for Life programme to their congregations and communities, eleven people joined us on Sunday evening with the training running from 8.00am to 8.30pm every day till lunchtime on Friday where we celebrated with a traditional braai. Most of the week was spent with the people practicing the flow and key 'nail it' points of the programme, sharing it back to myself and Maz, plus the rest of the team, for us to evaluate and encourage where perhaps some points were missed.

Practice Practice and more Practice
makes perfect, well nearly!

We were very encouraged by the progress of everyone and after the initial shyness, of which the Zambians seem to be quite adept at, we drew them out of the shells and they became more and more confident of not only standing and sharing but understanding the material and the ways in which it is communicated, which is very interactive, rather than the 'rote' teaching that they are used to either delivering or hearing!

The TEAM sharing the 'flow' of the programme
to each other

As with most things it's always good to get out and practice what one has learnt, so it was great to follow up on an amazing opportunity that I (Tim) had created for some of the Driven team to share the Leadership for Life programme with 40 inmates in the local maximum security prison on Monday morning. Chris, Precious and Coach Chris (members of the Driven Team) will be sharing module two, three and four over the next few weeks in what we hope will become and rolling programme in which every inmate and guard in the prison will receive the programme over the next few months.

The TEAM outside the prison

You may remember that we have shared the Leadership for Life programme into the prison in Toamasina, Madagascar, which is a very challenging place, Kabwe prison is much more westernised with modern security procedures for us entering from outside and with the inmates in prison issue 'uniform' rather than their own clothing as we have seen in Madagascar. However that said the men who we shared the programme with are much the same, having made some wrong life choices along their journey which has meant that they end up being removed from society.

The response from the inmates during and after the training was so good, they were very engaged with the activities, joined in with the repeated mantras and we are hopeful to see lives transformed as they pick up their 'life pens' and start writing different stories for themselves, understanding that leadership is all about others rather than self.

Filming a real life story with Ackim

During our time here we have also spent time with a local filmmaker who we've been out with to capture a few of the stories of where people have applied their leadership mindsets which have resulted in real projects that are either benefiting their community or their families finances. As you can imagine it was wonderful to see how the programme has a tangible impact into the lives of those we share it with and we can't wait for the film to be completed and for us to be able to put that on a platform for you all to see.

Out in the veld

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time back here in Zambia, the people are very peaceful, if not a little reserved compared to some other places we have visited in Africa, we have been able to go out for walks most evenings, even venturing out on the kids bikes to go further explore the African veld, and local villages which remain unchanged with mud huts and subsistence farming. Our time out running has been fun if not a little hot with the humid conditions that this rainy season brings. 

Chickens or eagles?!

So it is now time to move on and we are also looking forward to catching up and working with those who we have relationship with in Zimbabwe, tomorrow we will journey from Lusaka to Harare and then onto Mutare where we will spend a further week with friends there before making our way to Bulawayo where we hope to update you with news of how the people there have been lifting up their heads and taking responsibility for their own lives and the lives of those around them as they start to see themselves as leaders following what we shared with them last July and August.

A few weeks in South Africa - and now we are in Zambia

Well 2019 is now in full flow and since our last update we've spent just over two weeks in South Africa, which was extremely hot compared to the snow that we left in England, and are now sitting in a slightly more humid Zambia where we shall be spending a further couple of weeks before heading south to Zimbabwe.

A day at the Train the Trainer

Our time in South Africa was very unexpected due to the situation in Zimbabwe but it proved invaluable, not only did it give us a chance to catch up with all of the current trainers of the Emerging Leaders programmes who are working on the farms sharing the Leadership for Life programme, as well as those who are working with teachers, children and their parents in six schools in the first intervention of that kind which is having a profoundly impressive impact.

We also had the opportunity to attend a day of the most recent 'Train the Trainer' which was being run by Lennox and Joe from South Africa and Steve who is head of Training for Emerging Leaders who joined them from England. Over 30 people were trained up to deliver the Leadership for Life programme into both new commercial areas as well as the communities where they live.

Viewing the new Emerging Leaders South Africa film

One morning we spent viewing the new film that we have been working on which follows the story of how the Leadership for Life programme is impacting the lives of those who attend the training and apply it to their lives and we also visited two of the ladies who had been attending the programme in the large township of Khayelitsha and who's stories we will also be filming to show that the impact and reach goes beyond the farm gate and on into the communities via the people who have been trained to share it.

These are exciting times for Emerging Leaders in South Africa and as the team on the ground grows we are proud to have been part of the development of this over the last few years.

A run out with Mike!

Time in Cape Town always allows us to catch up with old friends, Mike was one such person, Mike is an ex-sports mentor from our time at the Village of Hope and was on the Train the Trainer for the Emerging Leaders programme. I (Tim) even managed to get out for an early morning run with him in the trails around Waterval. 


We were blessed to be hosted for a few days with our friends Ann and Jannie in Elgin, they always make us feel so welcome and we had chance to meet up with Barbara and spend some time with her on the beach over the weekend and share a meal with Rob and Emily House who we used to share life and work with in Grabouw.

Beautiful Camps Bay

During our first week in Cape Town we spent a few nights with Nick, who heads up Emerging Leaders in South Africa, his wife and children at their home, it was good to spend time with them, chatting around the future and enjoying it's lofty position above the city and just under the ever impressive Table Mountain. This also gave us access to some awesome trail runs right from their door, including a 20km run around the sights of Cape Town. 

Fires on Lions Head

It is a worrying time of year in the Western Cape, with the constant treat of wildfires springing up at anytime. Whilst we were staying with Nick we had the first hand experience of this as his property gave us awesome if not worrying view over the fires which blew up over Lion's Head on a Sunday afternoon.

You'll be aware we have both really got into our running recently so not only were we able to enjoy those runs around Cape Town but we were also able to compete in the Cape Summer Trail Series, an event that had to be moved from Oak Valley, which was impacted by a week long wildfire above the farm where the race was supposed to take place. 

Tim during the trail race above Grabouw

Our friends from Trails End hosted the event at the last moment and I took on the 25km race, whilst Maz joined the 7km event which started and finished at the same place as mine. We were both pleased with our results, I even managed to finish second in the Masters race which was held over a very challenging course up into the stunning mountains, which were covered in a low cloud which provided some relief from what could have been a very hot day, above the Eikenhof Dam.

Stunning views around the Cape

We were sad to say our goodbyes to Cape Town but are now excited to see what the next few weeks will bring as we work with Chris and Rebecca Viola who run Driven Ministries in Kabwe, a town that sits around two hours north of Lusaka and who we shared the Leadership for Life programme with in August last year. Click here to see our update from that time.

The wet season in Zambia sees high temperatures
causing thunderstorms in the afternoons.
View from the Viola's stoep

Over the next few weeks we will be running a Train the Facilitator here in Zambia, where we hope to have around 20 people attend and who we will invest in so that they have the skills and materials to deliver the programmes into the communities where they live and the charities and faith communities that they serve.

We'll update you again before we head off to Zimbabwe but for further and immediate updates please visit our personal Facebook and Instagram pages.

here we go again, well nearly

Chilly beach walks

Well we are a few weeks into the New Year so before we head off back out to Africa we thought we'd post and update around some slight changes we have had to make to our plans and also wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year....so Happy New Year from Tim and Maz!

Firstly we wanted to say that we have enjoyed a wonderful time with our family and friends over the festive season, spending Christmas day with Maz' sister and family before heading up to see my sister and her family and my parents, as well as Josh and Haddy, for Boxing Day. New Years was spent with friends in Buckinghamshire, where we took part in a murder mystery party which was great fun.

Running with Friends

We had a chat with Arron (our youngest son) and Camille on Christmas day from their hideout in Nepal, went to see QPR play out a boring 0-0 draw, met a new friend who we hope to get to know better when she grows up and went for a couple of runs with friends.

We also spent some time being grandparents (and parents) to our son and his family in Bristol, thanks for making our time back so enjoyable, it was great to share Claire's (our daughter in law) birthday too, don't tell her I told you but she turned 40! Our caravan was a tad cold we did enjoy the warmth bought by the electric blanket that my sister and brother-in-law got us for Christmas!

Meeting new a recent arrival

Onwards into 2019.....

So tomorrow afternoon we will be heading out on a near on four month trip to Africa, however due to the current situation in Zimbabwe we have been advised by the local people whom we will be staying and working with that they cannot guarantee our journeys in and around that beautiful nation or confirm the numbers of people who would be due to attend the training up of the people who we worked with in July and August last year.

We need people to be in the right frame of mind, fully engaged and given to the training and with the current situation we can't hope that their minds won't be preoccupied with staying out of trouble or transport to and from the venue etc.

Busy boxing day preps

If you are unfamiliar of the issues that our friends in Zimbabwe are facing then to keep it simple a hike in fuel prices by the new government has tipped the citizens, who are some of the most peaceful and law abiding that we have ever met, over the edge. An internet blackout by the largest phone operator has caused many outside the nation to question some of the tactics that are being used to restore 'law and order', all this leading to mistrust of the very leaders who are elected to rule the nation.

As you can imagine it has been a somewhat hard decision to postpone the trip, we have lost money on non-refundable flights and worry for the people on the ground who have become dear friends to us since our first meeting with them.

Being Grandparents!

It is so sad as we were hearing so many stories of how people had applied the leadership principles we teach in the Leadership for Life programme into their own lives, including a story about Grace, a lady who attended our training and who's exploits have been captured on the Emerging Leaders blog, follow this link by clicking HERE.

All this change now means we will fly on our scheduled flight to Jo'burg, but instead of heading to Harare we will return to Cape Town to undertake some Emerging Leaders work down there before making our way up to Zambia which is around three weeks earlier than planned. 

With Josh and Haddy at the Superhoops!

We will be hosted by the amazing Viola family, working with those people in Kabwe who we also met last year and will be keeping an eye on the situation in Zimbabwe before making any further decision around returning there before we fly to Madagascar at the end of March.

If you feel you could help support our work over this next trip then please do follow the link to our giving page HERE, your financial and prayerful/thoughts towards us are much appreciated.

A Christmas Wish

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

We wanted to send out a short Christmas wish to each and every one of you. 

So before we go too far......

..HAPPY CHRISTMAS.....!

We are very aware that we know each of you on so many different levels, some of you will be close family, others old friends from years back, some have become friends recently during our travels and work in Africa, some we have just briefly met along the way and others only via social media such as this blog. 

However where you fit into our story matters not, we are just truly thankful to you for being part of our amazing lives.

2018 has been a very busy and interesting year for us, we have returned to South Africa on three occasions and we've made new and exciting adventures into Zimbabwe and Zambia. Each of those trips were to share and extend the Emerging Leaders programmes in those nations, seeking to call out that amazing amazing potential that is within each one of us. We've had some ups and downs but mainly our year was full of fun and joy as we engaged with some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Through these trips we have seen many lives transformed, made many new friends, reconnected with many others and heard of people writing new life stories for themselves, their finances, their families and their communities after attending the training sessions we have run.

During the year we have also had the opportunity to experience some awesome things, places we would have never dreamt that we would see so if you would like to have a look back throughout our year then please click on the following links to our blog, each post capturing a small segment of time during 2018.

Blazing new trails in South Africa 

Another month in sunny South Africa

Back on a green island and a holiday to a hot and sunny one!

To Africa, to England and to Africa again

a few weeks in Zimbabwe

From Zim to Zam

Health, wellbeing, family and friends

Running around the Cape.....in more ways than one!

We do hope you enjoyed reading one or two of those posts but thinking we'd best sign off now, we just wanted you to know that we do value your support in whatever ways you do that. 

If you do want to add to the smallish pot that we are collecting for our upcoming near on four month trip to Zimbabwe (twice), Zambia and Madagascar then please follow the links as below.

Either contact us directly at timw@emerging-leaders.net where we can provide you with our bank details or you could give directly by following the link to our PayPal giving page. 

So once again we want to wish you all a peaceful Christmas, a prosperous New Year and we hope to see you again in 2019, wherever you are in this precious world.

Blessings and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!


Tim and Maz

Running around the Cape.....in more ways than one!

Official photo from the Winelands Marathon 2018,
not many road marathons include uphill stretches on
gravel roads, but the one I completed did!

Sorry we've been so quiet on the blog our recent internet connection hasn't been great, but we hope you've kept up with our comings and goings on our other social media platforms that took less data but for those of you who have been out of the loop we thought we'd quickly update the blog with this short post.


We arrived in South Africa on 8th November to undertake some further work developing the relationships with farms, suppliers and exporters specifically within the M&S and now Tesco supply chains, however other than meetings on the 8th and 9th my (Tim's) first focus was on more personal challenge, that of running full marathon which I completed early on the morning of the 10th November.


(Video of my finish above)

That 'race' took place around the university town of Stellenbosch where some of the most amazing wine is produced on the slopes of the stunning mountains that provided us all with a beautiful backdrop as we ran the 42.195km undulating route out to Somerset West and back. I was very clear of the time I wanted to achieve, so applied my leadership mindsets and made sure I remained focused, sticking to my planned 'there' but doing it just one step at a time, thus ensuring I didn't waver from my schedule which meant that I hit my goal of running under 4 hours which I was very pleased with.

Armistice day with the Houses

During our five week stay we were hosted by some of our good friends who we were eager to catch up with, our first stop was with Rob and Emily House and their two children who continue to grow into wonderful young people and by the end of our first week, where we been running around to meetings with further exporters and even existing local training companies we had ventured up the mountain to stay with Sandy and Ali where we both completed our first Park Run, more of a 5km trail run, in Grabouw.

After that moved down to Strand, where we had rented an apartment for around three weeks, which not only provided us with a central base for us to venture out to the meetings that took up most of our days, but that also enabled us to run out along the beach front in the early mornings and enjoy stunning sunsets in the evening with perfect views over False Bay to Table Mountain and the Cape peninsula.

Sunsets over the Cape

It is so encouraging to see how the Emerging Leaders programme has been taken to the hearts of the workers and wider farms where they work, the current team have done an amazing job helping to spread the story and we are now in a position where we have too much work coming in for 2019, which is great but posses a bigger challenge, that of needing more 'registered trainers' who will be able to share Leadership for Life in an official capacity.

Catching up with friends, who were keen
to help us with our plant powered diet!

With the above in mind one key thing was to identify those people, so we undertook to lead a Leadership for Life programme with around 20 people who we are looking to train up to be those 'registered trainers' within the commercial sector, this event which was attended by people who have been training within the farm network in South Africa for many years and was very well received.

We are certain that we achieved the main aim ensuring that those people received the programme themselves, there is power in people actually putting the leadership principles into action before they actually share it, thus ensuring that as they train others they know how and why we follow a very rigid method of engaging with some of the most vulnerable people in the world in this very accessible programme.

Potential Leadership for Life Registered Trainers!

Early in 2019 we will be running a Train the Trainer, unfortunately myself and Maz won't be around as we'll be returning to Zimbabwe to undertake a similar project with those we shared the programme with last year, and we are excited to see Emerging Leaders move to another level in South Africa with more people able to share the programme both into the farms and also the wider communities where we are seeking to engage with the younger people of this incredible country which has many issues that need good leadership to overcome.

An official photo taken of us race up from Hout Bay

Outside of our working hours we seemed to be able to find at least one event a week to take part in, so after running the Marathon and the Park Run we both completed a wonderful trail run called Origin of the Trails, also in Stellenbosch, which took us higher into the mountains, Maz also ran a 10km road race from Hout Bay along Chapmans Peak Drive and back, whilst I took on a more daunting trail run also from Hout Bay and up into Blackburn Ravine, which was quite a challenge but one which gave us great joy as the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

Filming some of the farmworkers who have
been on the Leadership for Life programme

Another key part of our trip was to set up and then arrange some filming, we are keen to start telling some of the stories that are coming out of the training as people start to lift up their heads and understand that they have the potential to influence others in a positive way. We are excited to see how the film comes out, which follows the day in the life of a tractor driver on one of the local farms in Grabouw who had already attending our training in June and sees him put his leadership principles into action as he develops a community garden where he is sharing that produce with others who don't have as much as he does.

Maz, Myself and Mike

We were able to catch up with some of our contacts made during our time at the Village of Hope, we've been helping our friend Mike over a number of years as he seeks to complete his degree to become a school teacher (he has also provided excellent Xhosa translation the Emerging Leaders team) and we were able to take a boy whom we have known for years to his skills based training matrix, it was a pleasure to be able to help him on that special night.

Unfortunately we had some rather sad news when we were asked to meet up with the MD and FD of the Thembalitsha Foundation, who informed us of the boards decision to close down the Village of Hope at the end of March 2019. Whilst we can understand some of the main points of that decision it was still hard to hear of the issues that have led to them making that choice and our hearts go out to not only the children but mainly the staff, many of whom we employed way back when we opened the project in April 2009.

Daily drives to meetings were a bit boring!

We are taking the positives out of the venture and know that hundreds of children's lives, many of whom would perhaps not be around if we hadn't have been there, have been impacted in a very positive way. With further knowledge of the friendships that we made and the lives of those hundreds of volunteers who played a part in that fantastic time will also be changed for good having been part of something that was very very dear to our hearts. 

Sunsets over Lions Head

Our last week was spent in Cape Town where we stayed/were 'house sitters', for the guy who helps oversee Emerging Leaders in South Africa. It was great to spend some time in this city which has become very familiar but one that we really haven't had the time to explore. We got up early most of those final mornings to get down to the promenade at Sea Point to complete some faster 5km and 10km runs (I actually got PB's at both) and to run along Signal Hill under the watchful gaze of the mighty Table Mountain and his smaller but no less impressive ally Lions Head.

Us and Lennox

We also had a Christmas get together with some of the Emerging Leaders team, it was nice to share a meal, catch up and hear stories of how the programme is being used within the schools and wider community areas like the huge Khayelitsha township which sits outside Cape Town.

All in all it was a busy time interspersed with some further amazing experiences, it's always a blessing to be able to visit the Cape in late spring, the days are longer and getting warmer and the blue skies seem much bigger than those that surround our caravan as I type this up on a dreary Sunday afternoon in Bristol.

and Jo!

We're not sure when we will be back in South Africa again, other than flying through Jo'burg onto Harare in late January but we are sure we will return at some point to keep opening up the doors for more opportunities and to encourage those who are already doing an awesome job as we see transformation come to every community one person at a time.

So we sign off in the knowledge that we will see many of you before Christmas but if we don't have chance to share our seasons greetings to you in person then please accept these as we wish you and your families a blessed and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous and healthy 2019.



Tim and Maz x