My Life My Africa

One aspect of our human conditioning that contributes to our downfall,
our unrealised potential,
our unfulfilled dreams,
is the fact that we forget.

We forget who we are.
We forget where we are.
We forget the direction we were walking in, when we first began.
We forget promises made … to others and to ourselves,
We forget.

And when we forget, we feel stuck…
stagnant,
worthless,
lost and alone.

 Often, I see people so overwhelmed by the emotion, that they grab onto a 2^nd best life of sacrificed 
dreams, to save themselves the pain.
And it saddens me.

 Recently, I have been guilty of wandering down this path of self-destruction,
considering a life of mediocrity,
sacrificing dreams, for the sake of ‘stability’, ‘security’ and comfort.

Thankfully though, I am a dreamer, and somewhere in my programming, the option to let go of the dream was left out.
I just can’t.

I can self-destruct, like everyone else.
I can wallow.
I can get lost and confused and hurt.
But when it comes to that final fork in the road, I default to my dreams …
even if it is at the cost of everything else.

I guess time will tell whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Anyway, the reason you haven’t seen me here for so long is because I have been stagnant.
I have been caught in the crossfire between my dreams and the ‘reality’ of the world;
struggling to to find my balance.

For a moment, I began to think that I needed to sacrifice my dreams, to survive in this world.
For a moment, I led myself to believe that the way of the world is the reality that I needed to accept.
For a moment, I allowed myself to die.
 So then I shaved my head … and now everything is better Read more »

In 2011 the Panorama Football Club – under the leadership of Chairperson Karen Keylock – partnered with the My Life My Africa Children’s Foundation to adopt our Zandspruit Youth Development’s Under 17 Soccer Team. It was always a dream for our Youth Soccer boys to play in a league, but the costs associated with entering the league together with a lack of facilities kept this dream far from being a reality. Thanks to Panorama, in 2011 our Under 17 team was entered into the Rand Central League Football Association U-17 First Division, and they were offered Panorama facilities as their ‘Home Ground’, together with sponsored kit.

However, the great blessing was immediately overshadowed by the daunting prospect of it all. Our ‘Boys’ have only ever experienced life in the horribly neglected and impoverished community of Zandspruit. This means that most of them

• come from broken homes
• have access to pitiful education
• have limited access to clean water, sanitation and electricity
• survive on a single meal per day
• have no access to a proper Sports Ground
• have no kit and no soccer boots, no training resources and no qualified coaches
• have no experience of playing outside the context of townships and informal settlements
• have no relationships or understanding of cultures other than their own

To add to all of this deeply-rooted insecurity and low self-esteem, our ‘Boys’ were set to play against the likes of Sporting, Wits, Sandton, Old Parktonians, Panorama and the likes. Read more »

Marietjie Steyn [photo intentionally not displayed] has no training, experience or qualifications to run a nonprofit organization; she has no qualifications in social development, poverty alleviation, child and youth development, Community Outreach – nothing. In fact she studied psychology and was in a position to live a normal and wealthy life in South Africa, until one day back in 2002 when she found it on her heart to take a tray of sandwiches into the Zandspruit Informal Settlement to feed some hungry children.

I am often guilty of snubbing such acts because I feel they make no attempt to address the heart of the problem, but rather focus on appeasing our own guilty consciences.

But God has a way of using small people with small offerings for great things beyond the reach of human understanding…

She reached the Emthonjeni Community Centre and was bowled over in a few short seconds by a group of hungry little children.

From a human perspective, it was surely a waste of time.

But Marietjie came back the very next day with 2 trays of sandwiches – and the story repeated itself. 2 Trays became 4, became 8, became 16…. and Marietjie was joined by others whose hearts were softened by both the children and her perseverance.

A small, timid, “white”, privileged Afrikaans woman continued going back to the community of Zandspruit to love the little children who came running to her for sandwiches. Relationships grew, barriers crumbled, and the Golang Education Outreach organization was formed. Read more »

What we plant is what will grow. What we reap is what we sow.

My Mum and Dad knew this, which is why they invested into my life from before I can even remember. And today I live in the harvest field of what was sown into my life. Where I am, what I do and the values that drive me were knitted into my foundations from the very beginning, and it should be no surprise that I am where I am.

And as I look towards my future – because of the investment into my life – I am able to look with hope. I am even able to dream of the legacy I will leave behind through my own children. And this is a beautiful thing, a beautiful system that replicates itself. My future is bright because my past was well served. And I remain grateful.

But not all of us have the same experience. Read more »

A Youth Soccer Development Initiative in an impoverished South African Community

Read more »