Connecting & Learning

These last few days have been full of both.  Today, Rebecca and I attended an entrepreneurship course called the BEST Business Game, developed by economists at the University of Cape Town.  Operation Mobalisation offered the course for $7.50 (60 Rand), when it is typically given to aspiring/existing entrepreneurs at $250!  After today’s coursework (which is basically monopoly on steroids), they returned 30 Rand ($4) to us and over the next 3 weeks we are competing with the rest of the class on who can create the most profits from that investment. Note: We can spend more on our initial investment, as long as we track the 30 Rand through the process.  We are really excited about attaining certification to teach this course ourselves to aspiring entrepreneurs in Mamelodi.  Yes, I’m definitely a nerd…and an entrepreneur, because I cannot stop thinking about my business plan!  More on that later.

On Tuesday, the South African national director of Crown Financial called me in response to my email, and was extremely excited about our work in his country.  I was impressed at how many programs/materials they had to offer to the people of South African people, and placed an order for the leader’s guide to a personal finance/budgeting course written in English and Sotho (pronounced “sootoo”…1 of the 11 main tribal languages spoken in SA) for people in the townships of South Africa.  Once received, we will review and determine if will we include this course in our offerings.

Monday afternoon, one of my favorite characters (Humphrey…we call him Pumbaa, since he makes us laugh all the time…and is, well…shaped like him) from my trip in 2005, picked me up and gave me the grand tour of new real estate developments in Pretoria.  The past 3-4 years, undoubtedly, have been exciting for both of us, but when he told me he had been hit by 7 cars in one wreck, broken 4 ribs, sat up for 6 months, spent 2 years away from his family building toilets in the bush, and now in the past year has built 9 homes for developers, several which would easily sell for $1M+ in Atlanta…I conceded that he won.

Monday morning, I had tea (the manly sort of tea time, if there is such a thing) with Stephen de Vos, a retired professor and now graduate student in Management Sciences of Tshwane University of Technology. His thesis is concerned with the development of “cooperatives” that are self sustaining with entrepreneurship as the core of this model, and his heart is for the poor.  I learned more in those 2+ hours than I could have learned in months of reading and trial & error in the township.  He lives 10 minutes from us, and we plan to meet up about once a month to share our thoughts/perspectives as I gain more experience in teaching business/finance principles in the township.  

Stephen de Vos was introduced to me by Lezl Steynberg (yes, SA has a significant Jewish community), a professor of Management Sciences at Tshwane University and a director for the Centre for Entrepreneurship. Basically, I walked into the administrative building and started asking questions about small business development materials, and had an appointment with Lezl within 30 minutes.  She spent over an hour with me discussing her projects/responsibilities, South African politics, economics, social issues, business environment, etc and then gave me a reference to small business development.  Besides her introduction to Stephen, she wants me to come back and talk to two of her colleagues.

So, the reason I went to this particular university is because of a South African named, Theo Englemohr, doing community development work in the poverty of Griffin, GA.  Yes, my hometown.  This past year, my dad met him, couldn’t understand a word he said, but found out he was from South Africa and told him what my plans were.  Theo worked for one of the largest corporations in South Africa (Anglo-American…mining) in Training & Development for many years, until called to serve the poor in his own country.  He has now taught job skills training and small development courses all over South Africa, and now, in Griffin, GA.

I met my dad on January 5th, 1980.  

This is how God works through His people.

“Pumbaa”