| In August of 2007 I had the
extraordinary and life-changing experience
of escorting fifteen gifted American children across South Africa. The
children were all winners of the National Geographic Kids Hands-on
Explorer Challenge (HOEC). I hoped that the trip would bring some
attention to the incredible conservation efforts of my country of
birth, and I also hoped that the poorer communities of South Africa
would receive attention too. I knew that the itinerary would have an
impact on its travelers, however I never quite anticipated the depth of
the impact that it would have on the Americans on the journey, nor had
I envisaged the consequences to my life that this trip would produce. It was this journey that caused me to found the Footprints Foundation—a not-for-profit organization staffed and supported by many members of that extraordinary journey. The best way to describe the development of the Footprints Foundation is to tell the story of the expedition… The 15 expedition members, ages 9 to 14, were winners—chosen from among thousands of entries—of the HOEC essay and photo contest. The program was the brainchild of National Geographic Kids magazine publisher, Rainer Jenss. Sponsors were co-opted, and I was identified as the trip planner and escort by the management team of the HOEC. Travel plans were made—with packing lists, gear guides and information on the country distributed—and finally the expedition team of kids, one parent each, and NGS staff boarded South African Airways flights out of Washington D.C. and New York City airports for the flight to South Africa. That July and August, South Africa—and particularly the western Cape—had been hammered by gale-force winds and frontal rains that whipped across the peninsula and ripped up the ocean. These weather conditions had been constant for a period of close to six weeks. Fishing vessels had been made fast at the quayside and all fair weather activities cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Sadly, that weather is what this band of explorers faced as they were scheduled to hike the hills of the fynbos at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, explore early man caves along the rugged coastline, as well as cruise the bay in small craft looking for the threatened southern right whales and dive in cages to see a notorious predator—the great white shark. Fortunately, the wind dropped and the rains stopped the instant the HOEC expedition’s plane touched down in Cape Town. Michael Lutzeyer called me from Grootbos to say that an incredible break in the storms was on the horizon and that if the expedition team was to enjoy any time at sea that they should arrive early the next morning. Rapidly the plans to explore the city of Cape Town were cancelled, a pre-dawn breakfast arranged, and the bus positioned for an early takeoff to the coastal village of Gansbaai. The trip had begun with the explorers learning their first lesson of expeditions: Be prepared for anything and react to the conditions as they present themselves. As luck would have it, the weather calmed and the group was rewarded with extraordinary marine conditions: calm seas and visibility beyond twenty feet. Explorers had sightings of sharks that in some instances seem to exceed 17 feet, breaching whales, rare birds, and over 15,000 Cape fur seals. During their stay at Grootbos they all visited the village of Masakhane, which South Africans call a township. The townships are legacy to the apartheid era as they consist of single tribes (Xhosa in the Cape) and no other ethnic group. Elsewhere in the world they would be called slums. Somehow, though, they don’t feel like slums and as you walk through them and meet their smiling inhabitants. These places have little or no infrastructure. Twenty freestanding outhouses support a population of thousands. Instead of a safe electrical supply system, a spiderweb of loose wires crisscross the pathways and connect the homes to the outlets. Houses are fragile assemblies of tin, cardboard, planking, and rocks, with interiors that are neatly laid out and proudly clean. There is no economy here because many of the inhabitants are unemployed. Taxes aren’t collected and public services are not provided. Small homes have been converted to general stores that operate on a cash basis. The only evidence of industry besides these general stores (spaza shops) is the bead production factory developed by Groobos. The factory’s products are sold through the boutique at the nearby Grootbos Nature Reserve. It was in this township that one of the young participants was photographed as he quietly removed his treasured Spider-Man gloves and handed them over to a barefooted young Xhosa boy scantily clad in shorts and a threadbare T-shirt. Little did anyone know that the spirit of giving that emerged at the moment would prevail throughout the trip and continue today. The itinerary wound the kids through the leafy suburbs of affluent Pretoria, the country’s capital, and down through the sprawling ranchlands, corn farms of the highveld, and on through the ostentatious plantations of the escarpment before coming to rest at the illustrious Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. Sabi Sabi adjoins the Kruger National Park along its western boundary and has existed for twenty-five years. It has worked quietly and honestly to improve the lifestyles of its staff—empowering and developing and rewarding through innovation. It has led the way socially and environmentally, engaging in many life-changing social reforms. Leading up to the expedition the Americans had been raising funds to provide a gift to the school that they were to visit. I encouraged the act of rewarding rather than giving, suggesting that there be an exchange of sorts that could be rewarded. This way the recipients wouldn’t feel like they were beggars, but rather that through their actions had earned the gift. After many discussions there was agreement that a great gift to a school, which had been identified as The Sam Nzima Educare Centre, would be a computer and a connection to the Internet. The motive was to encourage some form of interaction between the kids of both countries, and of course better equip them with all the knowledge that comes from having access to the World Wide Web. It was also hoped that the school would use this facility after school hours to create a self-sustaining stream of revenue by charging community members for Internet time—much as would an Internet café. During their stay at Sabi Sabi, a morning excursion to the village in Lilydale was arranged. The kids dressed in their sponsor’s T-shirts and headed for the school, where the staff had prepared a welcome function, tribal style, to show off their facilities. The entire school turned out in their charcoal short pants and white shirts for the boys and maroon frocks for the girls. A special group of dancers adorned only in tribal skirts and handmade beads danced to welcome the arriving delegation of American children. After introduction speeches the Americans were entertained with dance and song, followed by an Internet activation ceremony and an interactive learning session facilitated by the two accompanying American teachers. The visit culminated in a lively soccer match between the HOEC kids and the students of Sam Nzima Educare. On the way back to Sabi Sabi many silent resolutions and commitments were made to return and provide more. Little did I know that this short foray into rural South Africa would take me further down the philanthropic path than I had already ventured. The Americans returned to their country enriched by the experience and moved by South Africa’s people. Since my return home, I have been reminded often of the trip’s success. Lester Holt, a news anchor for NBC, has aired several segments that feature the trip. Boyd Matson of National Geographic’s Wild Chronicles has broadcast too, while the printed media that followed the kids have continued to write their stories. Then there are the kids, parents and staff of the National Geographic Society that have kept the memories alive. I received notes and cards in the mail thanking me for guiding the trip. E-mails are received constantly with notes of a general banter. And, in more recent months, I received a note that moved me deeply. It was a note from Meghan McMahon, a small, blonde bombshell who swam two miles in the Pacific to raise money for the donation of the computer and Internet connection. Her stamina remained and she wrote to me asking how she should go about motivating her school to adopt the Sam Nzima Project as her school’s, out in California, charity project for the year. She also wanted to know what she should do with the funds and how these would be applied to the school. There was little else to be done, I decided, but to form a foundation to ensure that the funds were legitimately handled and responsibly spent. I approached the headmistress of the school to understand what it required. I found out that water has become a major issue. Space is also a problem, because the school had enrolled an additional 100 students without sufficient room to house them. Classes were being taken under the trees surrounding the school. The immediate goals of the Foundation had been defined. Today there is a team of children fanned out across the U.S.A. who have found a cause greater than themselves and who are taking great steps to improve the lives of others. These are the kids that make up the Footprints Foundation, which I now guide with my team of volunteers. |