I would like to introduce myself to the Friends of the Trust, some of you may already know me as I have been involved in the tourism industry for many years. I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up with a genuine love and passion for Africa which has never left me. I have, as a tour operator, travelled Southern Africa extensively. For the past four years I have worked on a part time basis with a social upliftment project in the townships in Cape Town which has given me great joy and a deep respect for these communities. The project also involved the tourism indusrty and I saw how the project changed many people’s lives from living in a shack to owning a home of their own.

I look forward to working together with the Trustees and the Friends of the Trust to continue the good work which has already been achieved by the TCD Trust and to see the reality of the dream for the new multi purpose centre at Blomvlei Primary School in Hanover Park.

I recently visited Blomvlei Primary School for the first time and met with the head mistress, Dawn Petersen. She proudly showed me around the school and the new sports flieds which were being laid, the first step towards the bigger picture of creating an enviroment for these children that they can be proud of and play in a safe area. We were there on a scorching hot day and the children were having their school assembly out in the school courtyard, Dawn said she could not wait for the day when they will have the centre open and the children won’t have to sit outside.

I hope to meet with many of you as soon as possible and look forward to working together.

Bronwen has been in the tourism industry for over 20 years and has, for the past four years, successfully coordinated projects involving the tourism industry and raising funds to build houses for shack dwellers living in the townships of the Western Cape.

With her passion for the upliftment of grassroute projects in South Africa and a vast knowldge and understanding of the tourism industry, Bronwen will continue to expand our Friends of the Trust and work with our various projects which the Trust supports.

The multi-purpose centre at Blomvlei Primary School in Hanover Park will be the focus of fund raising efforts and ensuring that the project continues to become a reality for this community.

We welcome Bronwen onboard and look forward to working together.

They have been given a mandate by Maskew Miller Longman to build as many community libraries as possible, which they will fully stock with books. The TCD Trustees met on 07 December with government representatives to discuss acquisition of land for the building of these libraries.

Watch this space for further developments on this exciting library project…