The past week was extremely busy, what with websites going live and all sorts of minor problems popping up here and there. It's all under control though. Because we rock.

Since my first disastrous trip to Ratanda (which ended in me arriving in Bedford!) i have managed to get some direction. Ha.
I have been out to Sharpeville and Ratanda a few times, successfully, to gather information on the NVC trainees businesses.They seem to be receiving the training really well and the positive feedback is comforting.
During the week my Press Application to Decorex was approved! Awesome! So on the 5th of this month i have access to the decorex expo as a media member! This allows me to get some interviews and take pictures of the event! I'm really looking forward to that...

One of the new sites we are starting on is going to be an information hive! really! Constant updates of info and pictures...so it looks like the blog may be coming to a close..but it's too early to tell still....

I'll be back with more info on projects and progress soon1

until then!

What a crazy day.. I had arranged to go through to Ratanda in Heidelberg, but am still getting used to the freeways and traveling in general.
After an hour or so of driving around, following signs and staying out of the path of giant trucks i managed to take a wrong turn. typical. I thought i was doing well, until i stopped recognizing little landmarks and roadsigns. Just when i was about to freak out completely, i found myself in Bedfordview!
That threw me completely, i had no idea how it happened. so basically i spent the better part of two hours driving from Edenvale to Bedfordview. Horrible.
So the plan is to leave earlier tomorrow and head out again, this time i'm more prepared and definitely know where not to get off...
On top of that, i was busy editing info on the Tangerine site and accidentally (and stupidly) published the info to the wrong domain, mixing up all my info. So that cost me more time figuring out and fixing that...It has not been my best day on the job.
Tonight at seven myself and Lana are meeting with Stefan to go over operations for the Lepharo site whiich goes live tomorrow!! Exciting! Cant wait to hear the feedback on that, and see how the site is recieved by everyone...
And it's only tuesday... =s
On that note...

It's been a busy week!

The Lepharo website is finally taking shape and it's looking awesome!
Tangerine( www.buygerine.com) is also taking form, with write ups about the Makarapa Expo in Sandton and general information about Tangerine as a business and brand.
New pictures have been uploaded to Neosho's gallery, have a look and see whats been happening so far with the Vuka Mentorship programme1 (www.neosho119.com)
The rest of the Neosho team have been just as busy if not more! Hanolet is dealing with the Business profiles of the Students from Vuka, a job that takes alot of time and even more patience, i'm not sure how she does it!!
Yesterday i held an interview with Amareza Buys, a facilitator from the Maccauvlei NVC programme, that interview can be viewed online at www.neosho119.com
Keep reading and following! soon the Lepharo website address will be released and you can visit the site and see for yourself!!!

Things are coming together slowly but surely...

On friday afternoon i went to Sandton City to view an exhibition Neosho119 has showing at the CDC (Craft Design Center) I took my brother along to 'sight-see' as he is visiting from Cape Town for a few weeks. Sandton, as always, was a hive of activity- with people from all over the world..and all over Joburg, feeling the vibe in Joburgs center for the rich and famous..supposedly.
The exhibition was awesome, it has no end date so you can still catch it!
Our group of crafters representing the 5 regions of Gauteng, did us proud! The makarapas and vuvuzelas on display looked great in their very African bright colors and designs, definitely something someone would purchase as a souvenir, and-of course- its all for a good cause! The alleviation of poverty in our country being a huge factor in Neosho119's projects...

All in all the exhibition is well presented, stylishly modern, while keeping its definitely African roots, all packaged to deliver a beautifully made range of gifts tying in to the FIFA madness that has been South Africa for the past few weeks!
Definitely worth the trip!

After a busy weekend i was in Springs today, taking pictures of one of the business groups from Lepharo. My latest assignment is taking photos of the guttering team for a magazine advertisement! Pretty cool hey! It was easier than i first thought it would be, the guys pretty much did their own thing while i snapped away a few shots.
Lepharos' 'Dummy' website should be up and accessible to the public by this Friday...
Otherwise, it's gonna be a busy week...

"The week hasn't even begun, and we are almost at the mountain top to reap the joys of success... What seemed to be Mission Impossible has now become more manageable. The Lepharo Website is starting to look great!
And believe me, learning new software is NOT easy, especially with deadlines, but finally we are conquering the evil programme, and now slowly but surely beginning to appreciate it for the versatility and flexibility in what the software really can do.

I am looking forward to seeing the final product, and can't wait for the public to see it!" - Lana Botha (Graphic Designer - Neosho 119)

Lana and myself have been checking out the new software that we received from Stefan Janse Van Rensburg recently.
Progress has been much slower than what we had initially hoped.. But we've managed to get the basics down so far, with the help of an endless amount (seemingly) of on line video tutorials.
Tomorrow Lana and myself are meeting to go over the final few tutorials (bleh!) and jump in with the Lepharo website, as the deadline for that to be up and running is drawing closer..quickly.

Today myself and Hanolet went through to Heidelberg to visit previous intakes into the Vuka Programe from Ratanda. It was freezing cold, my 'bad weather tolerance' levels are literally non existant though, so it might have just been..cold! I met with Tebogo Masemola, owner of TM Electronics in Ratanda and currently a student in the Vuka Mentorship Programe. I will be using his business profile and some extra info in our first newsletter, he was pretty excited with the idea and getting him to give me something to write was easy!
Once back in Edenvale I posted the new intakes from Boiphatong on the Neosho119 site, Check them out at www.neosho119.com.

And if you're inteerested, have a look at www.Bugerine.com Lana re-vamped the site and it's looking awesome!

Until later!

Fridays staff meeting was a totally different occasion, with the 2010 world cup well under way Sharon decided it would be nice to experience the event in a different way, once the meeting was done, and the minutes taken for the week the Neosho team head out to Rhodesfield to ride the Gautrain to Sandton. It was definitely an interesting experience, as far as i know the train moves with a magnetic system of some kind..so it doesn't actually touch the tracks..and at 160km/h that's an interesting thought.
The train station,boarding area and train itself where all impressive, and more than i personally expected... the ride was smooth and for the most part, comfortable, i became more aware of what's actually going on in South Africa when tourists with different accents and languages boarded and departed the train..it was nice to know that they are all visiting 'our' country, and that we're actually not doing so badly..

We arrived in Sandton in only a few minutes, and headed up the escalators (a few of them..) to the surface!
Sandton city was alive with fans from all over the world, photographers, and people just out to soak it all in..like us.. Mandelas' badly proportioned statue overlooked all the noise and color and it was easy to spot visitors to the country, standing at his feet,posing for a picture with the big man..
As it was a 'work outing' we went for lunch at an awesome little thai restaurant..that i cannot remember the name of now....Wang Thai? Well..the food was awesome! and being a fan of hot, fragrant ,foreign foods i was as close to happiness as i could be. The conversation was interesting and humorous and it was actually enjoyable spending time with work colleagues..they're all pretty nice people.. and I'm not being paid to say that.

The trip back was just as quick as the first time, despite a voice apologizing for the delays..we arrived back at the Rhodesfield platform and left the train, it was definitely worth it, and something i just might do again sometime..

Monday was great, after this weekend nothing could keep me down! Bafana played an awesome opening game and i'm stoked that i watched it!
Things in Springs are moving quicker now, not having been there for a while i found some cool changes! The business profiles are under way, construction has started (and is almost finished!) and the sign posts have been put up!
Lana has done an awesome job putting together the new Tangerine site, have a look at it on www.buygerine.com, really is worthwhile!

We have been given our administrator passwords by Stefan and will soon be ready to put up the Lepharo site! Looking forward to the challenge! The software should be easy to master, according to the computer whizz. We'll see how it goes i guess!

on that note

Tuesday, Lana came round in the morning, we had the day to finalize everything for the TANGERINE site, we managed to get everything almost complete...today Lana asked for an extension for the project, so we have an extra day!

Today was spent mainly working on the Lepharo information for the website, Once tangerine is finished, and Lepharo is online, we can start spending more time on re-vamping the NEOSHO site!
I took a little time to check out the internet for info on Decorex, which will be held in Johannesburg during August this year, if you are interested at all check out www.sa-venues.com/events/Gauteng

I took a drive this afternoon to the shop down the road from me, on the way there i must have driven past at least 50 people blowing their Vuvuzelas'... thats on a 3.5km stretch... Friday is going to be awesome, the World Cup is finally here!!
on that note...

Monday! Hi how you doing!? A whole new month to play with, it's still very early but things are going well! With only a few days until the Kick-Off, you can definitely feel the excitement in the air!

Today i had a meeting/interview with Sharon Reed, we spoke about Tangerine and it's new outlook as well as our new newsletter for the Vuka Mentorship Programme. On wednesday myself and Lana are going to be Launching the newly updated Tangerine site, its under temporary construction to be re-released in July, make sure you check it out!
Another development is that Stefan Janse Van Rensburg should hopefully (all going well) be getting us started with the new software by Thursday this week!
The rest of the Neosho team should slowly start adding additional info from the different aspects of business this week, another development to check out! Hopefully, by having the different outlooks on various projects and day to day happenings, this blog will prove a little more informative as to what we are trying to achieve!

With that said...

Today was another decent day, i had a meeting with Sharon regarding the Lepharo website plan, we basically went over all the info that is required for the site, incubation proccesses and strategies etc. Now that i have a clear idea of the info i need to collect it should be fairly easy from here on in, the only thing that i foresee as an obstacle at the moment is the Software..once we receive it and we start training on it we can only hope that we learn quickly! There are no deadlines as such, but the project feels like its dragging on now..guess i don't enjoy the feeling of 'stagnating'.

On another note, we tried to meet with Gordon last week Friday, but while we were waiting in Hillbrow, he had not left Pretoria yet, and it was hitting late afternoon..so we decided to move..quickly!
Once again, the statistics have been updaed to the Neosho Website, check it out on www.neosho119.com!
Hopefully by Friday i'll have something solid to present in the meeting regarding the lepharo info! Another development is that soon other members will be adding posts onto this blog!
So keep checking us out!!

On that note...

Its the start of yet another month! Winter is definitely setting in, i've started covering my bike up at night so it doesn't freeze over. Monday was spent by myself, i updated the statistics info onto the Neosho site, done at last!! Today i'll be sorting through all the Tangerine info that i have been sent, so that Lana can update the new Tangerine site...Lepharo's new website is done on paper...all thats left for us to do now is get the Software from Stefan! Other than that, there is really not much else to report on..
With the Soccer World Cup just round the corner..Feel it, it's here!!!
Hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful, let me get back o work and prepare the info for Lana...
On that note...

I haven't had internet access so far this week, my 3G has been acting up, i swapped an MTN card for a VODACOM one instead, and now...nothing... it's pretty frustrating, I'm at the office now and decided to take advantage of the MTN card again before heading home to figure out the VODACOM settings...
I somehow lost my number plate from the back of my bike, so this morning was spent gettting prices and such for a new one, it took 5 minutes to make and attach, and cost only R110! not bad...
Today and yesterday have been pretty quiet for me, i'm getting together more info for our websites and myself and Lana have to meet asap so we can finish the Makarapa project presentation.. It's taken too long already and we both just want to move on from it! So, hopefully all that will be done b y Friday! The next few projects we have to complete also involve web work, we just need Stefan's software so we can continue with that! Slowly but surely the projects are getting wrapped up, Happiness!
I'm still busy with the Newsletter plan, it's coming along, but i really want it finished now!
On that note...

Lana came round on Wednesday, we decided to use it as a chance to complete as much as possible for Friday. We mapped out the basic idea for the Lepharo website, which is going to be great once completed, and got all the info we need for the Tangerine presentation, Gordons info was easy to find on the web, we just Googled him! I managed to sort out all the relevant statistics, it took a while, but wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. The plan for the newsletter is also finished, hopefully it goes well tomorrow! Today was spent just neatening and retyping most of Wednesdays work, tomorrow I'm going with Sharon to Springs to get some pictures, i'm up early and riding through meet at her house tomorrow morning...Can't wait to wake up and ride my bike!
On that note...

Fridays meeting went on easily enough, no bad news, which is always good!
We went through the weeks actions, and set up new ones, unfortunately, the meeting went on a little while and there was no time left to fetch my bike.... So i headed home a little less buoyant than i'd hoped...
Yesterday i worked from home, fetching the bike was the last thing on my mind as i tried to wrap myself around these statistical reports... I'm getting the hang of it but it's slow work... I wanted to go through to Springs to gather info for the Lepharo website we are busy with, but that was put on hold... Today, however, i went through to Hanolets place in Pretoria to meet with Lana so we could revise our Site Plan for Lepharo, she's coming around tomorrow so we can put together the final working plan... I finished up with the Statisics, a job i think i'm going to dislike quite a bit, and at two O'clock myself and Cherese left to go to the Honda Dealership in Eastrand.
On arriving, helmet in hand, i was met by Gino, the sales guy i have been dealing with, Quicker than i thought possible i had the keys in my hand and was ready to meet the open road...
Not knowing the areas too well just yet, i followed Sharon home, i was nervous at first-what with all the traffic, but soon left that behind me, smiling from ear to ear behind the helmets visor.
I arrived home safely, my pulse racing, and stood outside to admire my machine for a while. She is finally home!
Today has been fantastic, think i'm going to smile in my sleep!
I need to shoot out to the shop, I'm sure there's something i need....
On that note...

I was hoping to go through to Ratanda today with Cherese to get some feedback from the intakes that side, however, Cherese cancelled at the last minute saying she wasn't going through to Ratanda at all... our lines must have gotten crossed at some point! So i ended up working from home, not really my idea of fun, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I have managed to get quiet a bit done today, our meeting on Friday requires some feedback on projects we are handling and today was the perfect opportunity to get al that information together in a presentable form. There's still some rough edges and we are still waiting to hear from Gordon, but it's definitely all coming together! I spoke to Gino from Honda today and he confirmed the time that i can go fetch my bike!! 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon! Just in time for the weekend, lets hope it doesn't rain!
Tomorrow I'm meeting with Lana and we are going through to Lepharo, She needs to get some work done there so I'll just tag along and see what i can see, Tomorrow night we'll be meeting with Stefan so we can discuss the software that we'll be using! Excited to see how it's going to work out!!
So, plans have changed slightly, but flexibility is king in these situations, we will just have to see what tomorrow brings!
On that note...

Lepharo

Back into Springs today! It's been a decent day, we arrived just in time to see the guys at Lepharo offloading a small fork-lift, the fork-lift was brought in to remove the wooden stands the machinery had been delivered on. Among other things that went on today, the Spin-casters from yesterday have made progress on their molds. Though they haven't produced anything just yet, they have moved far forward in their understanding of the machinery used. Figuring out exactly what you are working with is half the job, i reckon... they cut out the mold shapes into the vulcanized rubber and cut channels for the molten metal to pour through, it's a pretty precise job and rather intricate as i eventually realized. By the end of the day i till hadn't seen a finished cast, but i'll hopefully be able to see the results on Thursday.
The bike has been payed for, now i'm just waiting for the registration and licensing to go through..then voila! Getting excited now, and increasingly nervous.. performance anxiety. The guy who sold us the bike recently came off of his bike, crushing the bones in both of his arms. Excellent sales strategy? i think not.
I've arranged to meet with Stefan Janse Van Rensburg, he's the guy that will be providing us with the new software and necessary training, this Thursday evening, all going well myself and Lana will be able to move ahead with the new websites for Lepharo and Neosho sooner than later!
We still haven't heard from Gordon, we have until Friday to get the information from him regarding his involvement in the Makarapa project...Hopefully we come right...
On that note...

Lepharo

Myself and Lana were supposed to go through to Hillbrow today and meet with Gordon Froud at his studio, unfortunately he is quite ill and had to postpone. It’s all good though, we can get some info from him over e-mail! The joys of technology.

Sharon picked me up this morning to go through to Springs, we were going to the Lepharo grouds. The place is a hive of activity! Everyone seems busy with something, the spincasters started their first practical today, it looked really interesting to me, but I didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They lost me at ‘vulcanized’. I got some cool pictures of them preparing everything, but the finished product I’ll see tomorrow as it needed a few hours to heat and then a few to cool..i wasn’t going to be there so late…Once we left Lepharo we headed to the Eastrand Honda dealership to see Gino about my bike! Papers were signed, i.d’s copied and licences checked. I saw the new 2010 model of the CBX250, the one I saw was in white, she was shining! Love at first sight? Close enough. All going well, I’ll be the legal, licensed owner of a stunning bike by latest Friday afternoon. Here’s to hoping… Springs again tomorrow, Here’s a pic of the guys starting out, tomorrow we might see what comes out of it…

On that note..

Friday 7 May 2010

Today was the day of our second meeting, it was held in Pretoria this week. Myself and Cherese met up with Karl, the guy responsible for sorting out all of our technical problems..He's a genius!
Lana arrived shortly after we did to get her email and other programs sorted out. At karls place we are called the 'kids' and Cherese Burger quickly became Cheese Burger. Thats an idea... We left our laptops there and headed through to Hanolet to start the meeting.

The meeting went well, quicker than expected and simple, we gave feedback on the tasks from the week, and everyone was either complete or had made definite progress! good news all round! our new tasks were discussed and a few arrangements made for the next week.
Hopefully either Saturday or Monday i get my bike! that way i can get myself around...by myself!

After the meeting myself and lana drove through to Tembisa to meet Gordon and get some pictures of him and his 'team' working on the Makarapas, We stayed a while and made arrangements to meet him on Monday in Hillbrow..Yes, a voluntary mission to Hillbrow...

I still have to send some things through to Hanolet and Sharon..
On that note...

Thursday 6 May 2010

Today i went through to Sharpeville, haven't been there in a while, it was good to see some of the old faces.. We were interviewing people for the second intake from the area.
Not all of the people expected actually turned up, but we managed to interview over thirty entrepreneurs, of which about seven probably wont qualify, but we still have to go over all the interviews and compare notes.

I received a call today from Gino, the guy I've been dealing with at Honda, he phoned to let me know the bikes have arrived early and mine is sitting waiting for me.. Yes!! The invoices and all that stuff should be sorted out by tomorrow morning and i can hopefully fetch Her tomorrow sometime!! Hope it works out that way...!

We have a meeting tomorrow with Hanolet in Pretoria, and afterward I'm going to see Gordon with Lana, he's at a workshop in Tembisa, should be very interesting!!
On that note...

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Yesterday i was back in springs, having worked at home on Monday it was good to get out the house. There wasn't much i could do there, the intakes were in a meeting, i was hoping to get some pictures of them working the new machinery, but they haven't been able to practice just yet...

It was decided that i should go and check the Honda bike shop out myself, as i hadn't received any news on the CBX, so myself and Lana drove through to the Eastrand branch, armed with a 6 year old map book... It was easy enough to find though, and after looking (almost drooling) over all the bikes there, I found the CBX! Very cool bike... I spoke with the Branch Manager and got a written quote on the bike with the extra options of a small screen or a box..a box? I was confused about that until i saw the 'delivery' style box strapped to the back of a bike.. I wont be delivering pizzas, but thanks for the offer. The quote went though to Sharon today, and the bikes are all being delivered to the shop on Friday.. So holding thumbs!

Today i'm working from home again, i was hoping to meet up with either Hanolet or Cherese but it's not happening... I need to get a whole lot of different statistical info from Hanolet... On the other hand, Lana is getting in touch with Gordon Froud today and hopefully we can see him this week and get some more information from him on the Makarapa story, i just hope we don't have to go back into Hillbrow...
On that note

Friday 30th April 2010

Today Sharon held a meeting at her house in Edenvale, it's the first meeting we're having with everyone at the same time, in a short while Neosho has grown from 2 to 6 people! Lana, Cherese, Jenny, Myself, Hanolet and Sharon. We basically just introduced everyone to everyone, and got straight down to what each persons job was and some background on Neosho and the current projects! Sharon, who operates mainly on the corporate side, is busy with a few projects-such as the White River Water project and Lepharo, There's also talk of starting an E-Commerce platform within the company. Hanolet, who works in the creative/individual side of Neosho, finds the intakes for the induction process into courses such as the Vuka Mentorship programme, which can be a long and tiring process!

They set work that needs to be done by next friday, so we all have a few projects to work on!!
I've got to get together the statistics that we work with, for example, the amount of women to men, or age differences in the intakes.. Should be interesting as i've never tried doing anything like this before!

Still waiting to hear from Honda about the bike situation..Really excited, but getting impatient here! Hopefully will have heard something by Monday!

On that note...

Thursday 29 April 2010

I worked from home today, I had quite alot to get done...
The Ratanda intakes have been selected and i recieved the list of names from Mondli (Anglo-Zimele) so that i could edit and re-write the profiles on the selected intakes, their pictures need to be tagged with out logo and the profiles much be updated to the web..

There was a problem in the complex i stay in, somehow the water was cut off for most of the day.. Tragic! i had to go to a friend up the road just to brush my teeth!!

Now that i've passed the learners exam, i have to come up with a 'plan of action' in a way... i'll have to figure out how i'm going to go about the new tasks of my job, such as finding the previous intakes and getting feedback on the project and things like that..It's really not as easy as it sounds, these guys can be extremely difficult to find, ask Hanolet!!
I have until Tomorrows meeting to decide how i''m going to operate..
On that note...

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Hey there!

I hope everyone had a relaxing Freedom Day…

Back at work today and I was in Springs at the Lepharo offices,

Some new work is going on there; the blocks are getting ‘revamped’

with the floors being painted and cemented, also during the meeting

today, the incubates were introduced to Dr. Keith Campbell, who has temporarily come on board to try add value to the guys working with iron-casting, if all

goes well, Kieth will continue to stay and help the guys throughout the project,

firstly by making sure the machinery is commissioned and the guys know how to operate it perfectly.

Lana was in Springs today too, bringing the ‘rough’ logos for the

FineKast group at Lepharo, the logos were great, the guys’ reactions were average,

But they were keen to discuss some ideas amongst themselves and get back to Lana next week.

On Monday I wrote my Learners Licence exam, I passed ( I so knew I would!)

And have since been trying to get a bike from Honda, I’m just waiting for an e-mail

quotation and hopefully they get the stock by Monday! Can’t wait to be mobile!

On that note...

Friday 23 April 2010

What has quickly become a long week is finally over, as the year progresses I find that the days seem shorter, not because of winter approaching, just that the time doesn’t seem to last as long! Things that I think I’ve got forever to deal with suddenly have deadlines looming just behind them! For instance, I write on Monday. That’s less than three whole days away. I’ve got some last minute cramming to do this weekend!

Today in Springs I sat in on a meeting between Bontle Shole, the manager for the small business enterprise development centre, a part of the ABSA small business development project.

The discussion was mainly about financing for sartup businesses,

Based on their affordability, concept, knowledge and skill.

The figures mentioned where roughly up to R350 000 for ‘starting up’ businesses

And up to 3 million for established businesses.

Non financial support,such as workshops, was also discussed.

Bontle made it clear that having a viable idea and approaching the bank for finance is where it starts, within parameters. Some basic business skill is required, with at least two years experience in your own business.

I think that the incubatees from Lepharo would do well with something like this, but I also think that they definitely need more experience first…

Well, it’s raining, let’s hope it doesn’t stay all weekend! I’ve got some studying to do…

On that note…

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Alot happened today.
Firstly, Myself and Lana drove through to meet with Gordon Froud at his personal studio, what i only found out a little later was- his personal studio is in Hillbrow. Deep in Hillbrow. Stress.
I was sure we were lost, in the middle of this ghetto-like area, surrounded by generally unhappy looking people. . . I can honestly say that i'd feel safer in the heart of the Ratanda location than anywhere in Hillbrow!
I've heard stories from people who lived there around twenty or so years ago, how great it was, what good memories! Well, it's definately changed. I don't mind going back, if it's completely necessary, but i wouldn't travel on a bike. Not a chance. I'd feel safer locked inside something, like a tank perhaps.
On the other hand, Gordon has a stunning studio space there, the most awesome studio i've ever been in! His artworks are something else altogether, if you've never seen any of his work before, do yourself a favour!
The point of us meeting him was basically so that he and Lana could discuss various packaging costs and ideas, regarding the makarapas. They seemed to have narrowed it down to a few ideas, i should have been paying closer attention, but was completely absorbed by some of the crazy art... My bad...
That meeting went well, and as soon as possible we left Hillbrow.
Lana and i then went through to Hanolet in Centurion, Myself and Hanolet were meeting with a guy i know called Winston, who owns a nightclub there.
Winston wanted us to get in on an idea he has had about bringing a craft market to the central Centurion area. It was a terrible meeting. He wants to open this market a.s.a.p, and we didn't feel that he'd done much (if any) research on the subject, don't get me wrong, he'd somehow worked out the money he could be making and was full of ideas, but we'd have to be the ones marketing and promoting this whole thing, with very little gain. It just didn't sit well with us, and with a time frame of one month..!?
So, with that done, we managed to say that we'd only really be able to 'come to the party' from early next year, if ever, and wouldn't commit to anything just yet. Not too happy, the meeting was over and he left... Sorry guy, business is business.
Well, tomorrow i'm going with Cherese, not too sure where exactly... but it involves interviews and such.. I can''t wait to have my own transport! The test is in 5 days, and counting. . .
On that note...

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Today i was supposed to go with Lana (Neosho119) to see Gordon Froud ( Gordart Gallery)
but the meeting was moved to tomorrow.
So, i spent the day at my office ( home... ) which actually wasn't as cool as i though at first...
Today being the 20th, i realised i write my Learners licence exam in only six days...panic...!
Although i am confident i know my stuff, i can't help getting a little nervous and all the studying seems so insufficient...But, what can you do!?
I managed to get what i needed done, which wan't too much, so i had some time to browse the Neosho site and make sure all was ok, the new profiles are up, though there's one i still have to get, Lee from Lepharo...
Well, tomorrow should be fun, I'm going with Lana to Rosebank to meet Gordon, and going to meet with an old friend in Centurion to talk about a really cool idea he's had...More oon that tomorrow..
On that note...

Monday 19 April 2010

Happy Monday to everyone!!

Hope your weekend was as relaxing, fun and enjoyable as mine was!

I got in touch with a friend of mine that I haven’t seen in about 5 years!!

He has recently returned from Abu Dhabi, where he worked as a lifeguard on a stunning beach for a year!! What a cool job!

The picture I posted last Friday was actually a close up of a ceiling fan, wonder if anyone got it….

Today was a pretty basic day, I was in Springs at the Lepharo offices, I wanted to get the profile of a guy named Lee, but he wasn’t there…so... I ended up going about to the different groups in the project with Lana Botha (our new Graphic Designer)

She is busy creating their business logos... Some of the groups have really decent, original ideas; others have next to no idea at all… Lana took down the info that she needed, from the groups that had any information to give, while others made arrangements to speak with her next week rather…Lana has been working with us for about a week now, and her plate is already filling up with work. She seems to be enjoying it so far…

My camera is sitting at home charging, so no pictures to upload today.. Tomorrow will be different!

On that note…

Friday 16 April 2010

Had a later start today, well, i left home later...

I went with Sharon and Jenny to drop off the 1200 Vuvuzelas that we recently added Ekhuruleni stickers to, Once that was done we headed out to Rosebank!

We were meeting Hanolet and Gordon Froud ( Owner of Gordart Gallery and a part-time lecturer from UJ. ) We were meeting to discuss our plans for future events and the use of Gordons' Gallery for our own exhibition, we decided not to go with the exhibition right now, it's heading fast into winter and the timing just seems off...

We are, however, working hard towards next years Design Indaba in Cape Town.. Hopefully everything goes smoothly!!

There are some really cool things happening, just need to stay positve and hang on!

It's Friday alreaI forgot to charge my camera before leaving this morning so wasn't able to get any pictures, but i'll leave you with this to puzzle over...Enjoy the weekend!

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Today was an early start, Myself and Cherese ( new member of Neosho119) left to Sharpeville and were on the road just before six, we only had to be there at eight, but expected some traffic and delays. We were wrong.

We arrived in Sharpeville ( It was Chereses' first time and i think she loved it as much as i do!) with an hour and half to kill. Can you believe that there is not one coffee shop in that entire area!? Trust me, we looked. Eventually we found one outside Sharpeville and got our energy up, the only reason we had to be there was to make sure all of the intakes arrived and that the programme started without any trouble! Easy as pie. Unfortunately only one entrepreneur couldn't make it as she is ill, the only other absentee was a lady who attended a funeral, but apparently she arrived later on in the day.. Our next stop was in Ratanda, our mission was to take the details of about eleven new entrepreneurs for the second intake, again we were early! Amazing.. it doesn't happen all that often! So, Ratanda, also lacking in coffee shops ( Someone should seriosly open one already!) we took a drive through Heidelberg in search of more coffee! We killed Half an hour and headed back to the Ratanda Taxi rank, still ahead of schedule! Only seven of the eleven showed up, and of that seven none were on time, we waited half an hour for the first to pitch up..Next time we'll just stick to being late. The interviews went well, the guys that showed up really have potential! Fashion designers to aspiring agricultural designers! Diverse bunch! We had alot of fun out in the townships today, everyone seemed to be in a great mood which made our job so much more enjoyable! On our way out we spotted two kids attempting to draw money from an ATM with what appeared to be a cardboard cutout... Wishfull thinking!? Tomorrow i get to go to the office and place stickers on over one thousand Vuvuzelas... I can't wait. Sarcasm intended.. =)

On that note...

Until tomorrow!

Monday 12 April 2010

Monday morning, no matter how you see it i'm convinced that there are just far too many Mondays in a year. Even the name, Monday, strikes fear into the very core of my being.
But that aside...
Today was pretty uneventful as things go, I went to Springs with Sharon to update the profiles of the inncubatees from the Lepharo project ( Check out http://www.neosho119.com/ )
They seem to be a little more relaxed about the situation there, now realising that it's pretty much all on them to succeed, we just there to give some guidance and assist with any problems they have... but we are not there to baby them...It's finally sinking in.
Speaking to them today, though, i felt intense sympathy for them all, The project gives them a monthly salary of R500 or so, this covers their transport, food, and any other expense that they have! Thats nothing! Could you do that? Some of them have children and families to support, it's bordering on tragic!
And here i am complaining about the fact that I dislike Mondays on principle.. These guys are struggling to get work on a Monday! Puts your problems into perspective, no?
On that note.....
Until tomorrow!

Thursday 8 April 2010

Hey everyone!
What a hectic, long day!! totally bushed!
I went with Hanolet and Cherise into Ratanda this morning, but first we stopped off at the last garage before Heidelberg to bu coffee....No coffee!!! How is that possible?? A coffee shop without coffee is...well, pointless! We settled for Red Bull, thanks to Mondli!
We all headed together to Ratanda where we began the interviewing of around 40 people for the Vuka courses.
After about the eighth person the lack of coffee was starting to show.
We somehow managed to make it through the 5 or so hours of interviews, some people are really really hard to speak to!
I'm not sure if it's nerves or something else, but in the hall where we hold these interviews you can barely hear yourself think above the noise, but when the interviewee sits down...not a peep!
Gets frustrating. We managed to secure our target of 30 individuals for our next intake, we had to judge the businesses and people harshly as we have to keep the standards high..After the mentally exhausting day i feel pretty happy with the guys and girls we selected!
Despite what some people think (especially after the Terre'Blanche scene) the locations we visit still greet us with a smile! no weirdness or danger... Some of Maccauvleis' facilitators are scared to now teach in Ratanda.. I hope they get over this soon....

Wednesday 7 April 2010

The search is on for my wheels!!
With 19 days left until i write my exam (i'm over-confident that i'll pass) i have been searching for a bike, so that when i pass i'll have a better idea of what it is i'm looking for!
I've seen alot of beautiful bikes, but it's the Honda cbx that has caught my eye, it's just gorgeous!! And fuel efficient! What more could you ask for??
No doubt i'l still be undecided right up until 'D-day' though.

I was in Springs this morning, which has become a bit of a depressing place, we've managed to get everything into swing, but the incubatees there just don't seem to have the necessary drive!!
We've tried inspiring them with 'power of positive thinking' and mind-power books, but they don't even seem keen to humour us! So, like i said...depressing.
On the upside ( i'll always manage to find it i hope) there are a few of the entrepreneurs that really are giving us a chance and trying to be as co-operative as possible...Yay to the bright side!

After spending some time at Springs and listening to all the new problems popping up, we headed through to Centurion to meet with Hanolet and her new 'assistant' Cherise.
Cherise will be learning from Hanolet and eventually taking over from her, allowing Hanolet to concentrate on other aspects of the business.

Yip, thats two new additions to the team, and i'm feeling greatly outnumbered.

Not surprisingly though, we got stuck in heavy traffic about ten minutes from Centurion, it took us half an hour to travel roughly 6KM! The cause of the traffic was an accident that had just occured, there were no tow trucks or police when we drove past, it was the funniest thing i have ever seen!! Only funny because nobody was injured, just an emotional wreck of a woman on the side of the road who had managed to 'slide' her 4x4 right up a solid steel railing, leaving the car balancing,not touching the ground! Fantastic! How she got that right, i'll never know!! But respect to her, not even a scratch on the vehicle...Would make a good womans insurance add i reckon!
Once at Hanolets' we started the meeting, just catching up on what's been happening.
We are planning an exhibition soon, using the Makarapas from the workshop we held and some photographs from myself and Gordan Froud (UJ Lecturer). So, very excited to see how that will come together!!
Tomorrow i'll be Going with Hanolet and the Newbie (yes! no longer me!) Cherise, to Ratanda to start interviewing people for the next Vuka intakes!!
Until later!

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Back to work after a long weekend...

was a great little holiday, feeling refreshed..kind of!

The new addition to the team at Neosho, Lana Botha, has officially been hired...

She starts on Monday next week, it's gonna be interesting to work with her on the websites and see how everything goes!

The weekend past was great, a friend of mine went to Cape Town to visit family, and as is always the case with Cape Town visits..he didn't want to come back, can't blame him! I'm totally a traitor to Jo'burg and surrounding areas...I am 100% for C.T ! Love it there!!

My younger brother stays there still and was supposed to come visit, but guess he couldn't even leave it for a long weekend!!

Just incase anyone didn't feel too bad about work this morning...the weather came to play..first day back at work and raining... though the weekends weather wasn't too great either! I've been keeping myself busy with studying for my learners, second time writing (failed by one mark the first time, nearly died!) and hopefully going to be mobile by the end of the month! I bought myself a new novel this weekend, Angel Time by Anne Rice, the author of the Vampire Chronicles such as Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned..classics!

Once mobile i'll be travelling alot by myself to keep tabs on the intakes and arranging meeting with new intakes, can't wait!

Today, working from the office, i managed to sort through a few things, i've updated the neosho119 site with a new intro for the Vuka Mentorship Programme, check it out!

Otherwise thats all from me today!

Enjoy the rest!

Tuesday 30th March

Today and yesterday i was able to work from home, which has given me time to sort through a few things that i needed to complete.
The work i do usually involves taking pictures of things that are happening,people and places mostly. Loving photography, this is a really cool bonus (I just have to get into the habit of posting more pictures!) while some of my pics get used for website stuff, others have been used for slideshow presentations,now, as the photographer and as part of the company, it's a point of pride that people know where they're from, so I've just recently learned how to "copyright" these pics with our names, which was pretty easy once it was explained..
The web work that i'm busy with at the moment is just basically the beautifying of the webpage, Buygerine, it's a work in progress and we're just changing the feel of the site for now. We may be getting a new addition to the Neosho119 staff soon on the Web side, which will be nice as i won't be the most junior employee anymore ( Yay! )But i'll still be the only male member, feeling outnumbered? I might be going through with Hanolet tomorrow, not too sure yet, might be nice to get out the flat..I'm in danger of getting cabin fever, i'm sure of it

Thursday 25 March 2010

We head out this morning Heidelberg , the line up for today in Ratanda is basically the interviewing of several new businesses , after surviving the traffic ( we were almost taken out by some random in a busted-up delivery truck!) We managed to stop for a take-away coffee Yay!) and were in Ratanda just after nine a.m.
The few guys (and one woman) that met us have promising businesses varying from a DJ to a courrier company, we added their info to our ever expanding database, basically it's last year all over again! Finding the entrepreneurs, whittling the many down to the promising few, interviews,acceptance,induction and training! It's a good thing that we enjoy this line of work, anyone who didn't wouldn't be able to find the patience to deal with alot of these people, it's a long process but knowing what the outcome could be ( a life changing event for some) makes it worthwhile in the end. We met with a caterer from Ratanda who will be supplying all the meals for the trainees over the course of their training, keeping it local is a good move as it's all about empowering less fortuate individuals! The sessions will be held at the Ratanda community centre.
Our next mission was to travel across the border into the Freestate, to Maccauvlei.
We found Kristy Blackbeard and had a quick discussion with regards to all the work still being finalised, they're busy registering our programme with the seta's, it's all coming right!
The next few weeks will be centred around introducing more people to the programme and hopefully getting more areas to participate, it will be alot of hard work but i'll get to see areas such as Soweto! very exciting!!

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Evening everyone!
after a good nights rest i felt great today! While on the farm this weekend, riding bikes, i managed to crash the bike, taking a long slide off a short road! As a result, my knees have a lot less skin than they used to and i'm limping around, to some peoples amusement.
Hanolet and myself had to go drop off Mentorship training dates and times in Sharpeville and Ratanda. As we were leaving Edenvale Hanolet realised that she had left the documents behind! Luckily they were on her flash drive, so we got them all re-printed and started off to Ratanda a few minutes behind schedule, The guys at the internet cafe must make a killing! Charging us R2 per page when it costs them roughly 15c! Good business to go into! After quick stops in Ratanda and Sharpeville, where we were able to get some new profiles for intakes, we headed out into Evaton to meet up with a group of women from different buinesses who were interested in our programme, unfortunately, out of the twenty-odd profiles we wrote up only two so far are worth using! Many had a problem with english and others just had no real idea as to what business is! By the time we got home today i was tired gain, think i should start going to bed earlier!!

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Hey all!

Hope everyone had a relaxing long weekend! My time on the farm was great, today still felt like a monday though! Even an extended weekend still feels too short, one of my friends thinks that every weekend should include a Monday, i don't disagree! We headed out to Witbank to the '4 LIFE' water plant, i managed to get the information on the people working there and watched them at work, it really is an interesting process,bottling water! This past weekend at the farm, although relaxing, was exhausting! We had a great time though, offroad biking and grooming horses and such, one thing that can be said is that although the 'farmhands' don't earn as much as peope living closer to the cities, they are probably living better on account of being able to live off the land! the vegetables growing up there are amazing!! i made sure i got my share of chillies,jalapenos, tomatoes and butternut! Being able to sustain yourself and your family is a huge responsibility that all people live with, the entrepreneurs we have dealt with sometimes only earn R500 per month, yet they survive! it definately is a skill, being a survivalist!

From tomorrow i'll be working with Hanolet, She has been really busy recently, so ill get to catch up on whats happening with the mentorship intakes and any new interviews coming up!

Fri 19 March 2010

What a great day! Firstly, let me say thanks to our saviours, Redbull and good coffee!

We started out early this morning, arriving in Sharpeville just after six. Three people didn’t turn up for registration, at this point it’s really a matter of ‘your loss, not ours’ what else can we do?? Once we’d arrived at Maccauvlei and all our entrepreneurs had settled down, Hanolet gave the opening welcome speech, she was followed by a new Facilitator, Desia Block, who spoke about the importance of being dedicated and committed during this programme! Desia paved the way beautifully for Mondli, whose presentation and explanation of the contracts was received really well by the Sharpeville guys and girls, there was the inevitable stressed silence when he mentioned the liability section (if the intakes drop the course after signing they are liable for the money Maccauvlei has spent on them, roughly R16,000) but that was quickly explained and everyone could breathe again! Once again, guest speaker- Zodwa Maleka- blew the audience away with her stunning success story, exciting our learners and giving them a taste of things to come. Thank you to Maccauvlei, its facilitators and all the entities involved in helping this project take shape!

The day went along without a problem, the Sharpeville crowd seem a little more restless than the Ratanda intakes but just as eager! Only great things can come from this!

Thankfully this weekend is a long one, we are all feeling the need for a holiday by now, I’m sure! We’re at a farm for a few days, on the drive up we were caught in a hailstorm, awesome!

It’s like getting caught in a sudden, furious downpour of rain… gotta love it! I know I have been waiting for this weekend since Monday, enjoy it to the fullest and have a great one!

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Monday and Tuesday this week were pretty uneventful, i worked at the office touching up the site and editing the last profiles, however on Monday i recieved an e-mail saying that our press release was sent through to the paper, yay! thanks to Mondli and Hanolet for their attention to details! On friday this week Sharpeville start their course! really excited about that! Wonder if they'll be as motivated as last weeks intakes?! I worked from home today, lucky me! the new front page of our neosho119 website is worth a look! (http://www.neosho119.com/) and the intakes' profiles are completed, check it out! Otherwise today has been great (partly because i got to work from home..) i let my Bearded dragon out of its tank for a walk, which ended up in me trying to lure him out from under the fridge with a piece of apple and a broom-handle! Also, Happy st. patricks day! enjoy!

Friday 12 March 2010

Today was the first time I’d seen 4:00am in a long time!

By 5:00am myself and Hanolet were on the road to Ratanda, we arrived just after six O’clock, and waited for the intakes to arrive. Today is their day, they’ll start their training!

The guys and girls started arriving and everyone was excited to be there, the man in charge of the buses transporting the people to and from Maccauvlei was a guy called Sipho Radebe….And it’s actually Lucas Radebes Nephew! Pretty cool.

Once everyone was loaded and ready to go we left the buses behind and went to Maccauvlei, it’s not a long drive but we had time to wake up and wonder how good the coffee would be. Very good was the answer! The guys from Ratanda registered and got their ‘school books’ and could relax for an hour while everything was set up, coffee,tea and muffins went around. Myself, Hanolet and Mondli said hi to the various big shots from Anglo-Zimele, Nedbank and Maccauvlei. We were just as excited as the learners to be there!

Hanolet introduced everyone with the opening speech, which put everyone at ease as they all knew her, she spoke about the programme a little and likened it to ‘starting a fire’, something that could spread and grow quickly! Hanolet got them started, then introduced them to Mr. Nick Van Rensburg from Anglo-Zimele, a division of Anglo-American, who explained the origins of the programme and the collaboration between Nedbank and Anglo as well as the service providers Neosho 119 and Maccauvlei, he went on to congratulate the entrepreneurs for getting this far and told them that ‘as the best of the best’ they now have to show their dedication and wished them all luck in the months to follow. He received a huge round of applause (especially after mentioning how ready he is to assist them with loans, should they complete the course successfully).

The atmosphere was positive, big things have been set in motion!

A slideshow of my photographs played in the background ( a big ‘hooray’ moment for me) while Facilitator Amareza Buys spoke on business creation and the aspects of such, she took the learners through the modules they would receive training in and then it was none other than Mondli Guma who took the floor! Mondli, you should all know by now, has played a huge part in our work so far and he had the task of explaining the contracts to our entrepreneurs! I was worried that this would be lost on the guys and that a few might not sign the contracts due to the strict terms, but Mr. Guma handled it perfectly, explaining the agreements in layman’s terms and even getting a laugh out of the crowd.

People looked a little worried when he mentioned that if they sign and then drop the course mid way they would be liable for the money Maccauvlei had spent on each individual, I was worried that some might not sign, when it finally came down to it there were a few questions, but everyone signed! Relief!!

Next up, guest speaker Zodwa Maleka, a woman who received funding from Anglo to start her business, spoke to our guys, the perfect person to assure and inspire our learners! They had a lot of questions from her loan payments to book keeping! After that we broke for ten minutes for some fresh air and coffee, when we returned, Annie Baptiste, finance facilitator from Nedbank said a few words on what she would be doing for the entrepreneurs over their training period.

Another facilitator Noreen Mcpherson took the people through their study ‘bibles’. After the basic runthrough of their modules we broke for an hours lunch, where myself, Hanolet and Mondli took the opportunity to mingle with the guys and girls and find out how they thought things where going, everyone seemed really impressed and excited for the things to come. We then took some time to prepare a rough press release for Monday, making sure everyone was mentioned and all the details up to this point were included. The classes continued for a while longer and the buses eventually came to pick everyone up! Thanks were given, the sessions ended and plans were made for the following training sessions, a huge thank-you to everyone involved, ANGLO-ZIMELE,NEDBANK,MACCAUVLEI and all the people who took the time to make this such a success!!

Next week Sharpeville starts their training, and after seeing how great everything went today we can’t wait to see how their session goes!!

All in all it was the perfect end to a long week!

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Back into Heidelberg today for the meeting with 'Bra Kid' that we thought was yesterday!
The guys Nickname is Bra Kid, and i can't for the life of me remember his real name, so i'm just gonna stick with it.
Myself and Hanolet spoke to him about his current Co-op and his future business plans, he wants to open up a business selling chickens and related products (eggs etc) he suffered a stroke a while ago that left his left arm completely useless, pretty tragic to see, but he seems to be coping really well! One thing that put me off was the shop he opperates from, its in the middle of a taxi rank, like a small covered parking, flies and dirt and... just think 'unhygienic'.
I guess for these guys it's a matter of 'take what you can get', hopefully with our help a cleaner, healthier premises will be found. Once we'd taken all his and his partners' details, we headed out to Ratanda to find Daniel who wanted us to meet with some friends of his to explain everything.
The directions he gave us almost drove us insane. When, eventually, we found him he told us that our GPS must be broken, we where on the wrong road. Well, that settles it, our trusty GPS must be wrong, no argument. Right. We met the guys (and one woman) but they all seemed really shy! Hanolet had to virtually pry the information out of them, names, numbers, addresses, business ideas the works. These profiles usually take a few minutes per person, or at least per co-operative person. These took forever!! Picture yourself in a tiny room, with one window, seven people, 30 odd degrees outside and having to almost beg them to tell you what they do for a living. One by one.frustrating? you bet.
We eventually got out of there, only to get stuck in traffic on the way back to Edenvale, not cool. We spoke a bit about the up coming Ratanda induction at Maccauvlei this weekend
( i know i said it was next weekend, my bad) Friday is going to be a very,very long day.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Heidelberg. Or should we be in Sharpeville?
That was the argument of the morning, despite having our very own cell/organiser we had no idea what plans we had made for today! So we went with our gut feeling. Heidelberg it is.
Unfortunately...It was actually Sharpeville. Oh well.
We used the time in Heidelberg to call up a contact who wanted to meet with myself and Hanolet, to discuss our training programme.
The guys name is Wesley, a qualified Boiler maker turned Tattoo and Piercing artist, interesting right? We thought so! However, it turns oout that due to bad business ventures the poor guy is literally blacklisted by every South African bank. Ouch.
We met with him at a small coffee shop and went over all the details, telling him there's not much wecan do until he is in the clear, so it wasn't his lucky day, but some of the conversations we had were great, 18 year old schoolkids wanting their girlfriends names tattooed on their chests. Yeah, now that's smart. I guess if it doesn't turn out well you could always tell your next girlfriend that it was your favourite hamsters name......or not.
Once that was all done we headed through to Sharpeville to meet Mary and drop off an order of about 600 Vuvuzelas,
that wa quick and easy, apart from the fact that Hanolet sent me a message saying "bye, have a nice walk" when i was chatting to some of the Potters from the Old Police Station...i had to run to catch her, She said she wouldn't have left.... i wonder =)