I Am Somebody! goes to Cradock with My Arms Wide Open

August has been a month of much excitement for us. We had our first official job and we are in the process of establising partnerships with a corporate company in Cape Town to work with their staff and a school in the city centre to work with their learners and teachers.
From Monday August 9 to Friday August 20, I Am Somebody! was in Cradock, working in partnership with My Arms Wide Open. The My Arms Wide Open Foundation's purpose is to work with Mothers, Children and Young Adults to enable them to break the chain and cycle of their parents past prejudice, to create community and preserve their culture while learning to think and make decision for themselves.
We spent one week working with 18 people to start that process. Click to read more about Day 1 in Cradock.
For us, Cradock was a humbling experience. We were touched by everyone's openness, willingness and their honesty to participate in what we were doing. People relished the chance to paint their River of Life, and then share their lif stories with the group. We were reminded of just how powerful telling your own story in order to own it, really is. We watched people's faces open up as the week progressed, we watched their voices grow louder and clear as they grew proud of who they are. But more than this, we were touched by the human capacity to love and to go on despite life's struggles. This is what realising that we are all somebody is all about.

Why we started I Am Somebody!

In February this year, Nicole le Roux and Toni Stuart, met Warren Te Brugge of My Arms Wide Open, which aims to help young social entrepreneurs start the work they want to do in South Africa. He spoke to Nicole and Toni about why they started I Am Somebody! and why this work is important to each of them personally. Visit the My Arms Wide Open blog here http://www.manzimvula.com/blog/2010/04/18/yes-i-am-somebody-communicating-your-heart/ to watch clips of the interviews.

I Am Somebody! takes off

After nine months of developing our programme and planning, I Am Somebody! went fulltime from July 1. Already we have establishd partnerships with a corporate company in Cape Town - we will be running a mentorship programme with their 18 to 25-year-old staff in exchange for use of their conference facility. In August we are partnering with My Arms Wide Open http://myarmswideopen.org/ to deliver training to 21 social entrepreneurs in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. In September, we are working with another Cape Town-based non-profit to bring storytelling into a photography project they are doing with high school students. We are also in discussion with Real Stories Gallery http://www.realstoriesgallery.com about partnering with them on their work around HIV/Aids awareness. We're excited to finally be starting the work!