By Alec Hogg
Last week was among my busiest with two conferences and three formal dinners. It overflowed with fascinating people and delivered memorable moments. Topping them was Yabonga’s annual London Fundraiser where I had the good fortune to be seated next to a Cape inspiration.
Ulpha Robertson is a former teacher who teamed up with Ursel Barnes 20 years ago to create this extraordinary organisation. They were motivated by nothing other than wanting to help society’s most vulnerable. Today, through stipends and other support to 42 carefully selected home mothers, their brainchild provides a haven and sustenance to over 1,000 Aids-impacted Cape kids.
She referred in passing to a divorce settlement invested into a farm, primarily to provide an annual holiday for the Yabonga kids. Every weekend a different house mother and her 25 charges come to visit this little Garden of Eden. An insider told me that in the two decades Ulpha has not drawn a salary nor sought to recover any costs from Yabonga, There’s a special place for her upstairs.
