As hundreds of minibus taxis keep reminding us, when days are dark, friends are few. And for anyone following the news flow, it’s pretty gloomy right now.
So, hopefully two podcasts from my visit to Cape Town last week will balance the scales. They feature an extraordinary couple, David and Ursel Barnes, who are doing as much to support the South African recovery as anyone you’re likely to meet.
David is best known as the low-profile co-founder of Coronation, one of SA’s major financial institutions. But as he shares in this podcast, he is also a brain cancer survivor – an experience which catalysed the creation of Africa’s first Neuroscience Institute, housed at his alma mater, the University of Cape Town.
Ursel, a PhD in finance from Berlin who sold a successful hedge fund and retired early to Cape Town, is the co-founder of the extraordinary Yabonga. Started in 1998, it provides a safe house and path to normality for HIV-affected children, today looking after 1,200 of them. Another hugely inspirational podcast, which you’ll find by clicking here. Once you’ve had a listen, maybe you’ll agree it’s not so dark after all?
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