December 14, 2023 – At the end of November, our CEO and founder Forest Whitaker led a mission to WPDI programs in Cape Town, South Africa, in what was his first visit to the country since the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the past six years, WPDI has been actively contributing to transform the communities of the townships in the Cape Flats, Cape Town. Our programs have been focused on helping them tackle entrenched violence, including gang violence or gender-based violence, through initiatives focused on youths and women, championing their roles as peacemakers in the framework of our Youth Peacemaker Network. We focus on empowering communities through education, vocational training, and Conflict Resolution. By prioritizing local involvement, we address the root causes of instability. With a strong emphasis on youth empowerment, mentorship, and skill-building, WPDI aims to break the cycle of violence and poverty, fostering sustainable change in this challenging urban landscape.
The local community was honored and delighted to welcome Forest Whitaker and WPDI Executive Director, Caroline Descombris, and they were met with raucous applause, singing and dancing as he arrived. On the first day of the visit, Forest met with a group of local WPDI Youth Peacemakers who have been trained by WPDI in Conflict Resolution, Entrepreneurship ICT, providing them with the tools to become agents of change in their communities.
They shared their experience working together with young people and members of the community, and talked to the CEO about the different Peacebuilding activities they have implemented in the Cape Flats and the challenges they are facing on a daily basis. They were also given the opportunity to participate in a leadership session with WPDI partner and Leadership and Success coach, Anand Chulani.
The following day, Forest Whitaker participated in a graduation ceremony at Ikamvalethu Secondary School in the Langa township. The event was part of the program on Conflict Resolution Education that we have been running in primary and secondary schools around the Cape Flats since 2019, training over 24,000 students and teachers across 89 schools, with support from our partners RCS Group and the Fondation BNP Paribas. During this graduation, 132 students from our program received their certificate and expressed their delight at the prospect of becoming the peacemakers of tomorrow, celebrating with music and dance. Regan Adams, CEO of RCS, delivered an inspiring speech about the potential of youth. The energy and positivity was palpable!
Forest then participated in a special ceremony for 751 graduates from our Women Livelihood Program in partnership with the L’Oréal Fund for Women, which included the presentation of seed grants to 42 winners of our Business Plan Competition. At WPDI, we are convinced that women have real potential to be drivers of peace and economic development, which is why our educational initiatives aim to offer much-needed skills development training and education to women from communities that experience high levels of violence, crime and poverty.
During the ceremony, Forest Whitaker remarked: “You are all striving so hard to change your futures — futures that will flourish as you become not just economic entrepreneurs, but also social entrepreneurs, inspiring those around you to make new choices and fundamentally change how they choose to live their lives. Your determination to succeed has moved us week after week. So as I witness 750 of you graduate today, and as we celebrate the 42 business projects we’ve selected for incubation, please recognize your enormous potential, and think about how you’ll walk through this gateway to a brighter future.”
The event was attended by Celeste Tema, Sustainability Lead for L’Oreal Sub-Saharan Africa, who grew up herself in the Cape Flats. She encouraged women to believe in themselves, stating: “As someone who grew up not far from here, I can attest to the transformative power of education. I grew up in the Cape Flats, so I know what it’s like and I know what it takes!”
You can read more about this event here.
Following this event, we also organized a fair with the 42 winners of last year’s Business Plan Competition, giving our CEO the opportunity to meet and chat with a fantastic group of entrepreneurs whose small businesses are helping to create economic stability within their communities.
Next, our CEO participated in the unveiling of a brand new basketball court at Cornflower Sports Grounds in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa that will host our year-round youth basketball development programs and serve the broader Athlone community, in partnership with NBA Africa, who was represented at the event by CEO Victor Williams. The aim is to create a platform for local youths to express themselves through sports, creating community cohesion and a framework for the development of key social values that will lead to sustainable peace. You can read more about this event here.
On the final day of the visit, Forest paid a visit to Lavender Hill Primary School, where two WPDI Youth Peacemakers deliver Conflict Resolution Education training sessions to students and teachers. The feedback from the teachers was very inspiring, testifying to the richness and potential of the program to foster the emergence of a culture of peace at school.
Our CEO and our team then participated in a graduation ceremony for 200 youths who took part in WPDI Business and Entrepreneurship and Conflict Resolution Education programs in partnership with the City of Cape Town,, which was represented at the ceremony by its Deputy Mayor, Eddie Andrews. The positive energy in the room was amazing! We are really grateful to the City of Cape Town for this joint program and their continuous support for many years.
Lastly, Forest Whitaker visited an RCS call center in Goodwood, 4 years after his first visit there. RCS is a very important partner for WPDI in South Africa, and has been helping drive social transformation by supporting our vocational educational programs aimed at underprivileged communities in the area. Our CEO received a very warm welcome from the call center employees! “I want to express my special gratitude to you for the passion you have brought to support our work since its earliest days. Without your dedication to the people of Cape Town, WPDI would not have been able to achieve our goals here so beautifully,” he said.
This visit was a fantastic opportunity for our CEO to meet the wonderful beneficiaries of our programs, our fantastic team of Youth Peacemakers who are driving change in their communities, and the most inspiring groups of women who have shown their determination and perseverance to succeed in creating opportunities for income generation for themselves and their families, ultimately driving sustainable, positive transformation.
In partnership with
