We all love the chainsaw. Since we’ve got the kids’ STIHL it’s even better to watch.

Safety first!

Our important news for the upcoming year and our future: Gary Wagenheim, our Village Project Director has left the MylifE Village in Hogsback. After his outstanding work for a better future for the youth of South Africa and his preparation of the first MylifE Village in the Eastern Cape he made the decision to go back to Cape Town and to focus on his studies.

The MylifE Team thanks Gary for his dedication and great work over the last 2 years for which we are all deeply grateful. He always gave us strength, hope and plenty of ideas on our way. We miss you Gary and wish you everything of the best for your future!

Thank you, Gary!

A big thank you to WE THE GOOD PEOPLE who just published our Wishlist http://www.wethegoodpeople.org/mylife-wishlist.

If you also wanna do good and still search for the right christmas present for us – here they are (highly recommended)!

Every support is a huge help and a big step closer to the first perfect Mylife Eco Village.

For donations please follow this link: http://www.mylife.org.za/blog/get-involved-2/donate-online-2/donate-online/

An article by our new team member Ophir Katz who just joined our Village in Hogsback for the next couple of weeks.

Happylanding in Hogsback

A week has passed since I got here to my life village and its time to try and put some pen to paper, or some tiny bulbs on a screen to make it look like ink at least.  I was asked to introduce myself but I was never good in introducing myself, and honestly I can’t see who would care to hear. So instead I can write about how I got to be part of the my life foundation. The randomness of it is only too fitting. I came to Capetown for a semester at UCT. While I was there, I took a week off and travelled with my sisters along the eastern cape. Hogsback was never even in the plan, but after hearing so many good things we figured there is no way we can miss it. While we were in Hogsback my sisters really wanted to go on a horseback riding. And that is where I met mike and Linzi for the first time. As Mike was prepping the horses, Linzi, who is the Herzel of MylifE, started chatting with us about who MylifE is and what they are doing. I remember enjoying the conversation, I remember how much of what she said resonated with me; the treatment of street youth, the labelling of them and what are the consequences of such labelling on their life.  Then she got to the cherry on the cake, the MylifE village. She explained to me roughly what they were doing there, and that they are starting an eco-village in order to empower people and help those who wish to harness land use for their own good and the improvement of their community. That’s when I know that I must be a part of this. How, when and where was yet to be determined, nevertheless I know, that this is where I need to be now. So after a fun ride through the forest I promised to return. A few months later I did. I finished my semester at UCT and now it was time to do what I came here to do, learn! And learning in the best way possible, through doing. Because to me, this is one of the things the MylifE village is able to give, experience. So, two months after that first contact, I arrived back to the magical Hogsback forest.  As I was making my way to 9 Plaaitjieskraal Road (which I don’t think I would ever be able to pronounce) I stopped to ask for direction. The woman in the Bucky didn’t know anything about 9 Plaaitjieskraal Road, and seemed puzzled at my use of numbers. But when I mentioned the MylifE foundation, she immediately replied “ ohh yes,  its right around the curve. You will see it’s the one with the flag and the open gate”. And there it was, the MylifE village. The place I will be calling home for the near future and it was absolutely amazing. It was all that I was expecting and more. The veggie gardens growing in the front of the house, the endless forest that stretches across the mountains, the hidden waterfall  and the wonderful people who came out to welcome me in, all come together to create a warm, homing experience.

This is how I got to MylifE. How will this destiny manifest itself I have yet to find out. What I do know is that, it has been a week and I am as happy as I’ve been in a while. I wake up every morning to fresh mountain air (and so far heavy rain) and smiling faces and I don’t know what more can a person asks for. As timing has it, I arrived when most of the people were gone. Garry was here the first two days and gave me a quick run-through on the property and what is the physical vision of the village. Now it is Leonie, Linzi, X, Amier and myself. And of course there is the constant flow of children who come by to roam around the property and even help a bit when they feel like it. During this week I have had the chance to plant, build, read and enjoy myself. I got a chance to sit and read with a crazy little girl and the endless chats into the night have helped me learn more about what MylifE is and what is the social, and metaphysical vision of the project. The MylifE foundation may have opened its doors to youth of the area, but this lost boy has found his way in as well.

Marlon Stoltzman, international photographer and model scout, has been a friend and Ambassador of MylifE for many years. He has “quietly” made sure that both Linzi and MylifE never have to struggle when they have unexpected costs hit them. A big part of our family in Hogsback is our dog OJ, there was huge devastation when OJ got biliary and we had no money to get him back on his feet. It is always one phone call to Marlon and the stress is relieved, the Big Bay Vetinary bill of  R2500 was covered, and our dogs life was saved.

Thank you Marlon, always …