South Africa

The First Thirty  tells the story of a person's efforts to make a difference in the world outside his window and the first thirty lessons learned along the way.  The book was honored as NSDLC 2007 Multicultural Relations Book of the Year.   

Warriors Reaching Out is a U.S.-based stewardship program providing students with volunteerism opportunities around the globe.

The WRO program attendees included high school and college students, some parents, some teachers and some school administrators. In all, there were about 35 people in the program.

In the spring of 2008, WRO selected The First Thirty as the Readers Choice book for the trip to South Africa - ordering copies for the attendees.

Subsequently, WRO booked Greg to go to Cape Town, South Africa with them and serve as 'Scholar-in-Residence' for the program.

In advance of the trip, Greg made a list of goals he wanted to accomplish in Africa and on the trips there and back. Three of the goals were: (1) Listen more than I talk, learn more than I teach, (2) Sleep as little as reasonably possible and make the most of every single waking minute, (3) Remember that the unexpected meetings can be just as meaningful as the planned ones

In advance of the trip, Greg did his best to acclimate himself to South Africa, its history and its culture. This included: reading Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mandela's autobiography), attending a WRO fundraiser in support of their trip, attending a concert by South African musician Vusi Mahlasela (left), co-hosting two dinners for 30-40 people each (along with a friend from South Africa), attending two Freedom Day Celebrations - including one hosted by the Consul General of South Africa, speaking and signing books at a South Africa Alive event in the United States, attending two private dinners at the home of a South African family in the US, visiting with a former Fulbright Scholar in South Africa who now lives in the USA, corresponding by email with people currently living in South Africa - and (of course), making a few international calls to South Africa to determine the best place for milkshakes.

WRO spent much of its time in South Africa's townships - interacting with (and learning from) students and staff who live and/or work there.   The interactions ranged from an art activity to playing sports (left) to singing to simply sitting around and sharing stories about their respective life experiences.

As part of the program, Greg was asked to speak on a number of occasions - once to the WRO program members and then, twice to audiences of African students and staff (photo to the left: a view from the podium before one of the speeches).

Separately, while in Cape Town, he delivered the 2008 Legacy Lecture at the South African Jewish Museum.   His address was entitled "The World Outside Our Window."

The lead sponsor for the SAJM event was SA-based King James Group.   Founded by Alistair King (featured at left, with his wife Tab) and James Barty, King James Group is an advertising and communication group now made up of six companies. 

My Sleepless Nights is a collection of Greg's pencil-based portraits of contemporary, historical and cinematic figures who inspire others to think, act, serve, give and lead.

A major part of Greg's trip involved, simply, listening. So, in addition to giving speeches, he also had the chance to attend talks given by others - including a Sunday service at Langa Methodist Church and (left) a presentation on HIV/AIDS-related work by representatives of the GOLD Program

Throughout the trip, Greg coordinated the implementation of The First Thirty Elevator Project Africa.

To learn more about the origins of The First Thirty Elevator Project, please see www.TheFirstThirty.com, click Elevator Project

For the Africa edition of the Project...in advance of Greg's trip, people and companies throughout North America (like a division of Jamba Juice) collectively ordered nearly 125 copies of the book to be given out to people in Africa and those met along the way.

The implementation of The First Thirty Elevator Project Africa took part in two phases:

Phase 1 - WRO Members were each given one copy to give out to someone who crossed their path in Africa.

Phase 2 - Greg personally gave out the rest to people who crossed his path during the trip to Africa.

Through this two-phased process, copies of The First Thirty were given to people of all ages, races, cultures, careers and backgrounds throughout South Africa.

Feedback started coming in from readers shortly thereafter. Here is a sample:

Before going to Africa, Greg accepted an offer to write an article for a UCLA Magazine about a program involving University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business. As a result, during his time in South Africa, he met with and interviewed a number of students and faculty affiliated with the program. For more: www.GregForbes.com, click Enter Website, click Writing

On some nights, Greg ate dinner with members of the WRO program. One memorable dinner took place at MOYO at Spier Estate (left).

On some nights, Greg would go out on his own and have impromptu group dinners - bringing tables of complete strangers together.

The other nights during his stay in South Africa, Greg coordinated a series of dinners for complete strangers of different races, cultures and backgrounds.

Those invited to the dinners were people Greg met during his trip to Africa (and, in turn, they were encouraged to bring a friend).

Alex, Cape Town Physicist blog : "...there were probably 25-30 people who showed up for the dinner I went to, and no one knew anyone else, including Greg - he'd met them all within the past 3 days....It was a great deal of fun, everyone was really nice, everyone was very respectful and kind. The amazing thing was the unity and comfortableness that people felt..."

Over the past 12 years, Greg has hosted and/or co-hosted nearly 300 similar brunches and dinners around North America - with groups ranging in size from 5 to nearly 500. For more, see www.ShakingUpAmerica.com

Throughout the trip, one constant was music. Greg had the chance to attend an extensive number of performances by the (incredible!) Mosaic Ensemble. The group performed in front of hundreds of students and adults at schools, community centers and churches throughout South Africa.

The group received ovation after ovation for their performances. The fact that they had taken the time to learn African songs was particularly appreciated and well-received by those in attendance (who almost always joined in and sang with them).

Greg had the chance to hear and see songs performed by some (inspiring!) African students on a number of occasions as well.

He also had the opportunity to see performances by local African musicians.

Greg was scheduled to head home after eight days, and he did pack his bags, and he did check out of the hotel where he was staying -- all with the plan of heading home. But he was having so much fun that, instead of getting in the shuttle that was to take him to the airport...he decided to take his bags, go for a walk...and stay in Africa.

He ended up checking in at another hotel - Breakwater Lodge -- which he came across during his walk.

Thanks to the folks at Breakwater Lodge for taking in a guest right off the sidewalk -- and for the great service! (And thanks to my friends at the first hotel for the incredible service, too!)

He was then subsequently asked to appear at the Cape Town Book Fair (which started the next day) to sign copies of The First Thirty.

The Cape Town Book Fair has 50,000 people come through its doors over a 4 day period

At the CTBF, Greg was situated next to the booth for Hay House - which is run by an (extremely) nice group of people who are heavily committed to giving back to the community as well.   Specifically, they indicate that they give 100% of their profits to NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity) and to date, have given more than 3.5 million Rand (about half a million US dollars) to help the children of South Africa.  For more on Hay House, visit www.hayhouse.co.za   -  For more on NOAH, visit www.noahorphans.org.za

In turn, Greg decided a portion of the proceeds from sales of The First Thirty at the Fair would benefit an NGO as well -- Feedback Food Redistribution Group

If you live in South Africa, there are a limited number of signed copies of The First Thirty available there. To inquire about ordering one of them, email Books@IdeaListEnterprises.com

In between all the official functions on schedule, Greg had the chance to see and experience places like Cape Town Holocaust Centre (left), Iziko Museum, and District Six.

Such locations, like Robben Island (left), offer extraordinary snapshots of the many sides to South African life and history.

At night, Greg did his best to blend into 'local life' - spending time with some of the people his age who he met in South Africa, taking part in their 'every day life'. This included: attending a housewarming party (left), going for milkshakes at Royale Eatery on Long Street, going grocery shopping, driving a car, visiting Kalk Bay, watching a rugby game (South Africa v Wales), and hanging out at bars and clubs like Carlysle's, Stone's, and Cabana's.

One of the most meaningful parts of Greg's trip was the chance to have frank conversations with people from halfway around the world. They discussed the same things you might discuss with friends back home: race, culture, relationships, politics, and careers. The difference is that the topics were discussed with people who had much different perspectives because they had grown up in a much different part of the world. Some of these conversations went on for hours, late into the night

As part of his goal to use every waking minute during the trip, Greg also took part in a variety of activities and games. They included: soccer, basketball, football, Scrabble (won every time), pool (lost every time), '30 Seconds', rock-paper-scissor tournament, lifting weights, pre-dawn jogging...and stepping into a contraption that sends people sixty feet into the sky.

A major metropolis with corporate offices, homes, shops and restaurants, Cape Town also has a mix of mountains, water and animals. On his trip, Greg had a chance to go on a drive up Table Mountain at night, spend time by the waterfront, and see a variety of animals up close including penguins, cows, birds, fish, seals and crocodiles (like the one he and some friends are petting in this picture).

Throughout the trip, Greg took more than 600 pictures (and video footage to boot), all thanks to a (very highly recommended!) Olympus FE-340 (8.0 megapixel) digital camera and one single 2 Gig memory card. The camera was extremely easy to use and allowed for some great pictures of the people, places and things which crossed his path. The battery was always reliable. All Greg had to do was charge the battery each night, and it lasted without fail each and every day. Here's one of his favorite 'big' pictures from the trip - taken with an Olympus digital camera so small that it (literally) fits in your pocket.

En route to South Africa, Greg (and the rest of the WRO group) took three different plane rides. The long journey proved to be a chance to get to know each other (and others) better.

Greg flew back home on his own - five plane rides with stops including Washington D.C., New York, Senegal and Johannesburg. The long ride home proved to be another chance to meet all kinds of interesting people -- including a security expert from Kenya, a student from Delaware, a CEO from South Africa, a Naval officer from Illinois, a lawyer from Virginia, a dancer from New York, and a librarian from Indiana, to name a few.

(Good luck guessing which one this is -- never judge a book by its cover) :)

The long trip home - five plane rides in all - not only introduced Greg to some great people. It also led him to a great store. During one of the flights home, one of his bags ripped open.   In need of a new bag, he browsed some of the stores in the airport.  He chose to go with a bag from Brookstone.  The bag (shown here, over his shoulder) was reasonably priced and proved to be the perfect solution. He now uses the bag regularly.  No surprise there. Brookstone has all kinds of great products to address all kinds of needs and interests. 

For more on Brookstone and its latest products, go to www.Brookstone.com

The plane rides were just one of many places where Greg had a chance to cross paths with kind and interesting people. He also met them in cars, boats (left), restaurants, the gym, elevators, and sometimes, just walking down the street

Sometimes, the people who open the door (right, in photo) are just as fascinating as anyone you might meet on the other side of it.

As always, above and beyond the dinners, one of Greg's favorite things to do is to 'connect the dots' between the people he met.

Throughout the trip and since, we received all kinds of wonderful e-mails with feedback on Greg's efforts as Scholar-in-Residence, his speeches, his art, the book and/or the dinners he hosted. 

Here is a small sample:

Yasien Mohamed, Robben Island Museum (and former Secretary, Pan-African Congress): "[The First Thirty] is an extremely interesting book...especially how a young boy had the guts to break away from the norm...At the moment, my sister is reading it. This is after my two younger children read it...If only we can have The First Thirty to be prescibed as a compulsory reading matter for [every] 12 year old in this...young democracy of ours, it will make a world of difference..."

Verity,  recording artist in South Africa: "...When I finished The First Thirty, the first thing I did was go out and have a vanilla milkshake and a toasted sandwich! Greg's story and vision are incredible. Very few people have the ability to cross divides and unite people and celebrate difference together. It is wonderful that who he is naturally allows that to happen, and sharing dinner with him and everyone he had brought together was quite an experience in a country where we tend to stick to our safe little boxes of who and what we know...may he continue to uplift thousands as he goes."

== The article Greg wrote for UCLA Magazine about the program in Cape Town came out a few weeks after he returned.  To read it, click here

www.GregForbes.com  - primary

To...Jim Schmid, Joy Ross & WVHS; WRO members in general and Mosaic Ensemble in particular; Olympus; MicroCenter; Shea and South African Jewish Museum; Alistair and King James Group; Vanessa & Cape Town Book Fair, Jenny & Claire and HWB Communications; Janice & Hay House; the incredibly kind staffs at places like Breakwater Lodge, Quay Four, Spur and the staff at the first hotel where I stayed; the Cramer and Perkel families; Andy & Andrea; Michael; Dave Westbrook; Darren & Achmat; Jamba Juice; Fifth Third Bank;  Brookstone; Jason & Claire; Alex, Fausia, Molly, Dev and Angela; Katrina; Jack & Theresa; Megham; Kristin; Richard; Nomfundo & Nokuzola, Bari and Susie; Rachel, Monica & everyone else who supported The First Thirty Elevator Project Africa; and everyone else who crossed my path in South Africa (and the long walks to and from)