Nutrition and training … so much needed … and to give hope for 2 Euro a month – share your hope with those less fortune – what could be more rewarding…?
We need your help to support our “𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄” project! Donate now to support families in Delft, Cape Town and to finance training within the project. Your donation can make a big difference and contribute to improve the lives of many in need. We believe in the power of community and the change we can make together. Thank you for your support.
Dear Members, Partners, Supporters and Friends of HOPE Cape Town,
…the countdown has begun!
Ticket sales for our 21st Ball of HOPE on Saturday, 6th May 2023 at The Westin Cape Town are now open.
Under the motto “Keep Rocking for HOPE”, this highlight on Cape Town’s annual event calendar promises to be an evening of excellent food, rocking entertainment and great company.
However, it is more than just a fantastic evening – it is a wonderful opportunity to support the important work of HOPE Cape Town!
Please reserve your seat/table as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
The WESTIN Cape Town has granted our guests reduced room rates at R2300 (per single or double room, incl. breakfast) for the occasion.
For room reservations please contact Leigh-Ann Lyons/The WESTIN directly by e-mail Leigh-ann.Lyons@westin.com
We look forward to welcoming you to the Ball of HOPE 2023!
Yours sincerely,
On behalf of the organisers:
Rev Fr Stefan Hippler Anja Tambusso Ferraz
HOPE Cape Town SA- German Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Indeed, there is much joy in the hearts of those organizing the Ball of HOPE for the 20th time. After 2 years of cancellations due to Covid-19 it looks good for the 21st of May 2022 at the Westin Hotel by Marriott in Cape Town.
20 years Ball of HOPE, the end of the 20 years anniversary year of the organisation itself and the better late than never celebration of 20 years of the local office of the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Ball of HOPE developed out of a dinner-dance established in 1998 at the Mount Nelson and organised by the German-speaking Catholic Community in Cape Town. The first guest of honour was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He also introduced the culture of letting culinary chefs be in pain keeping the main course hot and tasty, while speeches are indeed longer than anticipated.
The first guest of honour: Archbishop Desmond Tutu
With the opening of the local office of the AHK in Cape Town, the dinner-dance became the “Ball of HOPE” in cooperation between the newly founded organisation HOPE Cape Town and the Chamber of Commerce. In 2003 the Westin was inaugurated, and the event moved from the Mount Nelson Hotel to the then newly established Arabella Hotel at the Foreshore in Cape Town, which today is the Westin by Marriott.
Opening and blessing of the new Westin Hotel
During the following years, the Ball of HOPE became a fixture in the social calendar of Cape Town, and attracted also visitors from Europe to come and join this prestigious event.
So, yes, we are full of joy to invite all of you to the 20th Ball of HOPE – please come, register and join us in this celebration of service, of commitment and of a partnership between business and development, which changes the lives of people for the better in the last more than 20 years.
A new and fresh year has started – and while the world as such is still in combat mood regarding Covid-19 admittedly in different stages and variations around the world, also other challenges have not changed because a new yearly chapter has been opened.
Building a holistic campus like “The Nex – Indawo Yethu” in such times was and is a challenge in itself; looking at how South Africa is perceived by many currently adds to the woes. Besides all praise for doing what HOPE Cape Town is doing in the various townships of Cape Town in the last 20 years, there are a lot of nagging questions we face on an ongoing base:
How can you build in a notorious violent township, a place nobody wants to go? How can you dare to think, that you can change a place riddled with desperation? And more general questions and statements:
South Africa is doomed – how can you invest time and energy in a lost cause? Are you not dreaming of a pie in the sky – believing in values while corruption, cadre deployment, empty promises and betrayal of “our people” governs daily life in South Africa?
Yes, maybe I am a dreamer; maybe HOPE Cape Town is taking on more than it can handle. Maybe I have too much confidence in our partners and their ability to walk the talk and to show the world, that change – positive change – is possible.
But in my view, this is the only way to get out of the doomsday vision and the self-fulfilling prophecies of decline and retrogression. Believing in people, in partnerships, and trusting in the ability of people to join and work together towards a better future is what creates positive development. And this is not only a humanistic or religious motion.
Africa will be soon to have the youngest population in the world and with it one of the biggest markets and opportunities. South Africa remains the gateway for quite a part of it. The whole environmental questions currently discussed are a challenge for African countries, but if done right, they will be on the forefront of a new reality which is not determined by Covid-19, but ambience needs bringing humanity in line and in tune with the preservation of environment simply for survival of human mankind.
South Africa is not doomed but deserves every effort for upliftment. The world, being currently in discussions and battles of all sorts and manners about the history of colonisation, racism, male dominance and asking critical questions about how the world economics is run and dominated warrants much more patience and determination to get it right. South Africa has still the possibility to become again a beacon of hope for the world, showing how diversity can be an asset and how the own history can be a teacher for future generations.
“The Nex – Indawo Yethu”, the holistic campus in Delft and the work of HOPE Cape Town in general will continue to contribute to this vision of a better world and a decent future for South Africa and the people living in it. It understands itself to be one little building block – offering to partner with whoever is walking the same talk – dreaming big and walking little realistic baby steps at the same time.
And coming back to the question of how to pull through with the project?
I don’t know – HOPE Cape Town walking with the local people and not having all answers means the adventure of development, based on trust and the confidence, that doors will open at the right time, people will join at the right time and that together we will – despite all bumpers and rollercoasters on the way – succeed in creating a better future for all.
That does not mean that there are no plans and strategies, that there are no aspirations and wishes, but not prescribing a way but discerning a way together with those living in Delft – a participatory process – means no fixed road to walk but landmarks on the way. Agility would be the word in the business world used.
Despite what we read in the newspapers and on social media every day – the majority of people – also in a township of Delft and in South Africa – are prepared to work for the common good. And that willingness, together with all the partners joining, should be enough to pull it through.
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 