On Yesterday and Tomorrow

January 12th, 2009 Stephen Satterfield Posted in ISAW EVENTS |

If you read the preceding posting about a commitment to write on a weekly basis..well, shame on me. In fact, I’ve had a great deal of trouble finding our login information and history with wordpress. It was if the blog disappeared from my section of cyberspace, along with the ability to say or share anything. So, in spite of the new year, I will NOT make any bold declarations about the frequency of our blog postings, I’ll only say that we will improve upon our measly track record to date. Now, on to the business of ISAW.

Foremost, it must be said that our Foundation is celebrating our first year. We were officially incorporated on February 5, 2008 and have been working feverishly for a year now. Some things we learned in our first real entrepreneurial endevour:

1. A Non-Profit is an entrepreneurial endevour

2. Asking for money in an economic recession causes sleepless nights

3. The wines that we promote are quite good

4. Things never move as quickly as you like, but a lot can be accomplished in a year

With these lessons in mind, we forge on to a second year as a wiser and more nimble organization. We recognize the challenges that lie ahead for South Africa and our country, and pray for each of our nations leaders, elected officials, and citizens.

For us, it brings to the forefront the issue of sustainability that we’ve emphasized in our vision for Africa. We now see sustainability must be applied in our own model in order to make change in Africa. Which leads to my second numbered list of ruminations, what you-the ISAW supporter-can look forward to in 2009.

The real Seven Sisters, a mainstay at all of our events this year

1. An ISAW membership (by popular demand) in which bottles may be shipped to you

2. Expanding domestic markets- we’ll focus on major domestic markets to get our wines and message out

3. More wine! As much as we love the wines we currently work with, we’re just as excited about the ones that we’ll soon be promoting.

4. Progress in Africa. Look for our first major investment in infrastructure, training and developmental programming

Thanks for reading, and thank you for supporting ISAW during our first year. We look forward to sharing our vision and success this year, and in years to come. Happy New Year!

ISAW Co-Founder PJ Bullock and Ambassador Lauren Jarvis. Couldn’t have done ‘08 without either.