Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime'.
Lao Tzu

With this philosophy as a foundation, we seek to build long-term solutions rather than short-term cover-ups.

A few years ago when the ‘we’ were still just an ‘I’, I started engaging with the homeless addicts and alcoholics on the streets of Cape Town.
The problem in this specific demographic is much bigger than just a financial one, or a matter of bad habits, poor self-will or lack of ambition.

Being in recovery, I find myself in a unique and blessed position where I have experienced both the dark and the light.
I have had the life of an unwanted member of society, a man dependant on substances adding no value to the stream of life. A liability.
Then I was given a life in the light, where I could become an independent man with a family, a job and have purpose. An asset.
In short, I have lived both the problem and the solution. With empathy and understanding I have come to understand how my previously shameful experiences and my new found blessings can help others.

Having worked hard for what I have, I understand that the fruits of my labour often equates to more than just money, gaining also self-esteem, respect and confidence. These are attributes you do not find in a soul with his hands out at a traffic light.

Working a 12-step program to achieve and maintain sobriety, taught me the understanding of self and others I needed. That guy standing there begging for money to buy drugs or alcohol did not wake up one fine morning and decide that this will be his life, choosing it over cars, houses, money and family. The path that leads us to this darkness is riddled with many factors: circumstances, mental conditions, poor choices, powerlessness over addictions, ad infinitum.

Looking at this social challenge with empathy, understanding and creative problem-solving spurred me into action. By coincidence the ‘I’ became ‘we’ when a friend of years passed left his darkness, embarked on his journey into the light and joined me on my farm on the West Coast.
Some time later my engagement with homeless drunks and addicts on the streets of Cape Town paid off and another man, marred by many years on the streets, agreed to sacrifice the known for the unknown. From the outside this seems like an easy choice, but for the soul within, not. Logic and reason has abandoned you long ago. Survival looks different to different folks.
It was at this point that we realised how uniquely situated we are on the farm two hours out of Cape Town to change more lives.
We can bring them here, we can feed them, remove them from their substances and show them how to live a better life. We can set them on a journey of recovery and teach them how to fish.

Among those afflicted with addiction and even more so with those standing at the traffic lights with their hands cupped, exists a sense of entitlement unfounded. This belief that others need to do for us what we choose not to do for ourselves keeps us captivated in our struggles and prevents us from seeing the solutions we can become a part of.

This philosophy of ‘not doing for others what they can do for themselves’ is the cornerstone of the approach we adopted. We choose to give a hand up, and not to hand out. This also reflects in the nature of the initiative taking shape around us. We are not registered as a non-profit. We are not asking for hand-outs, we are simply asking for support - in the form of our online-store.

What we have here is a skill-centre. West Coast Skill Centre. We work and recover together. We teach each other the skills we have learned to do these things, how to be better men and how to live self-sustaining lives and not be beggars and thieves.
We do this with the help of a power greater than ourselves, with help we give each other and the help the world gives us when we offer our goods up for sale.

The concept we have, proved itself in the lives of those who remains sober, but not without it’s challenges.

Not everyone can make the changes required without professional assistance - this costs money.
Not everyone on the streets fitting our criteria can be afforded this opportunity - changing lives comes at a financial cost.
The market out there is competitive - we are still learning to walk, the market is running ahead of us in the distance.

Yet, we still do not ask for hand-outs.

We endeavour to fill our online-store with unique goodies which you would want, which you are willing to pay for with money that we have then earned. This way we become self-sustaining. This way we can then help others.
Please help us to help others.