Tuesday 14 January 2014

Let's Chat Tuesday: Greg Keal from Rise Up


Today on Let's Chat Tuesday, we're featuring Greg Keal, co-founder of the youth movement, Rise Up in South Africa.... AKA - my little brother!! 



Question 1: Tell us a bit about you, your NGO and what you do?
I am Gregory Keal, a normal 18-year-old boy that has had enough of the inequality, lack of provision of services and the many violations of the basic human rights promised to us by the Bill of Rights in our constitution. This led me and a friend, Tannagh Pfotenhauer, who shared the same views to start our youth movement "RiseUp" which aims to unite the youth of South Africa and to get them to collectively protest and petition against human rights violations in South Africa and to get involved in community work in order to set the example and to show that we are doing our part in shaping a better South Africa. 

Question 2: What 3 words best describe your NGO?
Dynamic, Caring and non-judgmental.

Question 3: How long has your NGO been running for?
Although we were only officially registered on the 13 December 2013, we have been running our projects, protests and cementing all our documentation since February 2013 - launching our website, Facebook page and Twitter handle in May 2013. 

Question 4: What motivated you to start this project?
As I said above, seeing the inequality, lack of provision of services and the many violations of the basic human rights motivated us to be the change we want to see in South Africa - rather than relying on the older generation that seemed to be doing very little to make changes. We wanted to show that collectively the youth have got power and can change the way our citizens are treated.

Question 5: What do you consider your NGO’s greatest strength to be?
I think our greatest strength is our power in numbers, and the enthusiasm and willingness of the youth in order to create a better South Africa. 

Question 6: How does one get involved?
Anyone under the age of 25 (including you) can join as a member - which just means that you will receive our weekly/monthly email and be notified about any events that we are having. You are able to decide whether you want to get involved or not. 

If you would like to volunteer for RiseUp on either a temporary basis in your area (help with community projects) or if you would like to have a permanent position - which would require between 3 - 5 hours work per week - then you can go onto our website and see what positions are available and you can email greg.riseup@gmail.com for further information. The positions are completely flexible - allowing the volunteers to work any 3/5 hours in the week - but they must send a summary of what they did in each of the hours every week.

People could also get involved in providing funding, which is desperately needed to continue our work. People can donate any amount and even specify which project the money must go to. We have a write-up of every project we do and what is required in terms of funding and physical assets.

Question 7: Apart from your NGO, what else are you passionate about?
Yoh, this is a very difficult question to answer without being linked to any "group of people". 
I am passionate about the community, and helping wherever I can. I am passionate about God and learning more about him and the ways to experience him. I am passionate about traveling and seeing the world as much as I can, especially the places that aren't common destinations, places that change what I believe and places that are not like my home country. I am passionate about people, learning from them and getting to know people from all walks of life. 
On a different note, I'm also pretty passionate about cars - different models and prices and I love a good car-selling magazine. And I love property, a passion I share with my dad.

Question 8: Want to inspire us with any last words?
Our biggest inspiration through the whole process (even when, at times, it seemed impossible to start an NPO at age 17) has been "Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi

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