andré shearer

“We were exceptionally lucky to have such a calm and “uneventful” early childhood.” Phonetic Planet spoke with André Shearer recently, to learn more about his goal of improving the early childhood years for many children in his native South Africa.

André, where in the world did you spend your childhood?

I grew up in Johannesburg. We were a lower-middle class family, and we lived in a small suburb in a multicultural area called Orange Grove. It was nicknamed "Little Italy" in the 60's and 70's) .

I went to the same government school from 1st to 12th grade and was painfully aware growing up of the racial segregation that oppressed us all. It did not make sense even though it was the 'law'. My parents were amazing. They were kind, calm and very down to earth. What we may have lacked economically we did not lack in love and caring. I had two older brothers and all three of us agree today that we were exceptionally lucky to have such a calm and 'uneventful' early childhood.

A dark and ominous memory was this inexplicable and visibly invisible barrier called Apartheid. One knew that something was awfully wrong, but since it was all very ‘lawful and regulated’ it was just the way it was...and my parents, whilst being God-fearing, loving and truly kind-hearted were apolitical and sought to treat everyone with respect, irrespective of race or creed. They did not challenge the political status quo, but it did not sit well with me in many inexplicable ways. TV was banned, Media was constantly banned. Movies were heavily censored. All to try to keep the evil genie in the bottle....

"Nature" in our neighborhood was essentially a visit to the park, with swimming pools, tennis courts and large sports fields. Johannesburg is one of the greenest cities in the world and is thought to have the largest man-made forest in the world. I vividly recall the bright purple Jacaranda tree which dropped its blossoms like a carpet lining the streets that we used to drive on to get me to school in the morning.... indelibly etched.

Was there a place that was extra special to you during your childhood? Can you tell us why?

My folks could not afford expensive holidays, and one of my Mum's uncles, who adored my Mum, used to insist that each year we went to his beach house in Plettenberg Bay (Western Cape of South Africa) for 3 weeks, as his guests. Plettenberg Bay in the 60's and 70's was a magnificent, unspoiled paradise. No electricity, dirt roads everywhere and brackish water.

It was peaceful, we spent every day with our parents, my brothers and the many people we came to know in 'Plett' as it was fondly known, and we could swim in the magnificent and unspoiled ocean, often with dolphins, for hours and hours. The town lies on the Indian Ocean, which is warmer than the Atlantic. We caught fish almost every other day, ate waffles and cream in the old café on cloudy or rainy days and just had a simple, happy and outdoor-drenched time. The good old days!

We are very interested to learn about the Indaba Foundation! Where does it focus its attention and how did you become involved?

I launched the Indaba Foundation (www.indaba-foundation.org), a non-profit in New York, just over five years ago. The focus of our work is initially in South Africa and more specifically in the Cape Winelands, a large geographic area with the world’s highest GINI coefficient, the highest Foetal Alcohol Syndrome rates and amongst the highest gender-based violence (including rape) statistics in the world. With support of remarkable organizations like the Walton family in the USA, we funded the formation of the Indaba Institute, a South African based Early Childhood Teacher Training centre specializing in one of the world’s oldest and finest ECD methods that you know all too well - AMI (Association Montessori Internationale).

Having run a NY based wine importing company for almost 30 years, and specializing in South African wines, one of my major issues has always been Foetal Alcohol Syndrome....and re-engineering Early Childhood with high-quality teacher training and is in my view one of the only long-term ways to tackle the problem.

As a result of these ambitions, we are now scaling a new EsF (AMI) ECD teacher training program called CoRE ("Community Rooted Education" which will model a Social Intervention for the wine industry, calling it a Social Investment Seal. I presented the concept to the SA wine industry on March 17th. The Minister for Social Development of the Western Cape province was in attendance and has asked to present the concept to the Western Cape Government Cabinet meeting. It is a means for a winery to invest directly in the upliftment of the youngest and most vulnerable in the society, using a century old pedagogy with enormous scientific underpinnings. Attached, please find a copy of the presentation. https://we.tl/t-OGllBFVGnp

I am currently trying to fund a Montessori-based Permaculture (0-6) curriculum and I am also planning to launch the world’s first University of the Child within the next five years, dedicated to large scale Montessori teacher training ( which is 99% women’s empowerment) accompanied by faculties dedicated to Traumatology, Permaculture for Children, Wellness, Nutrition and Design and Architecture, amongst others.

Professor Thuli Madonsela is one of our Patrons (https://worldjusticeproject.org/world-justice-forum-vi/thuli-madonsela) and she is organizing a Nobel academic conference in South Africa to which we will be inviting Prof James Heckman of Chicago University. I would love to find a way to share more about our work and the possible economic and social impact that it will have on this region. Our Academic Advisory includes:

• Professor Adele Diamond (British Columbia)

• Professor Linda Richter (South Africa)

• Professor Takao Hensch (Harvard)

• Professor Philip Fisher (Harvard)

• Professor Angeline Lillard (Virginia)

It's exciting to be donating some of our Phonetic Planet readers to children in South Africa who benefit from the Foundation’s work! By the way, do you have favorite books from your own childhood that you can recommend to our community?

The donation of readers will be just wonderful as books are the extraordinary bridge builder for anyone anywhere. Knowledge and insight is gained every time a book is opened and so THANK YOU for such generosity!

An amazing book for young and old that I remember vividly from my childhood is

Jock of the Bushveld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jock_of_the_Bushveld) a famous South African book.

Another South African book (published after my childhood) is

The Herd Boy (https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book/t/the-herd-boy/).

I can also recommend another beautiful African book for children, called

Sulwe (https://www.amazon.com/Sulwe-Lupita-Nyongo/dp/1534425365).

Our sincere thanks to André for taking time out of an incredibly busy schedule to share some of his childhood memories with us, and to energize us by describing some of his current awe-inspiring projects. Incidentally, foetal alcohol syndrome affects more children in South Africa than anywhere else in the world: prevalent in 111 per 1,000 children, a rate 14 times higher than the global average of 7.7 per 1,000, according to the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics.  Clearly, André is committed to making a difference in the lives of today’s children, and also the generations who follow, by investing in programming that educates not only children but also their families and the wider community.

His vitality is infectious and he credits rowing as being his “ biggest life lesson dressed as sport. It was the most exceptional experience, teaching teamwork, sheer guts and determination, precision, endurance, practice and euphoria from extreme exertion. It taught me what stamina was....about finding the last reserves when you truly believed that there were none left…” An avid oarsman, he once represented South Africa in the British Championships. Now, he champions the right of children to receive the necessary support in order to thrive…...and he’s determined to see them experience success.

All photos supplied by André Shearer