“Empower One Girl, Transform a Community:” a phrase I’ve heard before, but only truly hit home recently. A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak at a school in Soweto, Johannesburg that specializes in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.) A truly remarkable school to say the least. There, I met 17 year old… Continue reading Empower one girl, transform a community
I’m often asked what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated field, whether I get treated the same as my male counterparts, and what my reality is as a woman working in aviation.It’s no secret that challenges are magnified for women attempting to successfully penetrate and persevere in historically male-dominated work environments. And while… Continue reading A flying feminist
When asked what I do, I’m often met with, “there aren’t many black women in this field, are there?” And my response has always been, “there are a lot more black women in aviation than one would think, and the number is rapidly growing.” Or so I thought. I mean, I know about a handful… Continue reading To be young, gifted & black
If you look to the right of this page, under “What Are We All About?” You’ll notice that The Plane Project aims to enhance the image of aviation to underprivileged youths. Underprivileged. Underprivileged. Underprivileged. After pondering this word for about 15 seconds, I googled ‘underprivileged’ and was met with ‘underprivileged – adjective lacking the rights… Continue reading Bessie’s dream
Meet 20 year old Frans Monakisi. Frans dreams of becoming a pilot. He reached out to me after I spoke at his little sister’s school. On Tuesday, we spent the day together touring Wonderboom airport. I introduced him to the aircraft we fly, we debated about which passenger plane is the best and we argued… Continue reading Frans’ story
Over the past few days I’ve been grappling with the topic of this post. On Tuesday, I visited Emthunzini Primary School in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria. My visits usually consist of me sharing my dream of flying with the kids, the history of aviation and encouraging kids to dream big. Followed by a dialogue with… Continue reading The fire inside
On January 16th, The Plane Project, together with an organization called It Starts At Home, visited Nellmapius Secondary School in Pretoria, with the sole purpose of motivating the Grade 12 learners as they enter the final stretch of their schooling career. My aim was to awaken enthusiasm, challenging learners to grow beyond their present circumstances… Continue reading Dream. Do. Dazzle.
Yesterday was such a special day. I took some boys with me to the Africa Aerospace and Defence airshow. It was the first time all of these boys had witnessed an aircraft first hand. It was amazing. These boys (aged 6 – 13) face challenges many of us can’t even begin to fathom. As great… Continue reading Enamoured with flight
On Monday, 18 August, I visited Fred Magardie Primary School in Eersterust, Pretoria. What a special morning it was. I was joined by former airline pilot and aviation medical examiner Dr. Bjorn Buchner. We spoke to the kids about how important it is to protect, nurture and vigorously pursue their dreams. Dr. Buchner told the… Continue reading Planting seeds of hope
I have approached 4 schools in Eersterust, Pretoria, who have agreed to assist and support me on this journey. I will be doing presentations at these schools at the beginning of next term (July 21st) . Each school has agreed to identify learners from each grade who show substantial potential. Thereafter, the identified learners will… Continue reading Moving forward
