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Here are two of my favorite people in South Africa, as they joined the Operation HOPE of South Africa family for dinner in Johannesburg last week; Tina Eboka, an executive with Standard Bank, and Herman Bailey, a businessman and entrepreneur, and the former mayor of Wellington, South Africa. In many ways, we would not be in South Africa, doing our work and celebrating our one-year anniversary on the ground in Johannesburg, Cape Town and rural communities, without these two. Thank you.

Tina has two degrees in engineering from the United States, with an emphasis in applied mathematics, and is now an accomplished banking executive as well with the respect of her peers. What a role model for Jhb_south_africa_one_year_2008_004girls in Africa, looking for models of who they can "be" when they grow up.  Tina was and remains the point person for our powerful partnership with Standard Bank in South Africa. More to come here.

Here as well is a photo of one of Tina’s brilliant husband’s stores, "Eboka," in Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg. Fred Eboka is one of the leading fashion designers in South Africa, and a nice person too. 

My friend Herman Bailey has his own brand of wines which he is marketing worldwide, and is a father and husband to Carole, a real sweet heart. It was Herman Bailey who first said, introduced by my other friend Sean Cleary, "please bring Operation HOPE to South Africa. We need it…" Well Herman, here we are my friend. But, in the end, it will be leaders like you two, right there in South Africa, who will make the real difference in the lives of people.

Onward with HOPE

John Hope Bryant

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