News
Tribute to a great man: Braam Le Roux
2009-11-22 12:34:00
Everyone who ever met Braam Le Roux has been saddened to hear of his sudden and untimely death on Tuesday 17th November. A man who was deeply respected and admired by all who were privileged to work with him and his wife Willemien, he will be much missed.
As a tribute to Braam and his life’s work, and a gesture of sympathy to Willemien, the Kalahari Peoples Network invites you to send your personal tributes and memories, either as photographs or words.
Willemien … we wish you well. Hearts and thoughts all over the world are with you now. We shall miss him too. Lesley.
Words from Willemien:
Between 10 and 10h30 last night the strongest man in the world, with the biggest capacity for unconditional, never ending love, died in the rain outside our house at Samochima. Braam went out to turn the boats around to prevent them from sinking, and that is where I found him. Although this is just the way he has always wished his end to come, this is too soon, too everything. In deep sorrow, but also profound gratitude to God for the great gift of this man, just on loan to me and my children, and to all whom he comforted and inspired. He was 58 years old. Willemien, Ma Pollie, children and grandchildren
Tribute from Annah Morris and Ncaoka Bob
Oh! Our Father Braam Le Roux, most famous and well-known man by all the San people around the world, a man who really showed his friendliness and happiness to everybody. We didn’t know that you would leave us so soon, because you made some important and valuable plans with us the San people for the future. Your death is like a shock to us and we are grieving and so sad.
He was like a father to us. He was really a brave man, one of the greatest man who made everything successful and easy for us. We will never forget him in our lives. May his soul rest in peace.
(Annah and Ncoaka are two young Naro women from D'Kar who are participating in the current !Khwa ttu Training Programme for Trainee Guides.)
Words from Bob Hitchcock:
I am in deep shock about the loss of Braam. I will always remember his coming to Lincoln to visit me in 2000 and he went with me to the hospital to see little Olivia, just born, who was in intensive care. He was so kind and caring about everyone.
I quickly searched my photos and have a lovely one of Braam talking to an Mbukushu farmer in the western Okavango Delta in 1999. It shows him doing what he loved to do most -- help people. I attach it here, in memory of Braam.
In sorrow,
Love,
Bob.
Words from Janette Deacon:
I did not know Braam well, but every time I was privileged to meet him on his visits to Cape Town I was greatly inspired by his shining, cheerful spirit and willingness to listen to all points of view. Here was a man who really had the faith to see beyond the petty things of life to the big picture beyond. With lots of love and strength to Willemien and her family. His legacy will live on. Janette Deacon
Words from Megan Biesele:
I first met Braam under the big baobab tree at /Aotcha, Namibia in 1987. He and Willemien had come to talk with Claire Ritchie, John Marshall, and me about a project they wanted to start with San people in Botswana. From our wide-ranging discussions, three young organizations took mutual inspiration and began to grow. The Kalahari Peoples Fund and the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia developed in tandem with what eventually became the Kuru Family of Organizations (KFO) fostered by Braam and Willemien. KFO was always a shining light of guidance to us all in the importance of San ownership of their own projects, as well as in the hundreds of complex practical issues involved.
Over the years there were productive joint meetings and endeavors of many kinds. I have a wave of memories of Braam, at D'kar, Shakawe, Dobe, and Gaborone in Botswana; back in Namibia several times as the Ju/'hoan people's organization was growing into the Nyae Nyae Conservancy; and in Cape Town as WIMSA was being formed and as the San people began to forge strength as a larger, regional community throughout southern Africa. Each memory of Braam centers around the eager, open, sensitive, questioning, questing face of this amazing man, the experiences, doubts, and convictions he shared so generously. His mind and heart worked at a high level of spiritual integration but on every human level at the same time. Braam's life-partner, Willemien, shared and continues to share this quality with him. I am so grateful for their beautiful marriage and their lives' work. Together, they brought immense good into the lives of so many people, not just in southern Africa, but around the world.
Megan Biesele.
Director
Kalahari Peoples Fund
USA
Words from Axel, Magdalena and Nora:
Dear Braam,
Suddenly there was stillness and time for memories of a rich friendship.Twenty years of fruitful discussions, shared ideas, complementing experiences and unforeseen challenges moved us forward in our work with the San. Your vision and your commitment to support any person who needed assistance were inspiring. You taught us so much about fairness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and spirituality. Your humour and your ability to find the right word at the right moment have cheered up young and old. You were an incredible human being. We will continue walking the path you created.
Today we planted your favourite tree, a Pecan-nut. One day soon, when we visit Willemien we will take this tree to her at Samochima.
You will continue guiding us
Magdalena, Axeand Nora
From Michael, Bets and all from !Khwa ttu:
We will miss you……
You have lived so beautifully and you have changed the lives of so many people. You stepped clear tracks for us to follow. We will stay on your spoor to read your tracks of honesty, kindness, dedication, cheerfulness, bravery and wisdom. May the principles and spirit of Braam le Roux live in our place. May dearest Willemien find strength.
Words from Damon and Craig Foster:
Dear Willemien
I am so terribly sorry to hear about Braam - I can’t imagine what a loss you must feel. He simply was such a powerful, good person; you could feel it resonate from him. His presence left one feeling the world is not such a bad place after all. If only there more Braam’s on this earth.
He not only was a unique source of guidance in our research and film making but a person we looked up to as a man who has given so much and really asked for so little in return.
Our thoughts are with you.
With much love
Damon
Word from Marlene Winberg:
Braam and Willemien hosted me when I visited Shakawe in 2006 to facilitate a literature workshop for representatives from all over the desert and the delta. They had just completed the building of their 'little tent home' as they called it; all they could afford, Braam mentioned. To me, it looked like one of those romantic designer bush creations one sees in picture books, complete with central hearth, eco friendly solutions and evening hippo sounds from the river, not to mention crocodile, fish eagle and incredible sunsets. This was their life: modest at the core, yet abundantly rich in every way that mattered.
You leave your family with great wealth, dear Braam. No doubt your two grandchildren who are on their way, will be very proud of their grandfather's legacy.
Farewell - toto u.
Marlene Winberg
Words from Hennie Swart: Chairperson, SASI Board of Trustees:
Dear All,
It is with sadness that we have to inform you that our friend, colleague, family member and father to development in the San world, Braam le Roux has passed away on Wednesday evening at his home, Shakawe Botswana.
Braam has been the voice in development, not only as a former Board member of SASI, but also in the Kuru Family for many years.
Braam was the reason for changes in our world. He has been the instrument towards our co-existence and always the voice that calmed the ever changing developmental world. We as SASI Board members will ever treasure his calm approaches, the way in which he directed us, mentored us and his always helpful guidance towards a positive and healthy direction.
To our father Braam; we will miss you and always treasure individual memories. You made us grow and develop, you helped us to take-stock of past development and thereof we will treasure each lesson learned.
With our deepest sympathy towards Willemien and the family.
Hennie Swart: Chairperson, SASI Board of Trustees.
Words from Billies Pamo, SASI Platfontein:
You was like brother to all of us. Helping the San communitties and estabilishing organisations who support the San communities was your idea and that means lot to us, as the San communitties in Platfontein and also where the San communties are. You was the best, May God be with you in Heaven.
Greetings
Billies Pamo
Words from Christina, Ian, Ruby and Gregory Agnew:
Our hearts are aching at the loss of Braam. Braam was one of those people you meet ‘once in a lifetime’. A man with a gift of conveying his faith and spirituality not only through his words and his actions, but also by his silence. We thank God for the friendship you extended to all, the wisdom many of us were lucky to receive through spending time with you and the unfathomable levels of love, compassion, bravery and forgiveness that you always seemed to possess. Did anyone ever wear their faith so well? Dearest Willemien, Eben, Laurika and Hettie – we can only send you light and love. How lucky we all were to know him.
God Bless - Christina, Ian, Ruby and Gregory Agnew
Words from Barbara Macy:
It is with extreme sadness, grief, that I read about Braam LeRoux... I was extremely lucky being able to work for/with him and Willemien while at Kuru a number of years. He was the kindest, most humane person I have ever met; he was the champion of the Bushmen/San. The respect he showed everyone is a trait his family can admire. My deepest sympathies are with Willemien and the children. His spirit will never die...
Words from Mathias Guenther:
I first met Braam in May of 1983 at D’Kar, a few years after he and Willemien had moved there to start what was to become their lives’ mission: community development work among the San. I had the pleasure, at the time, of taking a trip with Braam and his father-in-law Dirk Jerling to Tsodilo Hills. We explored the rock art at this magical place and we camped underneath the sky, talking all night about our respective goals and dreams. Together with Willemien, who shared the same dreams, Braam has been able to fulfil--and, as those who knew him would agree, exceed-- the goals and aspirations we talked about a generation ago for his life. Incredibly, this has now come to an end, all too soon, to the great sorrow of all who knew this remarkable man. Along with my wife Patricia, as friends of long standing of both Braam and Willemien, we are deeply saddened by his passing. We wish Willemien and Laurika, Hettie and Eben the strength to cope with the loss of their husband and father.
Mathias Guenther
Words from Mike Taylor:
Braam was a great man, in the true sense of the word. He was humble, loving, committed to justice, and to doing what is right in God’s eyes. For those of us who were almost a generation younger than him, he was a respected father figure, a man who inspired us and set an example of what it means to live life to the full, yet live it for others. He was also a friend, a man who walked beside us in our own work and lives, and related to us as equals even though he was light years ahead of us.known
I have known Braam for 15 years, meeting him soon after my own government made the crazy decision that he and his family should leave Botswana. They never told him the reason, even after rescinding it, although doubtless it was for the same set of ‘crimes’ for which he has always been so widely admired. Braam and Willemien have been through much together, but have always been strong, smiling, uncomplaining, and full of grace. Braam was always ready to laugh, even when things were not going as they should have. Braam was a large inspiration to me in the work I have done and am doing, and in my own efforts to live out what I believe. His legacy is ingrained in my life, as it is in those of many others.
It is with great sadness, but also joy at a life that touched so many others, that we say goodbye to Braam.
Mike.
Words from Job Morris:
As I type today this words, I’m deeply sorrowed. Yes indeed, everyone can say how good and wonderful a man he was but surely, not even an iota of a word will describe how good he was. I still can't believe his departure and for that I still grieve. You can tell from his eyes the enormous good that he carries around when he sees you and he always greets people with a very good heart. Willemien and the family has lost a very great man and indeed the very strongest man in the world...but not only has this event hit the family in the core of their hearts but also to us all for he was a mentor and inspired us all. He had a father figure to those of our age.
Braam Le Roux was a man of high status and for that, I have revered him and have always cherished his teachings.
He will never be forgotten and everyone will respect him even after a long time...
Let there be peace and assurance for a good life to his family, friends and those who were close to him...LET HE REST IN ABSOLUTE PEACE.
Words from Petrus Vaalbooi (Snr) and Ivan Vaalbooi and Petrus Vaalbooi (Jnr):
I want to write something to the Family of Braam Le Roux, although I did not know him personally, but actually on behalf of my father Petrus Vaalbooi (Snr) and my Brother, Petrus Vaalbooi (Jnr) who has worked a lot with him in the past and knows him very well.
Here is the Quote: “Dear Willmien and family, it is very hard to say good bye to a beloved person . Unfortunately at some stage the sun has to go down for each and everyone of us. We all know he has made his way to heaven and that he is looking down at us. He may be gone but his legacy will live with us for ever . from the bushman child of the Kalahari, Petrus Vaalbooi.
Sent by Ivan Vaalbooi
Assistant Trainer/ Guide
!Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre
Words from In Loving memory of Mr Braam Le Roux from Tcega Mike Fritz, Fritz Lalah and Family:
To the Le Roux family in Christ
Allow me to share my grievances with my brothers and sisters, about the passing on of our brother Rev. B. Le Roux: To the family of our passed on strongman. May you be comforted by the presence of our Lord in this sad moment. May His abundant grace be with you.
To him Mr B. Le Roux
I have known this man since my early youth in around 1989, if not before. I met him in church, during our Sunday school services and other church activities. I remember the nice things we got after church which were church donations given to our local church. I played with his kids, especially Eben, with his bicycle. There somehow I learnt to ride a bicycle. When I finish my primary school, I was engaged by Kuru (Le Roux) to do a piece job while waiting for my junior school departure. This was to cut Metoroko and work on fencing of houses together with senior man; we were thanked on weekly basis. This really introduced me to what I will do after finishing school - exposure to work environment. I got prepared enough to go to junior school, because I bought myself a plate, a cup, spoon and other necessary things which we have to bring to school with this amount I got.
After my secondary school, I still got back to Kuru and worked with the Language Project, the very project started by Mr Le Roux during his missionary work in D’kar. He has shaped the future of the San people in Ghanzi.
Dear fellow beloved brother sand sisters, I was just sharing how Mr. B Le Roux played a big role in my life as a Naro person of D’kar. I played with his son, and was treated like a family member, later on was attached to Kuru to be taught experience. Mr Le Roux good deeds won’t fade away in the memories of the Gantsi San Community. He tiresomely pushed that they be accepted in the society as people too. He gave them back their Self Esteem. He saved the dying away dignity of the San community in Ghanzi. All stakeholders in this field commend him for the good work he did and has been continuing to do in his life until his last second of life.
The seed he planted germinated and grew into a big tree, making a network of leaves. It never dried up during summer. It is a forever green tree. He had a heart for the San community. The fire he lit won’t fade away into darkness. His good deeds went out from D’kar and reached other San communities elsewhere in Southern Africa. He is our Hero.
Le Roux family be comforted, we together have lost a great man in our lives too soon. May his soul Rest in Peace. God is love (1 John 4:16)
From
Tcega Mike Fritz
Fritz Lalah and Family
Words from Sue Armstrong, Edinburgh:
I met Braam and Willemien in 1994 when I was on assignment in Botswana for New Scientist magazine and was offered a ride to Ghanzi -- then still a slow slog through deep sand into the Kalahari. Their work and vision so captured my imagination on that first brief visit that I have returned many times as a journalist to make radio programmes, write, and work with them on a small corner of the San oral testimony project; as a friend to share some wonderful adventures, and spend treasured time in their company. My heart aches at the loss of this very special man and dearest of friends, and my thoughts are with you and your family, dear Willemien, as you carry on without Braam.
Words from Doreen Nteta:
Dear Willemien
I was in Johannesburg when Nomtuse called and told me that Braam has passed away. I am so shocked. For a loved one to die suddenly is very traumatic. I feel for you and the family. Willemien, you and Braam were a terrific team, an example of what married people should strive to be. You complimented each other in a way that was marvellous to see. Braam will be remembered for his kindness, generosity of spirit, percevierance in the face of adversity and for always seeing the good in all people. He did more for the San in a way that was so different from other people. He saw in them human beings, created by God to live as all other God's people, while many people saw them as subjects in one way or another. His legacy will live on in Botswana, in all of Southern Africa and wherever indigenous people are found. We loved him and marvelled at his energy and foresight. We were all touched by him in one way or another and are grateful that you shared your lives with us. He is now at peace. Peace to you and the family.
Doreen Nteta
Words from Tamar Mason:
Since getting the saddest email ever from Willemien last week, Braam has been in my head and heart. Braam has the dubious honour of being the person who has been my boss for the longest (one year 1992) which says a huge amount about his patience and fortitude. The world is a smaller place without his presence. Braam's dedication, passion and compassion for the work he did and the lives he touched and transformed will remain, I just wish that he was still here for Willemien, his children and the rest of us.
Braam has left too soon. I remember Braam the director of Kuru, striding from his home to the office through the sand. Braam in meetings carefully listening to everyone’s points of view, eating vetkoek covered in icing sugar. Driving through the night, before the road was tarred, from Gabs to D’kar refusing to stop over because he wanted to be with and get back to his family. Driving from D'kar to Windhoek with a bakkie load of South Africans to vote YES for change in South Africa. Reading Vrye
Weekblad and hugging Hettie who was small then. Teasing Willemien and listening to dodgy folk music. Climbing the Brandberg in 1995 with a group from Kuru, on the way there Braam with his ear stuck to the car radio on the drive from Omaruru to Uis listening to the World Cup win. made famous by Francois Pienaar and Mandela. Braam walking the Otter Trail in 1996, joking about sore knees and revelling in the waterfalls, sea and forest. Watching whales from cliff tops, Willemien at his side. Braam we miss you. Mark, our children and I have planted a moepel tree in our garden to remember you by.
Tamar, White River, Mpumalanga.
Words from Anke Kooke:
Thanks to Braam Leroux,
a man of peace and a builder of bridges
How many hours that he would have liked
to be with his family
How many hours he would have liked
to take a walk with Willemien,
read, see a movie, reflect,
just go out in the veld or on the water in the boat
But he was often called to come and help
and so he gave those hours to others
because people were suffering, quarrelling or fighting
and could not stop it.
He sought from the beginning to understand the Bushmen,
the ‘Basarwa’, people who were not seen, not taken seriously
He respected them and learned their language.
So friendship grew and slowly
cooperation and friendship spread
to other groups besides the Naro,
Ju’/hoansi, Khwe, Bakgalagadi, Batswana
white people, all people he came across.
He brought people together,
calm, trying to initiate dialogue
He listened and smiled with his heart
showing his compassion
Even when accused or attacked
he stayed without anger, hate or revenge
Braam, at the fireplace,
he was dreaming of a place
where people with different backgrounds
could meet in order to overcome
prejudices and painful events of the past
and to reconcile and take up the great task
of building healthy and harmonious communities,
enjoying their life and respecting the land,
the trees, plants and animals
May he be in peace
May we continue his mission in peace
Worldwide
Anke Kooke, the Netherlands, co-founder Kalahari Support Group and Taaibosch Foundation
Words from Lola García-Alix: IWGIA:
Dear Willemien le Roux
IWGIA was shocked to learn about the sudden death of Braam le Roux and we send you our sincere condolences. Braam le Roux has made an enormous contribution to improve the lives of the San people and his much too early death is a huge loss. Our thoughts are with you and your family here at this very difficult moment.
With very best regards
Executive Director
IWGIA
Words from Hans-Werner and Metthy Matthaei:
Braam and Willemien have been an integral part of my life for so many years that his sudden death has left me so saddened for Willemien. I was fortunate to witness the beginnings of their wonderful love story. Braam and Willemien together worked as a unity and accomplished so much because they had been granted the blessing of real love. Real love not only for one another, but a love that was at its deepest a love fed by their mutual love for God.
Braam the man who always seemed happy and at ease in all kinds of circumstances is no longer. But his memory will live on and be cherished by all of us. We will remember his humbleness, even though he was so well known and so popular among so many people. We will remember his hearty laugh, his deep faith, his easiness around people of all walks of life. But most of all, we will remember him as someone who really walked with the Lord.
And now he has been called to serve the Lord he so loved in another capacity.
May this knowledge give Willemien and the children and the grandchildren the strength in the years to come when his presence will no longer fill a room.
Words from Ben, Mathambo, Brighten, Tharacky, Brian, Victoria, Leandra, Cecelia and Bruce (WIMSA):
It was with uttermost disbelief and shock in the morning of 17 November 2007 that we at WIMSA learnt of the passing on of Braam LeRoux. We experienced some at times very tough and also many very relaxing moments Braam, together with the team of Axel, Willemien, Treisha and Dale White. Braam’s contributions cannot be underplayed in shaping the struggles for self determination for the San early in the nineteen-eighties, and onwards until today.
Braam remains iconic and a symbol of the drive to freedom in the San peoples’ memories, personally as a peace builder and having contributed invaluably in helping to chart a process of self determination which is on-going for the San in the region. Braam’s passing on is a momentous loss not only to his immediate family but to the San people in the region. May God bless the family and may his soul rest in peace
WIMSA Team
Ben, Mathambo, Brighten, Tharacky, Brian, Victoria, Leandra, Cecelia and Bruce
Words from Dr. Cornelis VanderPost:
Not much has been mentioned about Braam as a conservationist. But a lot of his work was at least partly connected to his desire to protect nature, gods creation. Hence, the ‘ekskuus bos’ on the family farm and the pathways on the Crocodile farm. Hence, much of his work for the Okavango and Tsodilo hills.
What made a lasting impression on me was the work we did with Braam in area NG 24. This is a crucial part of the Delta where the waters from the Panhandle are first distributed over the Delta fan. In other words this is the apex, the beginning of the Delta. So Braam took us there on an expedition by boat to look at possibilities for proposals to manage the area. He visibly enjoyed the natural world around us and took a few swims in the clear water, with us looking out for crocodiles. He said: look this is such a crucial part of the whole Delta, something needs to be done to preserve it. And he was right, because it is there at NG24 that all the water that flows into the Delta and on to Khwai or Maun or Lake Ngami gets distributed. If anything happens to this NG24 it will affect the whole Delta. Any pollution here will easily filter through the entire Delta system. Any agricultural or other interventions that affect the flow of water will have repercussions further downstream.
So we needed a few days to boat around. With our tents we arrived at Jebide camp, then a US$ 400 per night luxury camp. No arrangements had been made but in typical Braam style, he talked to the people in charge about our mission and they offered us their luxury tents and free food. When we left after a couple of days, the manager asked us to remember the staff and the little box with ‘Contribution for the staff’ written on it. Braam came to me and asked if I had any money as he had none. So I put something in the box.
We crisscrossed the whole of NG24 by boat and tried to mark on the map, using the GPS, important lagoons and islands and possible camp-sites. But Braam being Braam, his idea was that the conservation of this important piece of Delta was to be carried out through a community trust. This eventually led to the formation of the Jakotsha trust which involved the villages of Jao and Ikoga, but also –and that is where it got complicated- the Etsha villages: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. We managed to put together a draft management plan for NG24 and a protracted process started to implement these ideas. That process is still ongoing.
Cornelis
Words from Estella Kambinda, station manageress XKFM Radio, Platfontein:
Ek is Estella Kambinda van die radio stasie by Platfontein. Ek voel hardseer van dit met hom gebeur het ek het Braam geken toe ek nog op CPA gewerk het ek voel dat hy was n pa van ons die !Xun/Khwe mense . Die families wat hy agter gelaat het dink aan die Here hy weet hoekom hy het vir Braam weg gevat het. Ons die gemeenskappe van Platfontein voel dieselle met julle .
Rus in Vrede Oom Braam
Words from Hannie Loermans, the Netherlands, co-founder of the Kalahari Support Group and the Taaibosch-foundation:
The 17th of November 2009 it was stormy weather in Holland. The news of Braam’s death came to me as a thunder cloud. Why Braam ? Why did God allow this to happen? But reading Willemien’s message over and over again brought me back on the right track. Braam was just ‘on loan’ to us and I am very grateful to have known him.
In 1987 the SNV-director took me to Braam and Willemien’s house, asking them to keep an eye on me. And that’s what they did. We talked for hours and hours at their kitchen table over a cup of milo, and continued to do so over the past 20 years at numerous other occasions and places.
Although Braam was just 2 years older than me, he seemed so much wiser, as if he had incorporated the wisdom of many generations. At the same time he was young in mind, never tired of trying new ways. His great sense of humor made it a pleasure to be with him. It was not difficult to love him. He was like an older brother to meNow that he is gone it feels as if there is a hole in my ‘moskombersie’ (coat made of moss). He is one of the most wonderful persons who ‘grew on me like moss’.
DIE MENSE WAT EK LIEF HET
KOM GROEI OP MY SOOS MOS
DAAR LAAT EK HUL NA HARTELUS GEDY
EN LOOP EK DEUR DIE WÊRELD
- BESKUT TEEN DIE KOUE -
DIE SNOESIGHEID SELF:
EK MET MY MOSKOMBERSIE
EN AS DAAR 'N OORLOG KOM
WORD DIE MENSE WAT EK LIEF HET
'N EKSTRA LIEFDESLAAG OM MY
SO MARSJEER EK DEUR DIE WÊRELD
GEPANTSER TEEN DIE VUUR
DIE ONAANTASBAARHEID SELF:
EK MET MY MENSKOMBERSIE
MAAR AS IEMAND WAT OP MY GEGROEI HET
WEG MOET GAAN
DAN SIT DAAR 'N SEERPLEK
DAN SLUIP EK DEUR DIE WÊRELD
DIE KWESBAARHEID SELF:
EK MET MY SEERPLEK
WAT NET NIE WIL GENEES NIE
(South African poem by Stephan Bouwer and Anton Goosen
sang by Laurika Rauch)
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| Tribute to Braam le Roux A man's legacy is a great lesson to us who have yet to answer the ultimate appointment. When Braam Le Roux stepped down as Letloa Director a couple of years ago, I challenged his opinion that his retirement did not need the media attention that I felt it deserved. For me it heralded the end of an era in the cause of the communities for which he lived and of his brain child projects that evolved into the Kuru Family of Organizations. Typical of his demeanor and life philosophy he smiled as he diplomatically played down my conviction. The current leadership of the KFO projects by competent Batswana is testimony to a selfless legacy that deserves as much historical review as it demands a test of time. I first met Braam in 2001 during the early days of crafting a revised Tsodilo Hills Management Plan. Young and armed with my annual performance plan, and heading a team of highly ambitious museum archaeology professionals, I had all intention to have the old plan revision completed in one year. Braam Le Roux counts as one of those who messed up my plans, albeit positively; After three years of needful consultations, workshops and research we realized the need for an Integrated Management Plan –one that would entail for Botswana, a breaking of new grounds on heritage landscape management, and hopefully, a sustainable highbred of the existing Community Trusts and CBNRM organizational paradigm. Braam and I were co-chairing the multi-stakeholder deliberations of the Tsodilo Integrated Management Plan. His mature approach, in-born humility, integrity and principled guidance commanded respect and ensured progress, even when negotiations were tough. No doubt, his purpose driven commitment, networking and fundraising aptitude greatly influenced the nature of funding that the Diamond Trust pledged to the Tsodilo communities about three years ago. The same was launched by Minister Mokaila in the week that Braam passed on. Braam had a way of telling stories of his experiences with great humour. Like the day when he hosted potential sponsors, including Nicky Oppenheimer who had flown on a private Jet to the then unfenced Tsodilo airstrip. Things just did not turn out too well…burnt eggs at breakfast, rain and the rubber components of the aircraft chewed on by Tsodilo cattle. Occasionally, he told other stories too, of the challenges of being misunderstood, and perhaps he was in the best position for that: a white man, once briefly declared a PI, former church minister, serving that marginalized part of the population attracting many interested parties for multiple motives and provoking emotion on virtually all fronts. As his wife, Wilhelmina, and family put it, his departure is 'too sudden and (almost) too everything'. Again, I argue with Braam, laidto rest in Samuchima that his passing away deserves more than a page in the annals of history…and I can imagine his typical smile and diplomatic manner playing down the thought. May Braam le Roux rest in peace and may his family and friends experience healing over this shocking loss. 'Can we find such a man as this, in whom the spirit of God is’? Genesis 41:38 Heritage management is not an event but a process -anon Phillip Segadika Wits University, JHB Personal Capacity |
| Submitted by Phillip segadika on 26/11/2009 4:07:13 PM |
| Dear Willemien, we are shocked beyond words. We send our love to you and your family and feel so grateful and privileged to have had Braam touch our lives. An indescribable loss for you all, for our country and yours. Please know that if you need a break in a beautiful safe place we would welcome you with open arms at Goedgedacht farm. Peter and Annie Templeton. |
| Submitted by Peter and Annie Templeton on 21/11/2009 6:16:41 PM |
| After some frantic ticket rescheduling I was able to make it to the funeral. Not because Braam would have wanted it, but because I needed to find a place to begin to accept this reality and to grieve. I did so with hundreds of others who had made their way to the village of Samochima. The hundreds of hours we spent together, the projects worked on, the warmth and encouragement when the going was just too tough... I will miss you more than I can say. Rein |
| Submitted by Rein Dekker on 23/11/2009 05:55:36 AM |
| Braam worked tirelessly to help Khoisan-speakers and other ethnic minorities in southern Africa form a collective voice so that they could facilitate their own social and economic development in rapidly changing times. I am honored to have met him while conducting ethnographic fieldwork at the Tsodilo Hills (2007-2009). My favorite memory of Braam is listening to his beautiful sermon while seated outside under a tree at his home in Samochima on Christmas Eve in 2007. My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to Willemien and family. ~ Rachel Giraudo |
| Submitted by Rachel Giraudo on 23/11/2009 08:19:15 AM |
| Dear Willemien, I am very shocked te hear about Braam. Last may I visited Botswana with my 6 years old daugther and I told her stories of my life in D'kar village. You and Braam are part of these valuable memories. I wish you and your family my deepest condolences, courage. with love Soet Huijbregts, also on behalf of Frank van Bussel en Lis Ostergard. |
| Submitted by Soet Huijbregts on 23/11/2009 11:13:18 PM |
| I was fortunate to meet Braam in 1998/99. There is no doubt that he was a remarkable man and his passing is very sad and a great loss. |
| Submitted by Simon Jennings on 24/12/2009 1:05:51 PM |
| Dear Willemien, it's late in January in snow covered Vermont and I have thought of you most days since Skye forwarded your email about loosing Braam. Today my heart hurt so much for your sadness and loss that I cried for you and all who knew and loved him. Today I wrote out a letter to you and I don't know when the post will deliver it to the post office box in Shakawe. I know that when you loose a large part of your heart the pain gets worse a few months later which is why you were especially in my mind and heart today. Somehow I was lucky enough to be able to meet you both in January 2007 when Cameron and I visited Skye; and Cameron was even more lucky to have spent days with you in the summer of 2008. You lent me the "bucky" to take a trip to Tsodilo; it was the best day and we felt surrounded by your and Braam's love and infectious enthusiasm as we bumped along. Braam is in the heavens now with my mother and those others of us we have loved and lost and they keep a close eye on us. Two nights ago as I walked the dog on a bitterly cold night a shooting star went flying past my head and I waved and laughed since I thought it might be Braam or my mom reminding us they are near. I send you dear Willemien a very big hug and my love, Giovanna |
| Submitted by giovanna peebles on 24/01/2010 7:55:33 PM |
| Today I received the annual 2009 report from Kuru, and I was shocked and deeply sadden by reading that the wonderful person, dear Braam, passed away last November.I met him and Willemien for the first time as a young Sami student visiting Kuru in 1997. Their work in Kuru has inspired Sami Church life and our work with and for Indigenous Peoples! We met several times after that, and every time I was inspired and enriched simply by being in Braam's presence. I feel so blessed having met you both in Botswana, Brasil and in Sapmi. Peace and blessings follow your work and your dedication. Warm thoughts and prayers for you, Willemien and your family!! A late evening sun shines into our house- and i am embracing all the wonderful memories of a great man!! Ipmil ráfi! Peace from God! Love from Line M. Skum, Norway |
| Submitted by Line Merethe Skum on 29/04/2010 8:11:02 PM |
