Jaap Steyn
Team Leader

P.O. Box 655
Viljoenskroon, Free State, 9520
South Africa

Jaap grew up in the small farming community of Viljoenskroon in the north-western Free State.  He was an instructor in the South African Defence Force during the period of his compulsory military service.  At present he farms in the Viljoenskroon district, where he produces maize, sunflower and peanut crops and runs some cattle and sheep.  He is greatly involved in the farming community, as well as being a director of a diesel company.  He is also involved at the local Youth Care Centre and in his church.  He loves nature and bird-watching.

Ferdi van Wijk
Team Member

16 Blok Street
Bloemfontein, Free State, 9330
South Africa

Ferdi was born in Pietermarizburg, KwaZulu-Natal.  Today he finds himself in Bloemfontein, in the province of the Free State.  There he teaches economics and accounting to all grades at Eunice High School for Girls.  He also coaches water-polo and field hockey at the school.

Ferdi has a Bachelor of Commerce degree, a teaching diploma and an Honours degree in education.  He is currently busy with his Masters degree.

Jack Adam
Team Member

P.O. Box 147
Cradock, Eastern Cape, 5880
South Africa

Jack grew up in Cradock, a small town in the Eastern Cape.  He attended school in Cradock where he matriculated in 1997, after which he enrolled at Rand Afrikaans University and obtained his degree in optometry in 2001.  He returned to his hometown to pursue his optometric career in a well-established practice in which he is currently a full business partner.  He is married to Marianne and looks forward to having a family one day, but he and his wife currently have their hands full with their two dogs.

 Carl Haller
Team Member

P.O. Box 208
Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, 6170
South Africa

Carl was born and bred in the Eastern Cape Province and has worked in Cape Town, managing up-market golf club establishments.  Today he finds himself back in his hometown of Port Alfred, a coastal village in the Eastern Cape.  At present he is the General Manager of a hotel group based there.  He is involved in the day-to-day management of the four properties that constitute the hotel group, namely a waterfront hotel, a health spa, a guesthouse and a game reserve.

Carl has a diploma in Marketing obtained at the Port Elizabeth Technikon.  He is the chairman of Round Table 177 and sits on the local tourism board.  He is a founder member of the Sunshine Coast Marketing Association.

 Kerry-Lynn Thomson
Team Member

9 Harvey Street, Vanes Estate
Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, 6229
South Africa

Cell:        084 602 9551
Home:    +27 41 583 4772
Work:    +27 41 504 3408
Fax:    +27 41 504 3603
kerry-lynn.thomson@nmmu.ac.za

Kerry-Lynn was born and raised in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape.  Today she finds herself in the coastal town of Port Elizabeth.  At present, she is Assistant Academy Manager and Senior Instructor at the Cisco Academy Training Centre (CATC) at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.  The CATC and Kerry-Lynn’s core responsibilities include computer network training, support and quality assurance at the Cisco Academies in sub-Saharan Africa.  Over the last three years, she has trained instructors from Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Kerry-Lynn has a Diploma, Bachelor of Technology degree and Master of Technology in Information Technology from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (formally the Port Elizabeth Technikon).  She is currently studying towards her Doctorate in Information Technology.  She has presented numerous research papers at both national and international conferences and has published research articles in various journals.