Our Team
Dylan Wray is the co-founder and executive director of Shikaya. Since 2003 Dylan has been the Project Coordinator of Facing the Past – Transforming our Future. Dylan is the co-founder of Education Week and the South African Curriculum Advisor Conference (SACATS). He has developed numerous educational resources and written History textbooks for MacMillan, New Africa Books and Juta Gariep Publishers. Dylan was previously the Head of History at Wynberg Girls’ High School, Cape Town.
Lindinxiwa Mahlasela is a history teacher who has been a part of the Facing The Past – Transforming Our Future professional development programme since 2003 and now assists in the facilitation of workshops with other teachers.
“I started working for Shikaya last year and I have enjoyed it. What I enjoy is to work with other teachers. That pushes me to prepare thoroughly. I get satisfied when I have done well. I like the relaxed Shikaya environment. By that I mean the places that we book for workshops, the dress code, and the way we interact as colleagues. I like the values that we seek to promote, resistance, supporting a victim. I like the issues that we deal with, human behaviour, the choices that people and communities make. I like the food at the office. Let me confess, I have gained some knowledge and experience there.”
Janine Kaptein joined Shikaya in February of 2010. Janine is not new to the work of Shikaya – she has been a valued participant in the Facing the Past – Transforming our Future professional development programme since 2004.
For Janine, education is a form of activism in the South African context with each young person needing to understand that they cannot divorce themselves from their own education, their responsibility towards themselves and their responsibility towards family and community.
Shikaya is a continuation of her activism with fellow teachers and high school learners. Her dream is to see the Facing The Past-Transforming our Future programme grow and strengthen to such an extent in South Africa, that we will be able to really see determined teachers making a difference in their classrooms, “producing” young people who are equally determined to stand up and be counted in a new South Africa.
Chris Ahrends was a founding member of Shikaya Board, stepping down after 3 years when he started a consulting practice that required time and energy. Chris began consulting for Shikaya on aspects of Shikaya’s organisation development and project managing the development of the Up2Us programme.
“Shikaya’s growth over the years had been rapid and exciting! Shikaya is an exciting organisation working at the cutting edge of the new South Africa – engaging in the vital area of education and its development. As a young, progressive, learning organisation there is enormous scope for creativity. As an organisation committed to developing both teachers and school learners, it is at the forefront of the greater transformation taking place in our country. As an organisation committed to creating inclusive, just, equitable, non-racist and non-sexist school communities, it is a wonderful yet challenging place to be engaged.”
Tony Fagrew is Shikaya’s accountant.
“From the early stages of the organisation I have always had meetings with Dylan regarding Shikaya.I looked after the score keeping exercise, as it were, and saw that the financial administration was heading in the right direction. At that stage Shikaya was still in its infancy, operating out of Dylan’s residential premises. If there is one thing I have to say and that is I’ve never seen and operation progress so rapidly in such a short space of time.”
Amanda Mayeki is the webmaster of the Shikaya and Facing the Past websites. She has been working at Shikaya for the past year assisting with administrative duties.
“Shikaya has been a great source of knowledge for me I gained so much experience in working with people from different works of life. The organisations work with teachers and learners has encouraged me to work towards being a change and every day I am reminded that a little action goes a long way.”
Molly Blank is the director, producer and editor of Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa, which will be broadcast on SABC in the coming year. Shikaya has partnered with Molly to produce the documentary Where Do I Stand? The documentary had its first South Africa Premier in June 2010
“I have been working with Shikaya in several capacities over the last 3 years. My first introduction was when I screened my film Testing Hope for a group of Facing the Past teachers in 2007. I was immediately struck by the engagement of the teachers in the film. But it wasn’t until the following year when I wrote an article about the Facing the Past-Transforming Our Future program that I saw the deep transformative impact of Shikaya’s work. It was in a follow up workshop in May 2008 when the seed was planted for our collaboration on a new documentary film about youth and xenophobia. It has proved to be a wonderful partnership. Now that the film is finished, I am very excited to take this next step with Shikaya, to see how they engage teachers with the film in workshops and to collaborate on getting this film out across the country.”
Elaine Lunn was introduced to Shikaya to help with the coordination and organising of all things administrative to do with the Education Conversations venues held around SA in 2009.She now handles admin matters at Shikaya.
“Coming from a background of teaching, training and recruitment, this re introduction to the wide variety of dedicated people found in the modern world of education was a new turning point in my life. The passion, dedication and openly free spiritedness of all those coming through the doors of the Shikaya offices, workshops and daily round of business has been inspiring to say the least. It is a privilege now to be able to offer the support and assistance on the administrative side so as to ensure that all ventures and projects are able to fly to the success they so deserve.”