Travelling over our local mountain pass, Ou Kaapse Weg, last weekend we passed a tractor and a rather old looking one at that. This is not something we see very often, especially with a dog peering our at the passing cars.


I have since learned that this very tractor was been driven by a Manon Ossevert who, also known as the Tractor Lady, is 'a dynamic, enthusiastic lady who recently arrived in Cape Town from the Netherlands on a tractor. With a top speed of 25 km per hour the trip took 3 years. 39,000 kilometres and one flat tyre.' These 39,000 kilometres have taken her through The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, & South Africa. She is using the trip to inspire others to dream and then follow those dreams while at the same time drawing attention to Non Governmental Organisations like WarChild and The Hunger Project and small local projects from the regions she visits.








Her story :
'As a theatre maker I came up with a plan for a journey.
A journey of a little girl on a tractor.
A journey to the end of the world, and back.
But what is the end of the world?
If I was a child, I would say: the South pole!
As an adult I said: the worst war-country I can imagine.
Both voices, the one of the child and the one of the adult, said: We want to go!
Then I thought: All right, we'll just do that.'


To finish her trip she needs to get to the South Pole. In order to do this she has to undergo cold weather training. She is currently planning to fly to Canada to do this training! There has been a call out to anyone who is able to assist her here in Cape Town, or at least South Africa, so if you can do so, or know anyone who can please contact her @ www.tractortractor.org or leave a comment and I will supply you with a local contact person.

Labels: africa, inspiration, Manon Ossevort, south pole, tractor, tractortractor.org

Posted by roygbiv on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 1:14 PM | Permalink