South Africa mourns the loss of Dave Eadie

Ikamvanites across the country have been deeply saddenned by the terrible news of Dave Eadie’s sudden and shocking passing.

Dave was instrumental in ensuring that every learner at every branch of IkamvaYouth has the Answer Series guides they need to achieve, improve their academic results, and access the post-school opportunities that’ll change their lives.

An excerpt from Khona’s post on the FaceBook community page where huge numbers of people are sharing their memories, photos and condolences was read out at the funeral:

“I never met Dave, but he has touched the lives of the learners that I work with as part of IkamvaYouth. Our learners come from poor backgrounds and attend under-achieving township schools. Through Dave’s generosity, our learners have had access to study guides that they otherwise cannot afford to buy. These young people’s lives are being transformed as they use these books to get themselves out of poverty and into tertiary. Thanks to Dave and the rest of the Answer Series team.

While he never personally met any of the learners that I work with in KZN, he has changed their lives and those of their families. He had helped create a domino effect that will not only change the lives of individuals, but whole communities and the country.”

Joe wrote, “Dave had such an amazing personality – we may have not known him that much but his selflessness giving resonated to IkamvaYouth of Ivory Park branch near Johannesburg. Always made the best out of any situation – we learned a lot from his selfless giving and life will be very different without him. We are sorry for his untimely and tragic death. We share the grief and loss of his family and friends. In Xhosa they say, “AKUHLANGA LUNGEHLANGA” “Ulale Ngoxolo”

And Nombu wrote, “On behalf of the Nyanga Branch (Ikamva Youth) thanx to Dave our learners at Nyanga have gained alot from your kind heart, May your soul rest in peace! We were truely blessed to have had our path cross with yours Dave!”

Sizwe Matoti read the contribution Dave made to the YEP Clan Newsletter, an excerpt from which I’ll post here as it beautifully explains the motivation for Dave’s support of community projects:

“I was mostly too young, but perhaps more importantly, too apathetic and politically unaware to have played any meaningful role in the dismantling of the apartheid regime. Instead, I continued my relatively selfish existence, somewhat aware of the injustices around me, but largely in denial of their existence, and certainly with no strong enough moral conviction to actually do anything about it.

The eventual dismantling of apartheid and relatively peaceful transition to a multi-racial democracy was hard won by the toil and suffering of thousands of South Africans (as well as citizens and leaders abroad), who cared enough about our country and its people to sacrifice small and large amounts of themselves and their lives to bring about the nation in which we currently live.

However, although it was truly a miracle and much has been achieved in terms of reconciliation, human rights, infrastructure, much of the legacy of apartheid remains, and this is the single biggest de-stabilizing factor in our country, an unacceptable injustice that we live with on a continued basis, and which we must eradicate if we are to live in true harmony.

As a child of South Africa, and a benefactor of its history, I desire to play a role in rebuilding our new nation, and accept my shared responsibility for its future, borne out of a strong belief in our country’s potential to overcome all odds, that we can step into the dream of a rainbow in peace, where all citizens are proud to be South African, and that by working together we can realise our full greatness.”

Dave certainly played this role, and we thank him!