Very coincidentally, there is an art exhibit by Vermont artist, Sally Linder, from her visit to South Africa in 2002 that is on display through the end of this week. I read about it in Seven Days and  went to see it a few days ago. We passed by some of the tin house shantytowns at 60+ miles per hour as we went from the bustle of the airport to the fantasy of Sun City (with it's not so fantastic past). Sally Linder went to South Africa and straight to the shanty towns as part of the Ark of Hope project. She visited the well-known Soweto and two other towns, Zandspruit and Diepsloot where she met and painted portraits of the residents and their life there. Although I am very excited by the potential of what I saw at TechEd, what she shares in her paintings and words reflecting her experience there is a reminder of how far there is to go. My hope is that the impact of the developer community in South Africa benefits all of South Africa's citizens and this only builds on my desire to work more closely with the SA Developer community, which began while I was there.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org