Howzit

Carel Van Graan
March 04, 2025

Eish. This is the 29th newsletter I’ve written.

For more than six months, I’ve sent out a newsletter every single week, and I think this might be the first one that’s going out late—because today has just been crazy busy. But anyway, here goes.

Remember my car’s back seat drama from the last newsletter? Got it all sorted out thanks to Sandy, who connected me with Jonathan. So, I headed out to their shop, Norwescan Motors, where they fixed it up for me—quick, easy, and super reasonable. And of course, I got to sit and have a lekker chat in Afrikaans while I waited.

And then there’s the big printer I posted about a couple of weeks ago—the one that Belinda is still a little sour about… but she’s coming around! She’s been watching videos on how to apply graphics, and I can see she’s getting excited—especially now that we landed our first big job. We’re doing the entire front of a new store in Lynn Valley, all thanks to Ansie. She was chatting with her hairdresser about my new printer, and it turns out the hairdresser’s husband had just started his store and needed signage.

This is exactly what I mean when I talk about community and networking—both getting my car sorted and landing our first printing job happened because of the incredible people in our community. So, a massive thank you to Ansie, Jonathan, and Sandy—you all rock!

And hey, if you need your car serviced, check out Norwescan Motors. They used to focus only on Mercs, but they’re branching out now and servicing all kinds of vehicles. Plus, if you’re missing South Africa, you can chat a bit of Afrikaans or just talk a little South African while you’re there. Tell Jonathan or Jesse I sent you ;-)

Lastly, I know a few other people messaged me about signage and stickers—I promise I’ll get back to you soon! It’s just been a crazy couple of weeks because I also needed to figure out how this printer works and get my head back into gear. It’s been just over 10 years since I last ran a large format printer.

Upcoming Events
Outdoor Adventures – Get Out There!
SAFFA Spotlight – A Boer Maak ‘n Plan!
South African Institute of Canada – Exciting Updates!
Wrapping It Up

Upcoming Events

🎶 Vibrant Journey to Africa – Celebration of Culture
📅 March 8, 2025 – Experience the energy and rhythm of Africa with Zimbabwean artist Noma (Nkwali) in Aldergrove. A vibrant showcase of music and dance! [See details]

🍺 South African Pub Night – Monthly Meet-Up
📅 March 17, 2025 – Meet up for a laid-back evening of good company, cold drinks, and plenty of Saffa banter at Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver. [See details]

Outdoor Adventures – Get Out There!

You know, sometimes we forget just how ridiculously amazing British Columbia is. We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, but let’s be honest—it’s way too easy to get stuck in the day-to-day and not actually go explore it.

And it’s not just Vancouver—there’s so much more out there. The Yukon’s wild landscapes, Kelowna’s wine country, secret lakes, hidden trails, and some next-level adventures that most of us haven’t even scratched the surface of.

I was at the Vancouver Outdoor & Adventure Expo recently and got to chat with some awesome people about gold panning in Barkerville, heliskiing in untouched mountains, canyoning in Squamish, and even sturgeon fishing on the Fraser River (those fish are prehistoric, guys!).

🎥 Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/Hxx8HTSxobc

Seriously, we have all this right on our doorstep—it’s just waiting for us to get out there and make some memories.

SAFFA Spotlight – A Boer Maak ‘n Plan!

And of course, while I was at the Vancouver Outdoor & Adventure Expo, I ran into another South African—because we really are everywhere! This time, it was Andrew Duthie from Lemur Campers, and let me tell you, South African ingenuity at its finest! When a Saffa sees a problem, we don’t just complain—we make a plan.

Andrew was tired of uncomfortable camping setups, so he designed and built his own camper from scratch—right in his garage. The result? A super-lightweight (660 lbs!) folding camper that sleeps four (two queen-sized beds), has a clever tailgate kitchen, and packs down small enough to fit in your garage. It’s basically the ultimate solution for anyone who wants to camp without sacrificing comfort—or needing a massive truck to tow it.

It takes 10 minutes to set up, keeps you dry even in Vancouver’s rain, and best of all? It’s built for adventure. Andrew spent 7 years developing this beauty, and now it’s ready for the world. And of course, if you put down a deposit before the end of March, you get $1,000 off this trailer!

Check out the video here and see this epic bit of South African ingenuity in action!

South African Institute of Canada – Exciting Updates!

One of the big things I did today was finalize our application for the West Vancouver Cultural Festival! We’ve got a booth, and we’ll be selling biltong, South African goodies, branded clothing, and more. There’ll be tasters, some great South African events, and an awesome way to showcase our community. More details to come, but it’s going to be lekker!

On top of that, Lois and the team of volunteers have been going flat out—there’s just a lot going on!

✅ Helping Brett organize a Market Day in Kelowna, handling paperwork and admin to make it happen.
✅ Helping Tracy set up a Boerewors Roll Day in Okanagan Falls, because let’s be honest—what’s better than a proper boerie roll?
✅ Fielding calls and emails from people needing advice on everything from visas to business ideas.
✅ Launched the SAFFA Jobs Canada Facebook page, which has already taken off! People are posting jobs, looking for work, and making connections—exactly what we hoped for.

And of course, none of this would be happening without the support of our founding members, who are helping us cover the financial costs of everything we’re doing. That’s why I need to say a huge thank you to Auden and Gwen O’Reilly, our very first Platinum Business Founding Members!

We’re busy setting up their businesses on the SAIC website, and we’ll be featuring them soon. But I just want to take a moment to say—without their support (and the support of our founding members), running and growing the South African Institute of Canada would be so much harder.

At the same time, if you’re looking for financial advice or help with financial immigration, check out Auden and Gwen’s pages on Howzit Canada here:

They’re incredible South Africans who are not only experts in their field but are also helping to build our community.

If you’ve been thinking about becoming a Founding Member, now is the time. We are going flat out to get this off the ground, and it’s starting to take off—but now, we really need all the help we can get to make these events and initiatives a success.

Every sign-up helps us build something truly meaningful for South Africans in Canada. Join us and be part of something bigger. And here’s the best part—forever, people will know that you were one of the original supporters who made this possible. We will keep our founding members on our website for as long as the South African Institute exists, recognizing those who helped build it from the start.

And finally, Howzit Canada 2.0 is almost ready! One of the other things keeping me busy is rebuilding the site—because I wasn’t happy with the logic on the first version. This next version will be bigger, better, and way more user-friendly. We should be ready to go live in the next two weeks, and then things can really start rocking and rolling!

Wrapping It Up

Turns out I might just still make it after all! I might only be a few minutes late, and somehow I ended up writing a much longer newsletter than I anticipated—but I just got so excited!

Anyway, for those of you who ordered the free South African Heart stickers last week, they’re finally going out! I had to order new envelopes because, of course, they didn’t fit in the ones I had. The new envelopes arrived today, so we’ll be mailing them off tomorrow.

And that’s it, guys—stay awesome, stay happy, and remember—Canada is amazing! 🇨🇦