What Moves Us
– And Why –
Why we are here
Soul Action was co-founded by Philip and Rachel Bowyer in 2007, following God’s call to South Africa, where an emerging desire to address the inequality and segregation they encountered in society took shape.
VOCATION COMES FROM….the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.
– Frederick Buechner (1973) Wishful Thinking
For Philip and Rachel, the staff team, and the children who are part of the school community, it is about how their gifts and passions meet society’s needs.
Given South Africa’s persistent inequality (World Bank, 2022) and the segregation that still lingers in some sectors of society — a consequence of apartheid’s past and present-day socioeconomic divides — we believe education has the potential to play a significant role in creating a more equal and integrated society — one in which people from different backgrounds have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and contribute meaningfully to the world.
Soul Action’s school is an outward expression of that inner call: to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).
A new kind of community
If we want a more equal and integrated society, we believe children and their families need opportunities to experience what one looks and feels like. Soul Action therefore seeks to bring together children and families from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, creating a community they can learn with and from one another.
…no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and grows together
– Schriefer (2016) Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning.
Where belief shapes practice
Our faith — in God, in the educational philosophies we’ve studied, the pedagogies we’ve experienced, the postures we’ve developed, and in our children — shapes the way we teach, the curriculum we develop and the community we create.
We seek to provide a high-quality education that is informed by global research, enriched by a diverse curriculum and grounded in the South African context — while giving children the space to question, create, collaborate and discover who they are and what they might contribute.