Lee-Ann de Sousa, a resource manager across ELL, Education and Academic divisions, Newgen, resides in vibrant Pretoria, South Africa, having transitioned from a quiet hometown to pursue her studies. Embracing the city life, she finds joy in its bustling atmosphere and endless activities. She has this to say about her country: ‘South Africa is an incredibly beautiful and diverse country. I love the people in this country as well as the diverse culture and the lifestyle. I have visited a few countries around the world and there just isn’t anywhere like home. South Africans are very friendly people with a great sense of humour. Despite the problems we face in this country on a daily basis, you can count on South Africans to make light of any situation. Add our beautiful landscape, abundance of wildlife and great food and you can see why I love it here.’ Though Lee-Ann admires South Africa’s rich diversity and warm-hearted people, alongside its scenic landscapes and culinary delights, she laments the infrastructure issues and frequent power outages plaguing the country, compounded by prevalent crime rates. Lee-Ann’s career began with a focus on publishing, eventually leading her to her current role as resource manager at Newgen. Despite the initial cultural adjustments, Lee-Ann is passionate about her work and is also a children’s book author having published a few books already. This is also Lee-Ann’s proudest moment as it was her childhood dream to publish children’s books. Writing is her biggest passion, and she hopes to take it further in the future. Lee-Ann is a skilled dancer, having mastered various styles including Ballroom, Latin American (for both of which she has been awarded gold bar certificates), line dancing and Salsa. Lee-Ann loves adventure and exploring new hobbies. She dreams of flying, envisioning the freedom to explore the world’s wonders at her leisure. She has indulged in extreme activities like abseiling, water rafting, clay pigeon shooting and ziplining, and obstacle courses like the Warrior race. She has completed three of these races, one of them being the Rookie challenge which is a 5 km obstacle course involving everything from climbing up obstacles to crawling through mud. Living in South Africa has given Lee-Ann many opportunities to interact with some amazing wildlife too, like the African elephants, lion cubs and tiger cubs, to name a few. She has visited many animal sanctuaries and her heartfelt advice to anyone travelling to that side of the globe is to not miss this. She has also been swimming with dolphins in Mauritius and swimming with bioluminescent plankton in Thailand. She seems to take to water like a fish and hence loves snorkelling and so that is something she always does when she gets the chance. On a more normal and human-doable note, Lee-Ann enjoys trying out new hobbies. She has done pottery, has taken dancing and ice-skating classes to name a few. We begin to wonder if Lee-Ann has 48 hours to her day when she mentions that at the moment she is doing art classes to learn how to paint. On the side, she and her husband Vernon have decided to learn Portuguese, which they have been doing for a few months now. And we will be astonished to note that in a world without limitations, Lee-Ann dreams of mastering figure skating because ‘there is just something about dancing on ice that appeals’ to her and she is drawn to the elegance of gliding across an icy terrain. Unbelievable that someone has this humongous amount of zest for life. Hats off to her enthusiasm! Despite having such busy hobbies, Lee-Ann is a compassionate listener and has an attentive ear and offers empathetic support to colleagues who approach her. She is also old school in that she finds solace in handwriting, cherishing the tactile experience and enhanced memory retention it provides over typing. The books she writes all take birth on paper first before going the digital way. Lee-Ann’s passion lies in children’s books, though she also enjoys delving into mysteries and psychological thrillers. She advocates for stepping beyond one’s comfort zones, believing in the transformative power of confronting fears and embracing new adventures. A career advice that Lee- Ann values is the wisdom of preserving professional relationships and recognizing the interconnectedness of the global community. She is well-travelled and her journey to Thailand stands out, particularly the surreal experience of swimming with bioluminescent plankton under a starlit sky. Though she was afraid she might end up as a sea animal’s dinner, she swears she had an incredible experience. Ever the adventurer, Lee-Ann aspires to someday ski amidst the breathtaking landscapes of the Swiss Alps. Well! Lee-Ann, here’s wishing you all the very best and we hope to hear your stories of the snow-clad beauties.
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