Onwards and upwards

Yesterday, 5 April, marked 10 years of sobriety for Gavin Fortuin (36) of Highbury.

Today he is a married man recently inducted into fatherhood, but his life in the 10 years prior to that turning point was one of drug addiction and the wrong kind of friends. “It’s also been 10 years of identifying my gift,’’ he says.

Over the past decade Fortuin has been working with young people, presenting youth camps, delivering motivational talks, facilitating various programmes and training for schools, organisations and companies.

He completed a civic leadership course of the Young African Leadership Initiative, a Barack Obama initiative and in 2018 won a News24 100 Young Mandela’s of the Future Award in the leadership category.

Drug addiction

Fortuin grew up with a single parent, his mother. He was never a gang member but says he was closely associated through friends that were. With drug addiction came various things. “I was in and out of police cells, but never convicted for crime.”

At the time his life took an about turn he had six cases pending against him. Fortuin says he would have been heading to Pollsmoor prison if it wasn’t for a social worker who made an appeal to the magistrate. “When I changed my life – there was a certain moment – I was sleeping outside in the rain. My feet were so cold. I was outside the house on the concrete floor.”

Fortuin says “some people might call it something else, (but) I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit”. He describes it as an out of body experience – “Gavin outside speaking to Gavin inside.”

At the time he says he looked a mess with torn clothing, down and out with nowhere to go. “A switch happened, I said this can’t be my life.”

He went to his mother and told her he wanted help.

Even though he had been to rehabilitation centres before Fortuin says this time it was different. “I wanted to be somebody and make something of my life.”

Rehab

His journey ahead started at rehab at the Tehillah Community Collaborative in Elsies River, where he met a motivational speaker, Cole Davids, who became a mentor. Fortuin says Davids was willing to walk the journey with him.

He would accompany Davids to conferences and youth camps. Davids would assist with clothes and food. “He took me along on his motivational talks. I was like a sponge that absorbed everything. Today we are not that close anymore, but he started that process.”

Fortuin says he’s honoured to be the only African co-author of an American book project compiled by Johnny Wimbrey, a motivational speaker from Texas.

His wife, who has met Wimbrey at one of his training sessions in South Africa before, saw a social media post inviting authors to collaborate. “I was selected, interviewed and accepted as one of 20 co-authors to be featured in the book.’’

The book, entitled The Power of Mental Wealth, has chapters from international celebrity authors Heather Monahan, Les Brown and others.

Fortuin says his chapter is titled “Turn your pain into power”. It is about “identity, purpose and vision as prerequisites to reaching one’s full potential”.

Youth

Fortuin is passionate about the youth and loves working with young people.

“I don’t feel like I can change anybody. All I can do is pick up a mirror so they can discover their greatness within. That’s my philosophy – because once something comes from within nobody can kill it. It is like an egg – if you break an egg from the outside its ruined, but if the egg is broken from the inside then there’s life. It’s for the young people to discover their greatness from within.”

Fortuin is hoping to have his autobiography published in 2023. It will go to the depths of his personal journey but also share “pillars of personal development and leadership tools”. He wants to call it From the gutters to the podium.

The American book The Power of Mental Wealth is available at select Wordsworth and Exclusive Books branches or from Fortuin directly.

Contact gavinsfortuin@gmail.com or call 071 226 2890.