The story of Litha Soyizwapi

Litha Soyizwapi is the Creative Director and Founder of the GauRider.

I’m from an average family in Africa. But I had two obsessions since my childhood. One is creating something on my own. Computers are my second obsession.

When I went to study graphic design, I struggled with drawing in my first year. I knew my handwriting was poor. But my sketches were morbid.

There are about 110 students in my first year, and about 90 of them wanted to study graphic design for their second year. The graphic design department only took about 20 students a year.

In order for me to be a graphic designer, I needed to be one of the 20 students, and drawing was the recommended subject. During the first quarter of my first year, I was the only student who failed drawing. I received 44%.

I went to my drawing lecturer.

I asked him: “Why was I failing and how could I be better?”

He gave me pointers. He told me what I was doing right. He told me what I was doing wrong. He also gave me an advice. He advised me to keep a sketchbook to draw everyday objects.

I took this advice to heart. During the holidays, I drew a lot. I drew even when I went back to my college after vacation.

I drew till I finished the sketchbook. I finished the sketchbook and I bought a new one. I read books on drawing techniques. And then my drawing improved.

By the end of the second quarter, I jumped from 44% to 75%.

But this experience taught me three lessons.

1) It taught me to learn the basics.

2) It taught me to learn by doing.

3) It also taught me to apply knowledge.

These three lessons are the same lessons I used when I was teaching myself programming

-2-

I sincerely wanted to work on the iPhone SDK. The SDK ( Software development kit) was a huge file.

SDK is just a fancy word for toolbox, which is just a box of tools to develop applications.

But the file size was huge. There was a company that developed iPhone apps in Parktown North where I stayed at the time.

I went in. I introduced myself; and requested the copy of the SDK since they had already downloaded it.

They gave me a lot of runaround. And in short, they never gave me the SDK. This experience made my desire and determination to want to learn how to do this even stronger. To make a long story short, finally I could get it downloaded for me.

If there’s a will, you see there can be thousand ways.

I bought myself a book on iPhone programming and Objective C.

I realized that the graphic design creative process makes you how to think. It teaches you to ask the question why.

It is no secret that most of the influential tech entrepreneurs are University dropouts. I wanted to do the opposite and be a drop in, just for a year or two.

I wanted to learn the basics properly. I downloaded free online courses from MIT, Stanford University, and Carnegie Mellon University. The course contents included machine learning, iPhone programming etc.

I wanted to create something for myself, something that I would use every day. I’m an everyday user of the Gautrain train service.

Gautrain is the rapid rail system that connects Johannesburg, Pretoria and O. R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park.

So I decided to create a Gautrain application.

I researched similar applications around the world and found out that all the user interface were identical.

But I wanted to create something unique, something that would enhance the user experience, something that would simplify the user interface.

I also wanted the application to work well offline. Data is very expensive for poor people like me.

Luckily, The Financial Mail gave it 4.5 Stars out of 5. I was surprised but elated.

Within two weeks of its launch, it was mentioned in Stockholm, Sweden at a web and mobile conference. The app is charted at number two in the South African App Store in the iPad travel category for both top paid and top grossing.

The internet access has made the world a really, really small place. And I think great ideas can come from anywhere around the globe, whether you are from a small town or a big city, whether you are from a rural or an urban settlement.

I believe that people should exercise their idealism to make their ideas happen. Of course, execution is always the hardest part.