Stories made
to travel.

It started as a joke!

We are a group of women that mostly BBQ (BRAAI) together, most at the time next to the river called Goukou, Stilbaai, South Africa. One day while eating, my plate was nearly empty while the rest of the girls were still munching away. I wanted to swim and said: “You guys eat so slow, I am going to call you slow-kou” I used it as a PUN and it was intended. Gou means QUICK in Afrikaans and Kou means chewing food. They were chewing too slow for me… slow-kou. I wanted them to gou-kou!

The original meaning of GOUKOU is “river + before” in Khoi

The river that runs through Stilbaai dividing our town in two, west and east is called GOUKOU. The name of the Goukou River is of Khoi origin. It was named by the Koranna people, gou referring to the Gouritz Rivier and kou, ‘before’, pertaining to the last of a series of rivers before the great Gouritiz River. The latter is the largest river system in the region, draining much of the Karoo.

The moment I made the joke, something popped into my heart and has not left me. Why not start a group that creates a space for women who are either single, divorced, or simply in need of a place to be with other women in a healthy environment? Stilbaai is one of the most gorgeous towns in South Africa but the pain in this town is very real.

I created a SLOWKOU STILBAAI group and within 2 months we had 40 women in the group – and growing. We have 11 specific groups on the WhatsApp community app. From biking to swimming to walking, bible study, BBQ… and more.