Tony Achmat spent his life teaching people how to speak, listen and lead. He was very good at making whoever sat in front of him believe they could do more than they thought.
He lived and worked in many countries. He served in Vietnam as an officer, and was shot down out of a helicopter twice. In the 1970s he won an international speaking competition, and from then on communication was his profession: decades of coaching and training managers around the world in the skills that are hardest to put on a certificate.
"Get busy living, or get busy dying."
"God has no hands but ours."
Sri Lanka was where he chose to be when he was not working. Kumar's family took him in as one of their own, he called Kumar his son, and to the family and to much of the town he was Papa.
He is also how we met Kumar. He ran a seminar for our company, we mentioned that we were planning a trip to Sri Lanka, and he said his son could show us the island properly.
Tony died on 23 May 2018. People who spent an hour in a room with him still quote him years later. That is a good way to be remembered, and it is why his name is on this website. Thank you, Tony.