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| Chaine Members in the new Kitchen. From left: Sundru Pillay (Chairman of the Chaine Foundation), Sean Webber ( The International Hotel School ) , Barry Caldicott ( Geochem a sponsor) |
This greatly anticipated project, which has taken just over a year to set in motion, is fast on its way to induction, offering a brighter future for those youths that come from disadvantaged childrens’ home backgrounds.
The school will be located within the St Martin’s Children’s Home, where by a new kitchen has been designed and created with the best culinary facilities for the Ikusasa School. The school will give 10 young school leavers from Children’s homes’ in and around Durban, the opportunity to acquire skills in culinary arts during their one year programme. The students will follow a City and Guilds based qualification, fully administered by I H S, a pristine qualification for anyone to gain.
During the year long course, 3 days a week will see the students attending various 5 star hotels in the area to gain valuable on-the-job training with Durban’s top chefs. The remainder of the week will see students attending culinary and practical lectures at the school, under the direction of I H S. The overall aim of the school is to ensure that students are fully equipped with the skills needed to pursue a prosperous career path in the hospitality industry, ensuring placement on completion of the one year course.
All tuition, ingredients for daily cooking, running of the kitchen on a daily basis as well as transport to and from the school will be provided by the school through fundraising and sponsors, allowing for a year of free tertiary education for the 10 selected students.
Commencement of the project was launched last month at a Gala Dinner “
An Evening with the Phantom and the Stars” for 300 people at the Elangeni Hotel to raise funds for the project. The first 10 students have already been selected (see image, above) through a strict selection process and will be introduced to Chaine members, sponsors and the public on the evening.
The kitchen will open its doors in January 2010 and will provide an outstanding opportunity to these ten lucky students who are destined to be culinary stars!
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| Nonzaliseko Dondolo has fun during the selection process. |
Juanita Bezuidenhout learns the Art of Chopping |
FAQs ON IKUSASA
Answered by Sean Webber from “The International Hotel School”
1. Where did the project start?
The initial contact with St Martins Children’s home was made by the staff of The Three Cities Group that were on the starfish programme during 2008, they were to find a community service project as part of their course. They then called in the International Hotel School and the Chaine to assist with furthering the project.
2. Who will be driving the project at Ikusasa?
- The Chaîne Des Rôtisseurs Foundation
- The International Hotel School
- St Martins Children’s Home
- Geochem Chemicals
(Each of these organisations have representatives on the board that is managing
the project.)
The International Hotel School will be administering the running of the syllabus as well as offering support system to the students. There are other hotel companies involved, namely Southern Sun and Red Carnation.
There are also many associated sponsors involved, and without their support the project would not be happening.
3. How have this year’s 10 pupils been selected?
We have selected our 10 candidates from an application pool of twenty four students from various Children’s homes around Durban, and the Ikusasa board feels confident that the candidates we have chosen are of a high calibre, with some of them showing great potential.
The students were initially screened by a panel of board members as well as Inkanyezi Human Resource Solutions, who gladly gave of their expertise to help us whittle down the numbers.
The students then spent a great day in the International Hotel Schools kitchen, with some of our full time students, this gave them the opportunity to talk to chef students of a similar age, as well as a chance to get a true taste of the industry and what is to come for them.
This was followed by a panel interviews with representatives from:
- The Ikusasa Board,
- The International Hotel School
- Inkanyezi HR Solutions.
4. Which hotels will the 10 students be training at next year?
The students will be completing skills training on the property at St Martins Children Home at the Cooking School, however 3 days a week they will spend working at various top hotels in Durban.
These hotels include:
1. The Elangeni Hotel- Under guidance of Chef Nicholas Froneman
2. The Beverly Hills Hotel - Chef Shaun Munro
3. The Oyster Box Hotel – Chef Kevin Joseph
5. Which fields of cooking will they be taught?
These 10 students will be exposed to every facet of cookery possible, during their training; their course will cover everything from Health & safety regulations & food preparation, to cooking methods.
They will all be working towards a City & Guilds of London Certificate in Skills Foundation and a skills proficiency certificate in basic food preparation. This will equip these school leavers with the ammo needed to face the big bad world. With the help of sponsors this class of 2010 will enter the hospitality sector with a bang!
