John Burdes from the Rotary Club Claremont in Cape Town explains, ‘in a wonderful example of international co-operation three American Rotary clubs from the greater Chicago area, together with the Cape Town Rotary Club of Claremont and Rotary International, donated R140 000 to purchase this solar oven for the TSiBA Eden campus.
The Rotary Club of Arlington Heights in America led the process and liaised with partner clubs Rolling Meadows, Sunrise and Claremont. Rotary Claremont thereafter funded and arranged transport of the solar oven to Knysna.’ The Rotary Club of Knysna will provide training and on-going support to TSiBA for using the oven.
The portable solar oven reaches temperatures over 200'C and bakes goodies like delicious bread, quiches, macaroni and cheese and shortbread biscuits. The solar oven can bake 24 loaves at a time, but can bake up to 100 loaves per day! It comes fully equipped with baking pans and trays as well as a gas back-up system.
‘The solar oven is an extension of TSiBA Eden’s commitment to being a green campus and will cook regular campus meals as well as doing demonstrations at various functions’, says Sandy Ueckermann, Executive Director of the TSiBA Eden. ‘
Thank you to all the Rotary Clubs in South Africa and America for your committed support and for sharing our vision to ignite opportunity and social change by providing tuition scholarships in the community for tertiary education in entrepreneurial leadership.’
TSiBA Eden is located in the heart of the rural village of Karatara, near Knysna and is unique in that it focuses on offering a green entrepreneurial bridging and skills development programme that serves rural communities in the Southern Cape, and beyond.
One of the elements setting TSiBA Eden apart from other bridging facilities in South Africa is that it educates students and teaches them practical business skills, but also provides full board and lodging for non-local students. Students awarded tuition scholarships are not required to pay for their education monetarily, but rather to “Pay it Forward” by transferring the knowledge, skills and resources that they gain at TSiBA to their communities. In this way, TSiBA’s vision of “Igniting Opportunity” is realised.
For those who cannot study full time, TSiBA Eden’s Ignition Centre is a work resource hub dedicated to extending TSiBA's mission of “Igniting Opportunity” to reach beyond students and into the communities in which campuses are based.
The Ignition Centre offers support to job seekers and entrepreneurs through specific training courses, mentorship programmes, networking opportunities, access to business networks, office infrastructure and business equipment.
Applications for 2014 are now open and close 30 September 2013. For more information, please contact Genevieve, or Ndora on (044) 356 27 89 extension 19, or email genevieve@tsiba.org.za
