What do Imbewu trails mean to our students?

This year’s Umzi Wethu Hospitality Academy students attended their third Imbewu trails in March. Both took place at Kleinrivier in the Groendal Wilderness Area, Eastern Cape.
The Blue team was on trail from 8-11 March, and the Red team went out from 22-24 March. Unfortunately their trail was cut short by a day due to torrential rains.
According to Experiential Education Coordinator, Lihle Mbokazi, the students are keen to participate in the Imbewu trails and some shared what the experience has meant to them:

Interview with Siya:

Interview with Lindile:

Graduates give back to Pride

Ntobeko Ngcala (Umzi 6 conservation graduate) joined the Pride trail at Groendaal as a guest guide on Saturday, May 12. He was one of the volunteer guides for the Wilderness Foundation’s Pride of Groendaal project in the Eastern Cape, and was introduced to Umzi Wethu by experiential education manager, Lihle Mbokazi.

After graduating from the conservation academy in 2010, Ntobs joined Shamwari Game Reserve as a ranger. He regularly volunteers as a Pride guide on his days off.

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Sonwabile Tobi - Umzi Wethu Success Story

Sonwabile “Soso” Tobi grew up in an impoverished area of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Raised by his grandparents, Soso did not have the funds to study at university after graduating from high school. Looking for an alternative to help support his family and younger brother, Soso came across the Umzi Wethu programme. After attending the public presentation in his local community, Soso applied to become an Umzi Wethu Student.

“At that time, I did not have any ambitions to be a chef or do anything in the hospitality industry,” says Soso. “I liked watching TV shows about cooking, and I always wondered about all the different ingredients, but I never considered it as a career option. The presentation opened my eyes to see this as an opportunity for a better future, so I applied.”

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Rhino Notching in Pilansberg National Park

On  April, 2012, a rhino notching operation took place at the Pilansberg National Park. “Notching” is a method of marking an animal so that it can be recognised easily by conservationists. It involves cutting a specific pattern onto the ear – similar to the methods used by cattle farmers.

Notching, and data recording allows conservationists to record information about individual rhinos over time including territory/home range, birth rates (calving intervals), associations with other known (notched animals) and eventually age of post reproduction etc.

As a result of the poaching crisis in South Africa, DNA samples are also collected during the notching operation to add to the national DNA database at Onderstepoort. DNA samples can be used as evidence in poaching cases.

The operation was successful thanks to the highly trained team, and the sponsorship of the Volkswagen Amarok vehicle (one of 6 donated byVW Commercial Vehicles) which allowed the team to navigate across rough landscape to get to the tranquilised rhino.  

Nozibele Adonisi - Umzi Wethu Success Story

Nozibele “Nozi” Adonisi sees Umzi Wethu as a stepping stone for skills development as well as personal development. “Through Umzi Wethu, we were encouraged to have future goals and to do something we’re interested in. It gave me the opportunities I needed to earn a living and to finance my studies. Without Umzi, I don’t know where I would be now.”

Nozi first heard about the Umzi Wethu programme through a job skills project running in the Motherwell Township in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. She had always been interested in cooking and saw the Umzi Wethu Hospitality programme as an excellent opportunity to increase her knowledge and skills.

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Green Leaf Café serves breakfast to Algoa FM and world’s most travelled dog!

Green Leaf Cafe chef, Soso Tobi serves a delicious breakfast muesli to Algoa FM presenter, Daron Mann

Named after the world’s most travelled dog, the Oscar Maximus hot air balloon landed at the historical Donkin Reserve on Monday, 07 May, 2012. Algoa FM presenters were there for a live broadcast, and the team from the Green Leaf Café made sure to keep them well stocked with coffee and tasty breakfast treats for the early morning broadcast.

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Forever Wild launches anti-poaching tip-off line

The Wilderness Foundation launched the Forever Wild – Rhino Protection Initiative in May, 2011. The Campaign aims to gather support from the public and various stakeholders to help fight against rhino poaching in South Africa and save the rhino from extinction. "It is only through a GLOBAL campaign and POLITICAL will that we can save this remnant of the dinosaur age – the rhino," environmentalist and conservationist, Dr Ian Player.
In May 2011, the Wilderness Foundation set up a petition to voice the public's outcry over the cruelty of rhino poaching. The petition, which was taken to the highest governmental powers in March 2012, is a vital part of the Wilderness Foundation's lobbying campaign. It received over 18,000 signatures from around the world, and together with an integrated YouTube and social media campaign, generated worldwide awareness of the rhino poaching crisis.
The Wilderness Foundation’s CEO, Andrew Muir, took the petition to South African parliament on Thursday, 26 January 2012 where he addressed the portfolio committee on the topic of rhino poaching. He also delivered the devastating facts of the South African rhino poaching crisis to over 70 senior staff of US Senators and Congressmen who are members of the International Conservation Caucus (ICC) at an ICC Foundation hosted event in Washington, DC on Monday, March 05, 2012.
The Foundation continues to lobby various governmental and private agencies to raise awareness for the cause. The Wilderness Foundation believes that without the intervention of government and the public, the rhino may be extinct in the next ten years.
In May 2012, the Foundation printed and distributed thousands of flyers and posters encouraging whistle blowers to come forward with information related to rhino poaching through a tip-off line (0786969494). "Someone knows someone who knows something!"
For more information, go to: www.wildernessfoundation.co.za/foreverwild 

Phakamisa Mgqabuzana - Umzi Wethu Success Story

Phakamisa Mgqabuzana is a young man of few words and a quiet, unassuming nature, but he comes alive when describing his passion for baking. The young aspiring pastry chef has already registered the name for his future bakery, and is hoping to have it up and running in a few years’ time.

Before being selected for the Umzi Wethu programme, Phakamisa was earning a living by baking biscuits and selling them at the local taxi rank in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. “I learned how to bake from a friend of mine. I used to bake chocolate, custard and coffee flavoured biscuits, and also plain sponge cake,” says Phakamisa. He used the money to support his family including his sisters and his son.

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Nobesuthu “Suthu” Ndlovu - Umzi Wethu Success Story

Nobesuthu “Suthu” Ndlovu is using the wages she earns as a chef and waitress at Green Leaf Café and the Umzi Wethu Catering Unit to save up for further studies. Suthu would like to increase her skills in guest house management, or B&B management, but also has a dream that her business will have a positive social impact in the future. “I have a passion to help people. When I was younger I wanted to be a social worker. Now I’m going to use the skills that I learned at Umzi Wethu to build a business through which I can help people.”

After matric, Suthu, from Walmer Township in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, approached the Olive Leaf Foundation for assistance in getting a job, or further career training. The foundation referred her to an upcoming presentation by the Umzi Wethu hospitality academy, which she attended with interest. “Although I didn’t really see myself in the hospitality industry, I thought that it might be a good opportunity or stepping stone for my future,” says Suthu.

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