An Office Management Technology (OMT) fundraising drive, in which first years raised R21 000 for the Red Cross Children’s Trust, and a series of seminars hosted by second years, gave students an opportunity to put their theory into practice.

Each year OMT students hosts various events, which allows them to take their theory one step further and gain real-world experience. This year first and second-year students pulled out all the stops to create successful events, which took place during October.

First-year OMT students used their entrepreneurship skills to arrange a fundraising event at the Cape Town and Wellington campuses.

With the help of lecturers Belinda Berman and Plaatjies Maribe, the students hosted a market day in order to raise funds for a local charity.

Lecturers said students, who were divided into 16 groups, were extremely creative and innovative with the products they sold.

This year’s products ranged from fruit salads to tantalizing chicken and steak pitas. Students also did cold calling for sponsorship and the teams who were persistent were successful in obtaining sponsorship.

Although preparation for the event was challenging for students, it allowed them to integrate all the skills acquired in the various subjects, such as communication, computing, negotiation and time management.

The students managed to sell all of their products and raised R21 000, which was donated to the Red Cross Children’s Trust, a fundraising arm of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

Clothing from Naartjie, teddy bears and a Pick n Pay voucher were also handed to representatives from the trust.

Meanwhile, the second year OMT students hosted seminars at the Cape Town, Bellville and Wellington campuses.

The seminars aimed at developing a number of skills including planning, coordination, and leadership skills.

In line with the theoretical background provided, this practical experience enabled the students to successfully execute an event from the planning stage to its completion.

The entire second year student body was divided into six groups and each devised an original programme for their seminar.

Although each seminar followed a difference programme, each was centered on the theme of “Creating Successful Futures.”

Invited guests included the head of the OMT department, Mandie Richards, lecturers in the faculty and partners in industry.

The students were also required to invite keynote speakers to discuss various topics that were significant to their themes.

The keynote speakers included media personalities, motivational speakers, professionals from the industry and entrepreneurs.

The culmination of this exercise was a portfolio which was submitted by each group to their lecturers Jasmiena Latief and Mario da Costa, who assisted them throughout the process.

Lecturers and keynote speakers said they were impressed with the professionalism displayed by all the students.

Written by CPUT News

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Office Management and Technology (OMT) students celebrated National Youth Month by giving back to the community.

OMT students volunteered their services to the Chaeli Campaign, a Cape Town-based Non-profit Organization which provides assistive devices and therapies to children with disabilities. 

The Chaeli Campaign has been given an opportunity to participate in the Spur Shadow Volunteer programme run by the Spur Group, and the campaign chose to render services in the Red Hawk Spur in Plumstead.

OMT students Bahati Mwarabu and Lukhanyo Sidindi joined volunteers from other schools in cleaning tables and assisting the waitrons.

This is one way in which the Chaeli Campaign generates funds as the services of the volunteers will see it receive a percentage of the turnover from the three-hour shift they worked.

OMT Senior Lecturer, Mandie Richards, co-ordinates this initiative in collaboration with the campaign’s project manager, Debbie Cape.

“I have found the experience to be extremely humbling, as students are able to contribute in such a small way and make a difference to the lives of so many children who are challenged each and every day,” says Richards.

She says she wants to have as many of her students involved in other projects as well.

Student Bahati says he enjoyed the experience and was glad that he could contribute to such a worthy cause.

For more information about the Chaeli Campaign, visit chaelicampaign.co.za.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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