The Festival, which is held at the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve on the West Coast, not only provides a welcome boost for the local economy but also empowers local residents through skills development.
Jacqui Scheepers, Acting Director of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning, said the centre, CPUT Hospitality Management, the Hotel School and Camissa Solutions had combined resources and expertise for the benefit of the food vendors.
Twenty-four vendors were transported to the Granger Bay campus from the West Coast where they received training on safe and hygienic food preparation and storage as well as customer care and service excellence.
They were also treated to a tour of the Hotel School’s facilities.
Food vendor Nathalie van der Heever said the training had been extremely helpful.
“Even though we’ve been doing this for a while, there is always something new you can learn. The information on the right temperatures for food preparation and food storage was useful. We are thankful for the experience.”
Lovetta Bolters, Chief Executive Officer of Camissa Solutions, said the vendors attending were the breadwinners in their families.
“By pooling our resources we can come up with opportunities like this that benefit the people. The participants will go back into their communities and share what they’ve learnt here today.”
Scheepers said the project was one of a series of transdisciplinary service learning projects during the festival, involving a number of CPUT departments, including Emergency Medical Services, Town and Regional Planning and Mechanical Engineering.
Funding for these projects was received from the University Capacity Development Grant.
“The festival gives us opportunities to do projects in a rural area and to bring skills and empower local communities. We are looking at building long-term relationships with these communities,” she said.
The four-day festival wraps up on February 25.
For more information on the Cape Town Hotel School click here.
Written by Ilse Fredericks
