Hospitality School

Luyanda and Zips are headed to the CPUT Hospitality School, for which they need to purchase their own set of knives, a complete set of kitchen utensils, R 5000 worth of textbooks, a chef's uniform and a class uniform. They knew they would need to buy books, but neither Z nor L knew about all the other stuff they'd have to buy -- the aforementioned list of "necessary materials" wasn't sprung on them until after they'd handed over the R 3500 registration fee. Neither of Zips' nor Luyanda's mothers have the funds to cover any of this and they can not procure a loan from the bank, considering their low incomes (if anyone is listening - the townships need microfinance). Without assistance from somewhere, they would need to drop out.

So, armed with an SAEP checkbook, Zips and Luyanda and I have been running around town trying to find used materials, bargain ourselves some reasonable prices, and figure out how they can get away with sharing one set of everything. In the end, we bought the books, kitchen kit, and knives for a total of R 4500, or about 40% of retail price -- all of this they have agreed to share between them. I handed over the money for their uniforms today.

Z and L are getting loans from the government to pay for tuition and housing (loans are not given to cover the supplies above), but they won't know what their award is until April, even though classes start next week (this does not make sense to me either!).

But anyway, this day was victorious because we got the supplies!

Pictured: Zips wielding one of her new chef's knives as Luyanda worriedly looks on.