Ntsakisi brimming with development ideas
FOR our final leg of the journey leading to Amcare’s rebranding, the RECORD visited Amcare’s skill development and catering department. The skills development kitchen aims to empower people through the provision of skills that give them the independence they need. Under the guidance of the skills development coordinator and head chef, Ntsakisi Tlakula, students learn …
FOR our final leg of the journey leading to Amcare’s rebranding, the RECORD visited Amcare’s skill development and catering department.
The skills development kitchen aims to empower people through the provision of skills that give them the independence they need. Under the guidance of the skills development coordinator and head chef, Ntsakisi Tlakula, students learn how to cook and bake, not just for their own family but also to make a living.
Ntsakisi wants to bring her knowledge on how to prepare food. “I hope that the programme will touch a lot of people,” she said.
She shared with the RECORD some of the important lessons she teaches students. Her first most important rule is hygiene. Another area of focus for Ntsakisi is that the ingredients must be used up before more are bought. This lesson helps the students to realise they can use what they have to cook.
Courses available
The skills development programme has three courses. The first is a baking course that runs for seven days. The cost of the course is R450. It includes a recipe book with all the recipes recommended by Ntsakisi.
At the end of the seven days, practical and written tests are taken to pass the course.
The second course is cooking which also runs for seven days. As in the previous course, a recipe book is provided and tests are taken. The cost is R750.
The final course is the platters course. It takes three days to complete. The cost is R350. Aside from cooking skills, learners share her knowledge pertaining to budgeting and basic food business practices.
Empower and support
The aim of the courses is to empower students and to allow them not only to care for themselves and their families but also to give them the skills necessary to make them employable or to establish their own businesses.
The second aspect of the programme includes a catering kitchen that generates income for Amcare to fund their relief work. The kitchen caters to events and parties.
Amcare also provides cooked meals for individuals on a meal a day system. The cost of a meal is R35. The proceeds help Amcare to support its relief programmes. For this reason, the support of the community is needed to develop the catering kitchen and skills development programmes.
Dreaming big
Ntsakisi’s dream is to become the leading catering and skills development centre in Alberton and beyond – to grow the catering kitchen to three times its current capacity and have it as a fully-fledged industrial kitchen. This will allow Amcare to cater to larger corporate and business events and increase the income the programme generates.
The skills development centre will also be expanded to accommodate up to eight students at a time, all working on their own stations. To facilitate this expansion, Amcare will need more community support.
To reach Amcare catering and skills development department go take a look at catering@amcare.co.za
