.QUARTERLY

October 2011 Edition N o.7

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ttMCA gave us a,great opportunirytt sayChandre and Agutha

tFhe first 15 graduates of a MCA-NI sponsored hospitality trainingat the Wolwedans Foundation arefinding their dream jobs.

"lt is always busy here and the work isvery interesting," says an enthusiasticChandre Prinsloo from behind thereception of the Arebbusch TravelLodge in Windhoek. The 19 yearold recently finished her level 2hospitality course at the WolwedansDesert Academy and now works as areceptionist at Arebbusch.

"The training at Wolwedans washard butfun," Chandre recalls vividly."When we got to the Desert Academyit was winter and freezing cold, but I

was kept busy with the many visitingItalian tourists and I soon madefriends with my fellow trainees."

The Wolwedans Foundation'shospitality courses are co-sponsoredby the MCA-N which provides traininggrants to eligible candidates in skillssectors that the Namibia TrainingAuthority (NTA) lndustry SkillsCommittee defines as'high priority'.

As part of the grant obligations Wolwedans helps thesuccessful trainees to find work. "Taimi Malima, the HRand Admin officer at Wolwedans gets 90% of the credit forfinding me this job," explains an elated Chandre. "She wasjust so helpful and motivating. I am thoroughly enjoyingmy experience at Arebbusch and the staff here are veryfriendly and supportive,"

Chandre, who loves to cook and wants to become apastry chef later in life is using her new salary to buy lotsof cookbooks and to save for future studies.

Graduated from grade 12 in 2010, Chandre was part ofa group of 30 trainees that started hospitality training inJanuary of this year at Wolwedans' two training centres;the NICE Restaurant in Windhoek and the DesertAcademy in the South.

During the training the NTA assesses the trainees tocheck that the '15 are compliant with the unit standard.The best 15 trainees will stay at Wolwedans to continue toLevel 3 hospitality qualification. The remaining traineesthat passed Level 2 are assisted by Wolwedans to enter

the workplace and start earning arealsalary.

Wolwedans helps the trainees withCV-writing, developing interviewskills and researching the jobmarket. This way the trainingrecipients will qualify to fill theexisting skills shortage experiencedby the hospitality industry.

"Appearance, time managementand language proficiency areessential skills I look for when hiringa receptionist," says Arebbuschfront office manager Maria Szaboabout the qualities that people in thehospitality sector need to possess.Wolwedans is uniquely obliged bythe MCA-N agreement to teachthese skills to their trainees duringthe courses. So that the student'semployability and future servicedelivery is enhanced.

Happy at the Hilton

Agatha Amadhila is 21 years oldand is very excited to be working atWindhoek's prestigious new HiltonHotel.

"MCA-N has given me this great opportunity, I have todo well. I am working hard to complete my probationsuccessfully," Agatha smiles confidently. Normally, I couldonly have afforded this training through a loan whichwould have been a heavy financial burden and almostimpossible to obtain," says Agatha.

Having completed her studies at St. Josephs RomanCatholic School in Dobra, just outside of Windhoek,Agatha applied for the hospitality course at WolwedansFoundation and she was very pleased to be selected,"The atmosphere at Wolwedans was vibrant and friendly,the experience at the DesertAcademy in the South waswonderful and we met a lot of German tourists," recountsAgatha.

"Stephan Bruckner of the Wolwedans Foundation was sofriendly and interactive, I wish more managers and ownersin the tourism industry would be like him," she praises

StudyLoans

the inventor of Wolwedans' self-sustainable tourismventures. "The coursework was quite hard, but the teststhat Wolwedans set for us were actually more challengingthan the NTA assessments, so we were well prepared."

"lt's my ambition to work at the front desk of a major hoteland that means I have to learn about the different aspectsof the hotel business. There are always calls, deliveriesand other duties to perform, so I am learning a lot. I amvery happy to be at a hotel of such a high internationalstandard," says an exuberant Agatha,

When asked about the salary at the Hilton, she is a bit coy."lt's enough, it's really really enough!" she giggles. "l'mtreating myself now for studying hard, but next year I willsave to continue my studies."

MCA-N wishes Agatha, Chandre and the other Wolwedansgraduates a very successful career in the tourism industry. !

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