innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and the US Embassy South Africa partnered together to adopt 18 schools in Nkandla in a capacitation and entrepreneurship programme, that culminated with handing over of garden tools.
The collaboration between the innobiz Durban University of Technology (DUT) Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the US Consulate General, the University of Maryland (UMD), and the University of Alabama (UAB) recently etched smiles on the faces of learners from 18 schools in Nkandla, northern KwaZulu-Natal, when they were presented with gardening tool packages worth R18 000 each.
The gardening tools handover was held at Vumanhlamvu Primary School and was the culmination of the activities of the USA-SA School Entrepreneurship Project, which commenced in September 2022.
The event was attended by members of the innobiz DUT team, the Acting US Consulate General Jaclyn Cole and consisting of Chantal Boulle, Emerging Voices Specialist, the schoolteachers from the 18 participating schools, and learners from some of the schools.
Ms Nontokozo Ngcobo, innobiz DUT Centre Manager, thanked the numerous schoolteachers from recipient schools for their commitment in ensuring that the project worked, while she also expressed that she hoped the gardening tools would be used accordingly in the schools.
Ngcobo said that although the initial plan was to adopt five or 10 schools for the project, the vastness of the Nkandla area, under the King Cetshwayo District Municipality, which boasts over 160 schools, had compelled the project to adopt 18 schools.
She further said that the handover of the gardening tools was a depiction of the success of the project through the efforts of those who had been at the fulcrum of the project.
Ngcobo commended members of the innobiz team, including Senamile Dlangalala, the project administrator, Khothatso Memela and Dr Harry Swatson who all played crucial roles in ensuring that the project became a success by constantly being hands on.
“The project started after we submitted a proposal to the US Consulate General proposing that we wanted to help our schools, to assist them particularly in agriculture, technology, and entrepreneurship. We wanted a partnership because these things are quite expensive so if we partner with an industry, it becomes much easier for the University, especially now that we had to take more schools, so they offered us an opportunity to partner with us in this project,” Ngcobo remarked.
Turning her attention to the excited learners gathered at Vumanhlamvu Primary School, Ngcobo told the learners that the project belonged to them and that the tools were at their disposal to use in their school gardens to grow plants that will help feed them and their communities.
In closing, Ngcobo also gave thanks to the University for ensuring that the Centre received the necessary resources to support such initiatives.
“This is how we engage with you as the schools of KwaZulu-Natal. Congratulations to the schools, to the teachers that have been committed to this project,” she concluded.
The project blends perfectly with the values of creativity and innovation championed by the University’s ENVISION2030, as it will require constant innovative thinking and creativity of learners and teachers to ensure that the project is firstly sustainable, and secondly, profitable.
The project also falls seamlessly in line with the words of DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Thandwa Zizwe Mthembu when he speaks about DUT being fundamentally creative.
“We approach all that we do with a spirit of innovation, with an entrepreneurial mindset, and with a burning desire to find new solutions, to innovate, to create opportunities out of societal problems, and to apply our collective knowledge and skills, creativity and innovations, in unique and exciting ways,” Prof Mthembu explains.
“All of the above is coded in our DNA; the source of our collective being the source of all we will still become,” Prof Mthembu remarked.
The Acting Consul General at the US Consulate General in Durban, Jaclyn Cole expressed delight at having partnered with innobiz in bringing the project to Nkandla.
“I know this has been an ongoing project with DUT. It is an absolute pleasure. I tell my colleagues that I have the best job in the embassy, because I do not just have to sit in meetings and meet with government officials, I get to meet with real people and we get to connect Americans and South Africans through projects like these,” Cole said.
She shared that her parents were from farming towns in America and Jamaica in she understood the importance of agriculture, science, and technology in changing people’s lives.
In her address, Cole further explained that with these types of university partnerships they can see hands-on results in communities such as Nkandla where students can do experiential learning through agriculture and apply science through technology and agricultural business practices. In conclusion, she expressed delight at being at Nkandla for the handover of the gardening tools.
“We hope that these resources go a long way into teaching our students and helping them to grow. We hope to see future farmers and future scientists among this group, not just in the future but right now,” she said in conclusion.
Mr Ntandoyenkosi Mpofana, innobiz DUT Stakeholder Relations, Marketing and Communications Officer, in his role as the programme director for the day, also imparted some words of wisdom to the learners.
He told the learners that given the gardens they had been able to produce without adequate resources, the sky was now definitely not the limit with the added resources available to them to enhance what they had already started.
Senamile Dlangalala, innobiz DUT Centre Secretary and the project administrator, expressed that it had been a pleasure for her to work in conjunction with the schools to make the dream of the project a realisation.
“I must say that you are lucky to be selected for this project because out of the 166 schools that are here at Nkandla you were the chosen ones.
Pictured: All stakeholders with the gardening equipment at the handover ceremony.
Ntandoyenkosi Mpofana
