The Singita School of Cooking community project is located at the staff village that serves Lebombo and Sweni Lodges, in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The school was launched in 2007 by the Singita Sweni head chef at the time, with the support of one of his sous chefs. They created a chef training concept focused on unemployed young people from local communities. The project was extremely successful and is now headed by Oriel Mbowane previous Sweni Sous Chef.
The third course began last September; 300 young people were interviewed and just 8 candidates were accepted. Students participate in a 2-stage interviewing process and young people with a real thirst to achieve, a passion and a genuine desire for cooking are identified.
Vocational skills training is very much lacking within rural communities in South Africa. Singita and the community place great value on this particular project—the training provides skills that will not only impact a student's future but that of their dependents and their communities too.
After 18 months of training, Singita's vision is for these students to be working at Commis Chef level in a Singita kitchen or at other lodges in the Kruger National Park. The school has successfully trained three groups, totalling 14 young people from local communities, 12 of whom have found employment either at a Singita property or with other organizations.
To date, 150,000 US dollars have been contributed to the Singita School of Cooking by Singita, Singita guests, as well as the South African government, to help make real the dreams of young, talented and motivated members of the communities surrounding Kruger National Park.
Thank you Singita, one of our favorite travel partners, for setting up and managing this worthwhile community program.
For more information on Singita's lodges, contact our Africa destination expert Megan Bryant at 1-800-999-1758.
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