He may not have his own TV series, but local businessman and foodie Sundru Pillay is making dreams come true for local aspiring chefs.
The Ikusasa School of Cooking (ikusasa meaning “hope” or “tomorrow” in Zulu) is a charity with big aspirations: to give hope to those who might not have had it before. The school offers ten disadvantaged school leavers the opportunity to learn in-depth culinary skills in a one year programme, which would usually cost R100 000 a year.
Sundru Pillay, who is Chairperson of the social responsibility programme of the SA Chaine Des Rotisseurs Foundation Trust and a member of the international foundation, rallied together friends in the hospitality industry to raise money to put ten students through the course, free of charge.
One of the students, 18-year-old Simone Pillay, says, “I was extremely excited and happy. I was in the middle of exams when I found out about the course, so this just gave me so much hope.”
The students are following a City & Guilds based qualification, fully administered by the International Hotel School (IHS) – a qualification which will not only provide the students with the necessary theory to work in the hospitality industry, but also with the strong likelihood that they will be placed in jobs on completion of the course.
Sundru studied history and criminology but started his career in the oil industry. From there, he realised a dream – working in tourism, first with Air Mauritius and then starting his own travel agency and events company. It is through this that he met all kinds of interesting and famous people around the world.
When asked about the initiative, Sundru said, “Being able to give children who are challenged financially and academically a chance in life is extremely gratifying.”
The school already seems to have made an impact! 20-year-old Phiwe Mthethwa says he aims to “study further and one day own my own B&B where I can train teens from children’s homes and disadvantaged backgrounds, and hire them to work for me.”
We’re looking forward to these budding chefs cooking for us one day!
