Herewith the transcript from the Soli Philander Show on Cape Talk Radio, 11 November 2009, World Responsible Tourism Day.
THE SOLI PHILANDER SHOW 11 November 2009 1:35 PM
The TCD Trust was formed in 2004 by 4 players in the tourism industry, who, recognizing the tremendous need for help in many disadvantaged areas, teamed up in a bid to unify the efforts of the tourism industry and maximize effectiveness in bringing the benefits of the tourism to the community at large.
Each of the trustees has been personally involved, in a hands-on capacity, with various community projects and after chatting about these projects, comparing notes and sharing their frustrations, they decided that it made perfect sense to pool their efforts;resources and to form a legal body to take these efforts to greater hights.
Since its creation, the Trust represents a growing number of companies: the Friends of the Trust.
Up till now the Trust has accomplished 4 big projects:
Masikhule Home Crèche
Baphumelele Educare Centre
Rosalia’s Soup Kitchen
Respite Home For Infected Children.
Today Soli spoke to founding member from the trust, Enver Mally about their next initiative, Blomvlei Multipurpose Center to be built on the grounds of Blomvlei Primary School. The reason for this, says Enver is that schools must be the centers of community life.
Initiated in response to Blomvlei Primary School’s expression of need through the 567 Cape Talk’s “Silence the Violence†campaign in 2005, the purpose of the project is to build a multi-purpose facility on the premises of the Blomvlei Primary School grounds in Hanover Park. Facing the threat of violence and drug, the community of Hanover Park stands amongst the most vulnerable communities in South Africa. The school is the door to the future of this community. The learners of the school are the primary beneficiaries of the multi-purpose facility. We are looking at opening the facility to the broader community.
The Facility will include:
Library / Media Resource Centre – building starts in January 2010
Central Hall & Indoor Recreation Area
Conference, seminar, meeting, training room
Catering Kitchen
Outdoor Recreation & Sports Area, Two soccer fields have already been planted.
The design of the buildings is to include as many cost effective sustainable construction methods and materials as possible. The design will enable the facilities to maintain heat in the winter without costly heating and be cool in the summer months without air conditioning. Rain water storage tanks will also be installed to catch water run off from the roof and gutters.
The TCD Trust will also be recruiting people from the local community who have building skills to help with the construction of the center. They’ve contacted and sourced various companies and NGO who will also be supplying the school with trees, an educational garden, vegetable garden and a recycling depot.
