How you can help CIDA

Can you or your company provide any of the following please:

• Improving the current canteen so that students may eat there rather than in their dormitories.

• The improvement of class rooms in terms of desks and chairs

• Satellite linkages for conference calls with other universities.

“I am very grateful. It (CIDA) has given me hope, it has changed my life”. – Gertrude Kitongo

position students normally hold in their first year. CIDA Sparks were expected to interact with Donors and other visitors when they visit the Campus. The purpose was for the students to share information on the curriculum and the campus workings and to learn how to network. “I was one of the founder members of the CIDA Insider Magazine. It was so popular that it would be sold out before we had even completed binding them. Later that same year I was voted in and became the Vice President for the Black Management Forum on campus. We shared career guidance with 15 schools in the Limpopo province. We also went to schools in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Soweto. I was not fluent in other South African languages and joined Toast Masters to help me speak in public. I was part of the EVOKE program, a World Bank initiative designed to empower young people to learn how to change the world”. Gertrude was the one student

representing CIDA at the annual Brightest Young Minds summit last year. From this summit she was selected to attend the 2010 MTN Business Leading CEO Council discussions, one of only twenty-four such selections. She attended the Global Forum with Elders where she interacted with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grace Machel and Mary Robinson. She was also part of the CIDA Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) top achieving team. Gertrude has been selected to attend the One World Summit in Switzerland later this year. “Before I came to CIDA I was taking care of my whole family with very little

“When I joined CIDA I knew nothing about a PC – I want to change that for these students” – Tsegofatsoe Choeu

prospect of improving my quality of life. I am very grateful. It has given me hope, it has changed my life”. “I think CIDA City Campus has had so much success because lecturers here understand the mission. They understand what it means

to students who come here from disadvantaged back-grounds” expressed Tsegofatsoe Choeu. The biggest change in her life since graduating and being employed has been that her mother could retire from being a domestic worker. Returning from a visit with her

mentor one day Tsegofatsoe noticed a company in Melrose Arch. She approached SEI Global Investments with a proposition to take her on as an intern. “Large was their surprise when

they realised during the interview that I was work-ready. I started small and within a couple of months the position of Office Manager became available. After I found out what the role entailed I approached my manager. We discussed that this role was not in line with my BBA qualification. I convinced him to expand the role and today I am their Market Research Analyst and Office Manager”. “I recently attended the ABSA

Capital Pioneering Young Women conference. I was reminded again that if you are in leadership and you are not giving back it becomes meaningless”. Tsegofatsoe has sponsored the tuition fees of one current CIDA student. She has also started talks with her old school to

• A new updated library including academic textbooks.

• An additional student dormitory. • Any equipment that is discarded when companies refurbish their offices.

• Clothing for students to use during interviews.

• Paint for the buildings. • Funds to repair the existing swimming pool and to build a gymnasium.

• Trainers who be willing to present leadership courses.

• Corporate people who would be willing to mentor either a group or an individual student.

• Assistance for lecturers such as medical aids and provident funds.

• Patrons who would take students out for excursions such as to a theatre production.

If so, please contact : Simphiwe Vulindlu Email: svulindlu@cida.ac.za +27 (0) 11 887 4495 ext310, Cell +27 (0) 71 086 0764 www.cida.co.za

start up a career centre in an unused part of the school building. “Learners will have access to personal computers and will be taught how to use the internet. When I joined CIDA I knew nothing about a personal computer – I want to change that for these students”.

August 2011 | Management Today 85