Belinda Von Aesch | Fontes FoundationFontes Foundation

The Fontes Catering Course from a Facilitator’s and Student’s Perspective

by Belinda Von Aesch on 06/08/2018 No comments

The art of eating is continuously being changed by a number of professional and creative chefs, which has in turn increased the demand for excellent services in food production. This trend was concretised by the management of Fontes Foundation through the launch of the catering course on the 5th of February 2018. This course aims to benefit the single mothers and youth of the local community.

As an Fredskorpset (FK) exchange participant, I am privileged to be in charge of the catering course at the Youth Centre. On the FK exchange I have not only gained skills and new experiences but I have also been able to share these experiences and skills with the youth of FYC. I am on exchange from AMIZERO institute in Rwanda. The exchange aims to share experiences and best practices between the two institutions. This exchange is between the Amizero Institute of Technology and Hospitality in Rwanda and Fontes Foundation Uganda.

Since the introduction of the catering course, a number of single mothers and youth have enrolled. Through the course, they have gained cooking skills which now can be applied in any hospitality business, thus enabling them to earn a living. The first intake started on the 5th of February 2018 and ended on the 5th of July 2018. A industry attachment will follow, giving the students the opportunity to add expert practical experience to their skills acquired at the Youth Centre.

Eve Nakito

“Catering is a course that teaches someone how to cook or prepare different types of dishes. Thanks to Fontes, we have been able to take part in this course giving us the opportunity to become chefs in hotels and restaurants or even be self employed. The benefit of such a course is that it is easy to start and begin to earn a living, as all you need are the necessary skills. Through this course, many from outside and within the Bunga area have been able to improve on our standards of living. We are now capable of setting up small pastry and snack businesses as we now have the required skills to do so. Catering businesses have low start-up costs, meaning that capital is not the main challenge as in other businesses. Previously I had the capital but not the skills to start my own business, now thanks to Fontes I can begin my own catering business. Additionally, through the certificates which we will receive on successfully completing the course, we will be able to find jobs in already established restaurants and hotels. Many of us also hope to begin our own restaurants.”

Student Job Placement Updates

by Belinda Von Aesch on 06/08/2018 No comments

The Job Placement Programme (JPP) was launched in January 2017 and places Fontes Youth Centre graduates with businesses who are looking for trained local talent trained. As the Catering Course curriculum includes an industrial attachment, the students are being placed with restaurants and hotels around Kampala to complete their training. Two of the placed students are Christine Mukonda and Sam Mugisha. They have been placed at Pachino’s restaurant where the manager was so pleased with their performance that he hired both of them just one week into their internship. Together Christine and Sam have developed a new menu for the restaurant including the new very popular ‘Three Little Pigs Burger’.

The JPP Coordinator Gary Agaba checking on the students at their placement

Farewell from Apiyo

by Belinda Von Aesch on 06/08/2018 No comments

I started out at Fontes Foundation as a Youth Programme Coordinator in January 2013 following the inception of the Youth Programme and Youth Centre in July 2012. Before that I worked with Mara Foundation Uganda running a mentoring programme and incubation space for young entrepreneurs who were mainly University graduates. What intrigued me about Fontes Foundation at the time was two things;

1. The target group
2. Their unique approach to solving unemployment issues affecting youth in Uganda today.

Fontes Foundation targeted out-ofschool youth, most of whom had dropped out in early secondary school due to a plethora of reasons including; lack of finances to continue with school, early teenage pregnancies and a lack of interest in the formal education system. Having worked with a more privileged group of University graduates with fancy start-up ideas backed by a formal education, I was intrigued to see how youth who didn’t have the same opportunities could be transformed and also prosper. It seemed like an uphill task but the rewards also appeared greater in terms of transformation gaps.

Fontes Foundation also has the unique approach of working to transform attitudes and providing soft skills which are ignored or down played by other organisations. Soft skills are not as easily measurable as the hard skills and takes time also to realise tangible changes in the beneficiaries. Fontes designed a Personal Development course aimed at promoting problems solving analytical skills, logical thinking and assisting students in thinking outside the box and being open minded. At the time I joined, the facilitator for this course was a chain smoking, atheist, Dutch hippie who pushed the envelope just by being different from what the students were normally used to. He challenged them to accept other beliefs, to read widely and not limit themselves to what was familiar. Having been nurtured by the same flawed formal education system that this country has, I was curious to see what a different approach could do to change the mind-set of the youth we were working with.

For almost 6 years now I have been at the helm of this transformation, watching some students excel to unexpected heights and others well, not so much. Realising that transformation cannot be pegged to one thing but an amalgam of influences. I have learnt in practice the difference between teaching and facilitating. I have learnt what it is like to encourage without imposing and achieve excellent results.

The Fontes Career Day 2018

by Belinda Von Aesch on 20/06/2018 No comments

As part of our holistic education approach, Fontes organizes an annual Career Day event for the students of our youth centre and other community youth. The Career Day acts as a platform to connect Kampala businesses with talented out of school youth. For the students, the day presents a first chance to network and discover the opportunities available to them. For businesses it is a chance to discover young talent, provide mentorship, and promote their job openings.

The preparation for the event was incorporated into the students curriculum; the English course students learnt to prepare cover letters and CVs, the ICT course shared information about the event through social media, while the catering students prepared the food for the event. A capacity building session was held for Fontes students on how to optimize their CV when job searching. Additionally, the Career Day adds to the personal development of the students as they are forced to overcome shyness through approaching the companies directly and practicing their networking skills.

The Career Day took place at the Fontes Youth Centre. This allowed us to showcase the centre to the organisations in attendance while also being accessible to our students and the wider community. The day began with a breakfast prepared and served by the Fontes Catering Course students. For many of the catering students, this was their first experience of catering in a professional capacity for a large amount of people, allowing them to gain valuable practical food production experience as well as learning about the theoretical aspects such as calculating the cost of catering such an event. Needless to say the students impressed the attendees with their cookery and customer service skills.

The programme was kicked off with a speech from former Fontes student Cleophas Tumuhimbise. Cleophas talked about how he has successfully applied the knowledge and skills he gained at FYC to run his business. He was followed by Jonathan Ebuk, from KCCA, and Nicter Kaweesi, from the HR company People’s Performance Group, who gave advice on the job search, how to present and prepare oneself in interviews. With the conclusion of the speeches, the career fair began as students networked with the company representatives. The students walked around the company stalls, inquiring about the organisations and their job opportunities. To cap off the day, the Fontes Cultural Troupe held a splendid performance with dances from Western Uganda.

Overall, the 2018 Fontes Career Day was a success. A special thank you to all of the organisations who took part in this years event:

KCCA, Trade Lance, Prime Linkages, Refuge and Hope International, Mercy Corps Uganda, Pacino’s Restaurant, Staffable, Paramour Cosmetics, Roke Telkom, Goldway Ltd, and People’s Performance Group.

Scandals In Families at FYC

by Belinda Von Aesch on 04/06/2018 No comments

The Music, Dance, and Drama Team (MDD) was launched in 2012 as an additional way to engage local youth in the area. Since then the Troupe has overshot its original goal as they have developed into skilled performers. The troupe has reached such heights that from this year the troupe has professionalized and is moving towards an entirely self-sustaining unit, with the potential to generate a modest income for the performers.

Last Sunday 27.05.2018, the Fontes Cultural Troupe held a show titled “Scandals in Families” at the centre in Bunga. The performance was met with rave reviews by the audience. The play followed a wealthy Ugandan family and portrayed the complicated family relationships through various love entanglements. Additionally, the performance sensitized the audience to important community topics such as sexually transmitted diseases. Through role play the issue of HIV/Aids was shown and the importance of safe sex, frequent testing, and early treatment was discussed through the experience of the characters. The second half of the show consisted of dances from different regions in Uganda, acrobatics, and the performance of daring feats such as fire eating.

Fontes Cultural Troupe performs dances from Buganda, the Northern Region, and among others from the West Nile. The troupe is available for weddings and other events. To book the troupe for your next event contact Fontes today.

Cooking with the Fontes Catering Course Students

by Belinda Von Aesch on 15/03/2018 No comments

Since 2015 Fontes Foundation has offered a catering course as part of our Single Mother’s Programme. Due to popular demand, the course has now been opened to all students at the Youth Centre. The hospitality and catering course, provides disadvantaged youth with valuable culinary skills. Through this course, students learn about food production processes and apply their skills practically. After completion of the course and the final exam, the students gain a certificate in food production, enabling them to either start their own businesses or to enter into employment in the hospitality sector.

The course trains the students to deliver high quality food as the curriculum covers all aspects of food production from the importance of correct hygiene practices to culinary techniques and customer service. The gastronomy taught is a mix of both local Ugandan and international cuisine, enabling the students to prepare a variety of meals. This way the students will find a ready market for their skills. The latest cohort of the Catering Course began on the 5th of February 2018 with 20 students and 5 single mothers. The course is facilitated by Julius Kamukama. Julius holds a degree in Hotel Management and he has extensive experience both as a professional chef and as a facilitator. As a facilitator, Julius is passionate about passing on his skills to his students and empowering others to pursue their goals.

On Monday, the topic of the day was bites and snacks. The students learnt to prepare various sandwiches and other small food items such as hamburgers and meat balls. Sandwiches are a low cost snack with broad appeal, making them ideal for this course as many of the students hope to one day start their own catering businesses. Michael is one such student, he plans to open a restaurant in April offering a mix of Ugandan and German cuisine. Joanne, another student in the course, also hopes to start a business after the catering course. She joined the course because she loves cooking and has plans to open a small bakery. This course provides her with both the technical skills and with the business considerations which she will need to open her bakery.

In this way the catering course offers an opportunity for the students to gain experience in the culinary arts while also providing a path to financial stability. If you would like to contribute to the work done at our Youth Centre then donate today to support the continued development of Ugandan youth.

The catering course students with their final product