Scalabrini Development Agency

Cape Town Project
Work-skills training and business development

SUMMARY

The intent of this project is to create training paths of work skill and culture and, in specific cases, to favour the start-up of new businesses. The project operates in the perspective of the labour market implementation within the communities in the Cape Town area, aiming to develop work opportunities for youth and, as well as self-entrepreneurship, with particular attention to social entrepreneurship. The recipients are South African youth and women, regardless of their ethnic origin, with a prior minimal level of training, which would enable them to start a specific training path leading to placements in local labour market. In some specific cases, where entrepreneurial abilities emerge, the aim is to activate a process of work placement and self-entrepreneurship through training, orientation and internship.

To undertake the tasks above an ad hoc local no-profit entity called SCALABRINI DEVELOPMENT AGENCY was established; its head office is in Cape Town assuring that it is a South African organisation by right. Besides completing the formalities required to register this new legal entity, a building was purchased in the town centre to be used as the NGO head office and host various activities.

This building that will be called SCALABRINI CENTRE OF CAPE TOWN, it is in Commercial Street, a few metres away form the South African Parliament. It comprises of a ground floor and three other floors above ground, of 450 square metres each. Once the change of ownership formalities and some restructuring works will be completed the activities described below will start.

Few young South African artists, particularly talented in woodwork, waxwork, paperwork and painting were identified and offered a space where they can show and sell their products – this is an attempt to activated the first business start-up by favouring their association in the form of a company that will be created for this purpose. In change they will be asked to organise specific and structured courses on their work and to be flanked by young apprentices that will thus be able to test their abilities on the field. Then to promote economic self-sustainment, agreements will be sought with local tour operator, in order to assure placements in shops located on the tourist track, visited by foreigners.

The second activity scheduled is a school of modern technologies (computer, internet, web design) to train people with prior basic knowledge. It is our intent to equip a computer hall that could have two different uses in two time slots: on the one hand it would be the ideal place for an advanced IT course; on the other it could become an internet café and contribute to the budget of the structure and of the development of projects. Thus we intend to equip the building in Commercial Street with a computer network and internet ADSL connection allowing a professional use of the WEB.

The first floor would be used as the NGO head office with its various offices (very few and to be increased only in case of necessity and with resources!) and for the training coursed addressed to those who can later become trainers.

It is also our intention to immediately set up a multi-lingual library to be made available to the city, in particular to the local universities and its international departments. In the medium/long-term, the aim is to open a Centre of Studies like the ones already operating in Rome, Paris, New York, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires e Manila in order to further enrich, also from a cultural viewpoint, the local community.

The second floor will be used as a training area and to identify its activities we intend to do a study on the Cape Town labour market in order to offer what such market actually requires. Our preliminary feasibility studies highlighted the need for training paths in building and constructions, carpentry, plumbing and electrical plants.

At local level, we intend contacting all the other organisations (NGO) dealing with the issue of work placement. But above all we intend starting collaborations with the institutions: if the Province and the Municipality are the natural partners of a project like this, and we are thinking in particular to the institutions corresponding to the Assessorati al Lavoro, in Italy, the Labour Department, the Chamber of Commerce and local universities are preferential counterparts for our activities.

A network of international supporters that allowed reaching the first results already sustains this project. We intend creating a network of local partners around this project with whom find synergies and above the funding sources necessary to the continuation of the project until self-sustainement is achieved.

Thus we are opened to any type of collaboration with institutions and organisations sharing similar objectives. Should we receive any concrete and sustainable proposal, the building in Commercial Street could became an important centre for the development of this project and other future projects to be realised. We choose not to start with large-scale projects that bound to sink. Instead, after the huge economic effort of purchasing the building, we will gradually proceed with activities adequate to the available resources. The Scalabrini Development Agency must fit in to the local geographical and social fabric and become one of its integral parts – thus it was established according to South African law. It does not aim to be a big foreign NGO but a South African organisation contributing to the development of the country with what is able to do, small or big. This is our philosophy in all the developing countries where we run development projects.