KZN EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOUNDATION was initiated by a group of professionals, entrepreneurs and academics who are actively contributing back into previously disadvantaged communities with the aim of continously transferring skills and knowledge to upcoming generation. We do this through advanced hands on trainings on advanced technlogies, mining, agriculture, media and entertainment. These trainings are done locally and internationally through student exchange programs and incubations where beneficiaries are taken to get hands on trainings to countries like China, USA, Thailand etc.
This decision was influenced by a number of considerations. Some of these considerations included the fact that in the late 1990s, Ford Foundation, together with help from other American Foundations, and some South African private sector organizations, helped Uthungulu Community Foundation (UCF) to also assist other community-based organizations. This was achieved mainly through issuing grants to some of these organizations. In short, it was never the intention of UCF to compete with other non-profit organizations. This would have defeated the purpose of a Community Foundation. In the process of working with community-based organizations, a community foundation issues grants to some of these organizations. In the process of issuing grants to other community-based organizations, the success of UCF services to other non-profit organizations can, to a large extent, be ascribed to the fact that required or requested training also formed part of each issued grant. This was accompanied by constant monitoring and evaluation processes. Apart from these measures, there were also obligations to satisfy conditions stipulated by donor organizations, if granted funds were to be renewed. UCF then knew very well the consequences of not complying with the conditions of the grant. Every member of staff at the Foundation worked hard to ensure satisfaction of grantees and donor organizations.
