Thanda honoured at Imvelo Awards

Thanda Private Game Reserve was honoured to be the joint recipient of the Chairman’s Award together with Voluntours at the sixth annual Imvelo Awards for Responsible Tourism in Village Deep, Johannesburg last night.

Thanda’s JAC-Initiative Star School project was a finalist in Imvelo’s ‘best social involvement programme’ for its efforts at educating and inspiring young learners in rural KwaZulu-Natal about the dangers of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Chairman’s Award was presented by Brett Dungan of FEDHASA and Eddy Khosa of Joburg Tourism for the work of Thanda Foundation’s three key initiatives: JAC (Jobs, AIDS & Conservation), JAC-Entrepreneur and the Star School project. The annual Imvelo Awards for Responsible Tourism ‘recognises tourism and hospitality businesses that make a real, measureable and sustained contribution to responsible tourism’. ‘Imvelo’ meaning nature in the Nguni languages seeks to create local and international awareness of the environmental concerns most prominent in the tourism and hospitality industry.

A member of the Leading Small Hotels of the World, Thanda Private Game Reserve has concentrated its efforts on uplifting some of the most impoverished communities of KwaZulu-Natal and was the winner of ‘best social involvement programme at the 2006 Imvelo Awards. Thanda works in close consultation with three neighbouring tribal communities and supports the government’s guidelines on broad-based Black Economic Empowerment and has adopted a procurement policy where preference is given to small, aspiring black entrepreneurs.

Marketing Director Anita Vernes commented, “We would like to commend FEDHASA for pioneering awards of this nature as they bring to the fore the need to address corporate and social commitment to responsible tourism practices. Thanda is particularly proud to be sharing this award with Voluntours as it is an indication that work at grassroots level is making an impact where it is most needed.”

The work of the Star School initiative which promotes “AIDS-free, that’s me” has succeeded in creating awareness and active campaigning against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Star School concept of ‘mental vaccination’ and esteem-building has been integrated into 42 schools in the Umkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal with the roll-out of another 20 schools planned for the end of 2007. Star School has also been implemented into a further 10 schools in Namibia and was endorsed with R16.5-million contribution by the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department to be rolled out over a three year period from 2007 to 2010.

For further information visit Thanda.co.za.