Easter is celebrated with gusto in Sumba; the churches come alive with the sounds of joyful singing; it is a time for family and celebration fills the air. This year, our Restaurant and Bar students prepared a stall just outside of our campus as an offering to the Easter parade that passed by.
We presented the local community with fresh fruits and vegetables taken directly from our farm and orchard; our students enthusiastically stood and waited for passers-by and gladly gave the treats away to the smiling faces celebrating the Easter holiday. The staff and students also celebrated in style, they decorated eggs as ornaments for our guest rooms. This was a fun activity that allowed everybody to get creative. We hope you all had a good Easter too!
60 new students after Easter
This month, we completed a very important task…we interviewed 300 candidates applying to be the next students at The Sumba Hospitality Foundation! We did this over one week, where we traveled to different regions in Sumba in order to meet the eager young people wanting to confirm a spot for July 2018. It was both fantastic to see the enthusiasm and desire of the applicants, whilst also so challenging to pick only 60 of them. We were humbled by the stories the applicants shared with us, it reminded us of the living conditions that people have to suffer in Sumba and why it is so important for projects such as The Sumba Hospitality Foundation to exist.
We had 4 teams of interviewees that were responsible for asking the questions and assessing the students; the teams were made up of our current staff and our local NGO partners who continually show us support from across Sumba. We are over the moon to announce that we have successfully selected our next 60 students, we have visited their homes to discuss the terms and conditions of studying at the school and now the students are undergoing a health check to ensure they are fit and ready to start their new educational journey. We cannot wait to welcome them to the school; it is such an exciting time!
