It was a joyous occasion this Friday morning (3rd September 2010) at the Zoë Academy of Skills Training Centre when 35 students were awarded their diplomas for training courses they have completed at the Academy.
Amidst loud cheers from fellow students and members of the community Councilor Aubrey Robinson, Chairperson of Sub council 23 of the City of Cape Town handed the certificates and diplomas to the proud recipients.
Councilor Robinson was very appreciative of the efforts of the Academy and said that it is very important to enhance the education levels of the residents in the area to enable them to better their circumstances. He said that he comes from similar circumstances and by improving his own education after he left school with almost no education, he now is very proud of his two diplomas he has  received from a local  University here in the Western Cape. He said that he would not have been able to achieve this if it was not for his family and his faith in The Lord.
The Zoë Academy of Skills Training Centre is housed in a converted bomb shelter that was vacant, vandalized for many years in Eindhoven, Delft and was officially inaugurated earlier this year by Premier Helen Zille after it was restored by the local residents within 35 days, under leadership of Pastor Charles George of the Zoë Christian Church in Delft.
Pastor Charles has a vision for the upliftment and empowerment of the local community by working with the residents to change the community from the inside out. The mission of the Academy is to eradicate unemployment, oppression, hopelessness and illiteracy within the community.  He is assisted by a team of dedicated volunteer workers who at present is not receiving any remuneration for their service who are administrating and facilitating the training programs presented at the Academy. These workers are busy to create a culture of hope by providing the necessary skills and awareness programs in this community that is often described as a disadvantaged and deprived community. Pastor George encouraged those that received these certificates to become agents of change within their community.
In a very short period more than 113 people were trained and 34 of the students were placed in permanent employment since their training at the Academy.



One of today’s success stories is of a young women named Jolinda who was very ill and spent  a long time in the hospital after being in a coma for 23 days and still managed to complete her diploma in computer literacy due to the support of her fellow students and tutors.
Pastor George also told the members of the community who attended the ceremony that the Edcon group will be awarding learnerships for 80 of the future students of the Academy to assist them in making their dreams come true.
Zoe Academy of Skills builds Self worth within the students, encourages them to Dream (have a Vision) and motivates the community to love and support those wanting to become agents of change. Based on these three facts, Self worth, Vision and Community support if these are lacking many people commit suicide and theres no positive contribution towards society.
We are positive that the Delft community is about to turn things around for themselves through education.