By Staff Reporter
Warm tributes, songs, laughter and pledges of financial support flowed at the Graham Hotel on Tuesday night for outgoing Inkululeko CEO Jason Torreano at his Surprise Farewell and Fundraiser Launch.
After 14 years at the helm, the US-based Torreano will officially hand over the reins of the impactful after-school programme to Deputy CEO Zuko Gqadavama and his dynamic team on 1 July.
Staff, learners, stakeholders and friends gathered on Tuesday to celebrate his extraordinary cross-continental commitment to the children of the city. Several guests filled out pledges to the Jason Torreano Legacy Fund, and two donated paintings were sold at auction for R500 each.
Inkululeko, based at Ntsika and Nyaluza high schools, offers tutoring, learner support materials, leisure reading, ICTs and access to the internet to over 100 learners annually, as well as business skills training and development, and enrichment programmes (like its podcast project and reading clubs).
Twenty years ago, Torreano arrived at Rhodes University as an International Exchange Student from the USA. He intended to study at Rhodes University for a few months and return home. He did return home, but he could not get Makhanda out of his mind. He returned and established Inkululeko.
Torreano related his story to Rhodes University Community Engagement members after Tuesday’s event:
“After graduating from university, I began working in TV news as an anchor and reporter and found myself profoundly unhappy,” Torreano recalled.
“Crying in a bathroom and feeling as though I’d hit rock bottom and didn’t have any desire to go to another homicide or house fire, I thought, ‘Well, when were you most happy, Jason?’
“The answer was volunteering at Amasango Career School in Makhanda, South Africa. I’d done that through the Rhodes University Community Engagement office.
“Some 8,000 miles away from the school that changed my life, I thought, ‘What if I made a change?’ I quit TV news.
“Inkululeko started as an idea rolling around in my head, it gathered momentum with others joining us and here we are 14 years later as I’m about to step down from an organisation that has formed a central part of who I am and how I’ve grown and how I see myself in the world.
“Inkululeko is in great hands. We have an awesome South Africa-based team and a new leader who will assume his role on 1 July,” Torreano said.
If you would like to pledge to the Jason Torreano Legacy Fund, contact: Zuko.Gqadavama@inkululeko.org
