When children arrive at the intake exam for Ridgeway College’s Sumbandila Scholarship Trust, anxious eyes from parents and siblings surround the testing venue. Their nervousness is understandable. The scholarship, given only to learners from backgrounds of extreme poverty, provides Limpopo’s poor with a scarce resource, namely opportunity.

The Sumbandila Scholarship Trust, founded in part by local Ridgeway College Principal Leigh Bristow, is focused within the Vhembe District where many South Africans are struggling to find economic solutions.

Nineteen students are currently enrolled at Ridgeway on Sumbandila’s full scholarship. Along with fully subsidized school fees, the recipients receive funding to pay for expenses like room and board, medical care, clothing and books.

To decide which learners will receive the scholarship, Sumbandila selects students using the criteria of academic achievement and outstanding potential. The testing for 2010’s scholarships took place at five schools over three Saturdays, with two further testing sessions at Ridgeway College.

“Sumbandila is more than a scholarship program. The values we teach are a way of life for the students,” said Bristow.

The students on full scholarship live in a hostel near the school, but the organization is looking towards placing more permanent housing on the Ridgeway Campus.

For the students who are not selected for the scholarship, Sumbandila offers an Outreach Program for those who qualify. The participants are called outliers, and they attend Saturday and holiday schools to supplement their education.

Sumbandila, meaning “point out the road” in Venda, encourages both Western and African values such as “Service in Leadership” and “Ubuntu, becoming a person in and through other people.”

In its curriculum, Ridgeway College incorporates information technology (IT) lessons, an invaluable skill in an ever-growing technologically focused market. To correct the lack of access to new technology amongst scholarship recipients, Ridgeway uses its IT coursework to form Internet savvy, occupationally competitive students.

The school also incorporates entrepreneurial initiatives into their material. South African government estimates for 2010 show a 25.2% unemployment rate, and in rural regions the number is undoubtedly higher.

“Sumbandila students focus not only on building skills and academic qualifications to give them an edge in the job market, but also on creating work through the school’s entrepreneurial lesson plans,” said Bristow.

One such lesson plan, a game designed by the South African Institute for Entrepreneurship, simulates real-life business practices, allowing Ridgeway students to learn what is possible when hard work is combined with calculated preparation.

The college has also recently introduced environmental education into their lessons to raise awareness about environmental issues and to introduce children to the many natural attractions within and around the Limpopo Valley.

Bristow’s charitable program, where many organizations simply give to the poor, provides a model for an economic solution to end the poverty cycle. Sumbandila strengthens human capital, creates self-confidence and sharpens technical knowledge for the underprivileged, brightening futures dimmed by poverty.