Many rural communities and schools rely on voluntary efforts to improve their lives – and, over the past few days, a number of entrepreneurs have partnered with the state to do just that.
On Friday four social entrepreneurs collaborated in donating a mobile science lab to learners at Fort Malan High school in Willowvale.
LM Holdings (LMH), a 100% black female-owned company; enke: Make Your Mark, a leadership development organisation; Kusile Labs and Technology, a company that promotes science and maths training in rural communities; and Technovera, a company that distributes chronic care medication to patients living in remote areas, all got together to provide access to a science education.
Speaking on behalf of all four enterprises, Luleka Mbete of LMH said the science lab was an information communication technologies (ICT)-based interactive platform that would help learners at the school access education support.
“The underprivileged learners of Fort Malan will finally be able to conduct science experiments to better understand the field of science and improve their results.
“This is just one of our ways of ploughing back into the community,” said Mbete.
Grade 11 science pupil Zenixole Machana said their understanding of the subject would improve a lot because it was “difficult to grasp some concepts if you only have theoretical knowledge”.
“We cannot wait for the live demonstrations,” he added.
Meanwhile Mpumalanga-based attorney Lwazi Guzana returned to his roots and donated 65 uniforms to his former primary school, Ndakeni Junior Secondary, in Ntabankulu.
“Having grown up in this community under the same conditions, and studied at Ndakeni myself, I know the pain and shame that comes with not having school shoes or a jersey or a shirt.
“It eats away at your confidence and I just wanted to make sure that at least these kids get a chance to enjoy school and learn without the burden of having to worry about appearances,” said Guzana, adding that it felt good to brighten up a child’s day with a simple gesture.
Principal Ndumiso Ngewu said people who give back to their communities were proof that “ubuntu” was still alive.
Yesterday Tourism Minister Thoko Xasa spent the day at Gxulu Junior Secondary School where she donated school uniforms. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za