Johannesburg, 14 May 2003
10 girls from the Diepsloot Combined School spent the day at Axiz`s head offices in Midrand where they were introduced to several career options in the IT industry. According to Claire Clarke, Axiz marketing services manager and vice-chairperson of the company`s Workplace Forum, the offer was also extended to the daughters of Axiz employees in grades 9 to 12.
In total, 13 girls spent a busy day at Axiz. They attended several presentations designed to offer them an introduction to some of the varied careers available in the IT industry, including:
* A career in marketing - presented by Craig Brunsden, business unit manager at Axiz.
* A career in sales - presented by Sean Swart, sales unit manager at Axiz.
* A career in human resources - presented by Lee-Ann Greyling, human resource manager at Axiz.
* A career in credit control - presented by Lyanne Shannon, credit manager at Axiz.
Anthony Fitzhenry, CEO of Axiz, chatted to the girls, offering them some important life skills tips. They then went on tours of the company`s warehouse and computer assembly line, and toured the entire organisation to get a perspective of the business processes executed by each department. They also visited the Kalliba memory production plant.
Clarke explains: "Ledibogo, our social responsibility project, targets the education sector since this is an area where we as an IT company believe that we can make our greatest contribution. We selected the Diepsloot Combined School as our major beneficiary largely because many of our employees have domestic workers living in Diepsloot, so it is an area that is close to many of our hearts. Ledibogo means `to bridge`; through our support, we are attempting to provide a bridge for these children from their current circumstances, which are still severely disadvantaged, to one of greater opportunity."
Veronica Kgabo, headmistress of the Diepsloot Combined School, echoes this statement, and emphasises just how significant an event this experience was in the lives of these girls: "This was something none of the girls has ever experienced before. They were very moved by the way they were treated and by the fact that there were actually people who were willing to help them with their careers. Most of the girls didn`t know how a computer was put together; few of them knew what a warehouse was. They have very little general knowledge, which is something that is taken for granted in advantaged areas. The fact that they actually left the squatter camp was in itself a great event, since most children never leave the squatter camp at all."
She adds: "We are supposed to have a teacher or librarian to provide the girls with guidance, but the teachers we get lack the expertise and this impacts on the children`s development. We need this kind of exposure for our students because it gives the children input that they should be getting from the school."
According to Kgabo, many of the universities that used to send the school various faculty brochures no longer do so. "These universities also don`t visit our types of school. They are not interested in talking to disadvantaged schools because most of the pupils` families are generally illiterate and earning very little, if anything. So they concentrate more on suburban schools where they know there is money," she comments.
Clarke concludes: "There is so much that can be done to assist these children and Axiz has committed to finding ways to undertake career guidance programmes with them, in addition to our other initiatives."
If you would like to assist the school, contact the headmistress, Veronica Kgabo on (083) 694 8365 or her assistant Burton Mogale, on (083) 347 3082.
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