ICL, the Fujitsu Services subsidiary, has donated a further R60 000 to Ernest Matlou Primary School in Blood River near Seshego in the Northern Province. This brings to R180 000 the total donation from ICL over the past three years.
The funds will be used for ablution facilities and for drilling a borehole to provide water for the school. Previous donations were used to build classrooms for its more than 1250 pupils.
The donation was the third by the Johannesburg-based IT company following its initial response to the publication of a newspaper photo in 2001 showing classes being conducted in a derelict school bus on the premises. ICL then donated R20 000 towards the building of a classroom to replace the bus. The project has grown exponentially since then.
ICL marketing manager Hans Bargholz explains that the money is not purely a company gesture. "Part of the money was raised through events organised by ICL staff, throughout the year. It is more than just putting money aside in a budget. Staff involvement makes this a team effort and we would encourage other companies in SA to try this approach."
Among those present at the handing over ceremony were teachers, former learners, members of the school`s governing body as well as government and provincial dignitaries. Matlou principal, Margaret Chauke, said: "Now we are a very rich school and we are a very rich community."
There are in total 1 254 learners currently enrolled at the school. Staff comprises 20 educators and a volunteer teacher. The school now boasts 15 classrooms. In the meantime the old bus is not in use anymore, but there are plans to convert the old bus into a library, Chauke said.
Bargholz said the Ernest Matlou School is one of several ICL has supported over the years.
At Johannesburg Hospital School for terminally ill children ICL has set up a PC literacy centre and established a recreation room in the form of a garden with a Wendy house. They also donated 25 PCs with Internet access to Isipho Primary School in Soweto.
Forest Town School for mentally and physically disabled children have also benefited from 25 PCs running specialised software that enables the children with speech difficulties to communicate verbally through computers.
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ICL South Africa, a subsidiary of Fujitsu Services Plc (Formerly ICL Plc), is one of the leading IT services companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa. It has an annual turnover of lb2.4 billion (EUR3.9 billion), employs 15 500 people and operates in over 30 countries. It designs, builds and operates IT systems and services for customers in the financial services, telecoms, retail, utilities and government markets. Its core strength is the delivery of IT infrastructure management and outsourcing across desktop, networking and data centre environments, together with a full range of related services, from infrastructure consulting through integration and deployment.
Headquartered in London, Fujitsu Services is the European-centred IT services arm of the Fujitsu Group. The Fujitsu Group is a $38 billion (about EUR43 billion) leader in customer-focused IT systems and services for the global marketplace. Prior to April 2002 Fujitsu Services operated as ICL.
Web site: www.services.fujitsu.com
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