Ahmed Ismael, affectionately known as Smiley, received the 2009 Inyathelo Award for Exceptional Philanthropy at a gala dinner, held at the Westin Grand Arabella quays recently. Ismael was one of 12 philanthropists awarded for their dedication and commitment to changing the lives of others for the better.
Ahmed Ismael from Alberton established the Siyafunda Community Technology Centre (CTC) in 2006. The centre educates communities by providing access to community technology centres; empowers communities by providing affordable e-learning community technology centres; and e-connects communities by providing free access to Internet and e-mail. Siyafunda operates six centres in Palm Ridge, in Alberton, as well as Wattville, Nigel, Tsakana, Daveyton and Katlehong on the East Rand. Six more centres are due to open shortly.
Now in their third year, the Inyathelo Awards recognise South Africans whose personal contributions have made a sustainable contribution to the communities in which they are active. Philanthropists are nominated by their peers and members of the communities in which they work, and by the non-profit organisations that they support.
Ismael said he felt humbled at being nominated for this award. He said that although many challenges have been faced since inception, Siyafunda's success stems from its commitment to work from grassroots level and with people from all walks of life. Ismael said in South Africa at present there appears to be limited facilities to explore people's potential. Yet, he says at Siyafunda, they have had grade 11 dropouts who, through their e-learning programme, have gone on to achieve a 97% pass rate.
“We've also had a cleaner who attended e-learning classes in the evenings, and after passing with good results, was promoted to a personal assistant,” said Ismael.
The centres are a hub of activity, with the elderly, youth and unemployed attending classes. Siyafunda's pass rate is high, with most students graduating with outstanding results. An astounding 88.9% of their students have achieved between 85%-90% for the Microsoft exams.
“The potential in South Africa is incredible. All one needs is to be given a chance. We ensure that every one of our students get the most out of our classes and get that chance to reach their potential,” said Ismael.
He added that due to South Africa's historical past, the vast majority of communities don't have access to basic information and communication technologies such as Internet and e-mail. The CTC model aims to bridge this digital divide.
With a staff complement of between 30-35 employees in all six centres, CTC has also assisted in job creation. This has extended to the people that they have trained. More than 100 people, who had previously found it difficult to get employed, found work once they had been trained.
Siyafunda also trains people in entrepreneurial skills. To achieve Ismael's vision for the future - he wants the centre to move from being solely dependent on donor funding, a computer fix-and-repair centre and an affordable communication and networking SMS and other technologies services for the community is now on the drawing board.
“Without the backing of founding partners such as Ekurhuleni Municipal Executive Mayor and Council; Mark Lamberti, Chairman of Massmart; Mahpum Nxumalo/Sunil Geness for SAP Africa; and associate partners Microsoft, Cisco, Nextgen Training Solutions, ICDL and ACSA, we would not have been able to serve as many people as we have,” said Ismael.
Now Siyafunda is looking for additional partners so it can rapidly expand into more areas to reach the needs of communities and tourists for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond.
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