09 Jun 2014

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Olebile Gaborone has pleaded with the corporate world to come to the rescue of SOS children village.

The assistant minister’s plea came during the handing over of refurbished computer laboratory for the centre by ROI,  a local company dealing with ICT solution and services, on June 5.

As a result, he applauded ROI for having refurbished the SOS laboratory and donated six computers to the centre. “Non-profit making organisations such as SOS Children’s Village needed support, be it financial, equipment or otherwise from the corporate world and from all of us,” he added.

He said it was his expectation that more companies would also extend a helping hand through their corporate social responsibility initiatives. He said that would support the running of the centre, which was established after realising that there was increasing number of disadvantaged and abandoned children.

Mr Gaborone said had it not been for the support of individuals and companies, SOS which was established 27 years ago would not have achieved what it has. He said SOS Children’s Village lives in a changing world where ICT has become part of daily lives, adding that computers would help significantly in providing skills to the children.

However, he pointed out that government has the responsibility to provide a conducive environment for private sector development but the private sector also has responsibility in the environment they operate in.

Further, he said it was a fact that government could not deliver on its mandate without the assistance of other partners. Earlier when welcoming guests, SOS national director, Mr Motshwari Kitso said the school was battling to keep the pre-school running and was also faced with prospects of job cuts.

Mr Kitso said the school has also been forced to operate without a nursing mother despite the fact that some children need medical attention more often. He said the school funding has been severely affected since the world economic downturn.

For his part ROI managing director, Mr Ishmael Lesolame said ROI was a small company with big ambition, adding that apart from donating the computers they would also be repairing and serving them.

He said although they were not a rich company, the desire to donate came after realising the dire need that the SOS Children village was faced with. SOS children Village has been taking care of underprivileged children since 1994 and has centres in Tlokweng, Serowe and Francistown.

It was established with a mandate to provide a loving home to underprivileged children especially abandoned and orphans. Ends