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 Kampala, Uganda: MTN Uganda staff today rolled up their sleeves to clean up Kampala City Council’s Kamwokya Primary School as part of the month-long company Y’ello Care initiative across Africa and the Middle East.
More than 240 employees turned up at the Primary School to conduct general cleaning and distribute a number of scholastic items to pupils, in MTN Uganda’s fourth annual 21 Days of Y’ello Care initiative.
“This is one of the most special days in my life! Over the years we have tried to offset a number of hurdles that used to make studying impossible. Challenges still remain, but today you have given us a reason to smile and rebuild our confidence,” Kamwokya Primary School Headmistress Jane Kansiime told staff.
The month-long volunteerism campaign involves every employee of MTN in community building projects in addition to the MTN Uganda Foundation initiatives between May 1st and May 21st.
“This programme presents a chance for MTN staff to give voluntary support to projects and charities in the communities within which they operate,” said MTN Corporate Affairs Manager, Halima Besisira.
The KCC Primary School in Kamwokya is a government school with One thousand five hundred pupils (1,500), many of whom are orphans, some living with HIV, and from disadvantaged families.
As part of the ongoing 1 GOAL Education crusade, a campaign championing global education, the school was singled out for support by the MTN Uganda Foundation because of its poor sanitary conditions, and almost non-existent library; and congested classrooms with a student teacher ratio of 100 pupils to every 2 teachers.
School headmistress Jane Kansiime said before the intervention, the school pupils faced a bleak life without classrooms, playgrounds or toilets.
“MTN Uganda has come as a blessing to the school, and a truly God-sent one. Thank you! We did not even have a sign post to our school, but now people will know we exist, even the way we are;” she said, full of emotion.
"We believe Corporate Social Responsibility should not be championed by the company alone, but by every individual in the organisation. The 21 Days of Y’ello Care programme was started four years ago to promote the culture of volunteerism among all MTN staff and it is highly popular,” said Besisira.
Besisira said the MTN operation that secured the highest number of staff participants would also earn Group-wide recognition and the Y’ello Care Award, which comes with a cash prize of US$100,000 (UGX200 million) that would be invested in a community care and CSR budget for the winning MTN operation.
ABOUT the MTN FOUNDATION
Launched in 2007, the MTN Foundation is a non profit organisation engaged in activities of general interest having a philanthropic focus on education, science & technology, music, arts & culture, health, Habitat for Humanity and other actions of humanitarian character, contributing to the promotion and protection of material heritage and national culture. The MTN Uganda Foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of the MTN Group in Uganda and has made over UGX 1.5 billion since the year 2007 in contributions to community focused projects that have wide ranging benefits and that are sustainable. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit www.mtn.com for more information.
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