How many people would give a portion of their salary to charity?
Not many I tell you. Even churches will tell you it is hard for them to get tithes from their members.
But there are special individuals who are willing to sacrifice in order to make the lives of vulnerable children better.
The technology division of Safaricom limited last year donated 1% of their salaries for six months in order to raise money for Zabibu Centre. The amount they raised was then matched by the Safaricom Foundation. Zabibu Centre is a home for vulnerable children including orphans, those affected by HIV/AIDS, children living with disabilities,victims of abuse, girls rescued from early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation.
Last night I attended the Safaricom fundraising gala dinner to raise additional funds to build a state of the art dormitory for the children . The gala dinner raised over 4 million shillings.
Safaricom’s Director of Technology, Thibaud Rerolle who has been spearheading the campaign said they have in the last one year carried out various fundraising initiatives.
“This project is an illustration of our collective strengths in making a difference in our communities. We all stand tall knowing that we not only contributed financially, but laid the basis for children to not only dream big, but also inch closer towards realizing their grand dreams,” said Rerolle.
The home which is situated in Ruiru was founded in 2005 by James and Irene Wagema as an education centre for orphaned and vulnerable children. The dormitory whose total cost is KES 12 million will help meet the accommodation needs of the Centre which are currently stretched by the Zabibu’s current population of 180 students; 150 of whom are girls.
“I was touched by the plight of neglected children in our community and so I decided to donate part of our family land to set up makeshift structures to house these children,” said Irene Wagema. “We have over the years grappled with an accommodation crisis due to limited resources and with the new dormitory, we will be able to provide these children with decent accommodation,” she added.
This is the second dormitory that Safaricom through its various arms is helping construct. The Safaricom Foundation funded the construction of a 64-bed capacity dormitory for the Centre under its World of Difference programme.
I also liked Bob Collymore’s speech. It was short, funny and told a story. I think alot of public speakers could learn alot from him. It was amazing that he actually embodied the kind of good public speaker I talked about in yesterday’s post the art of public speaking.
For many of us who keep talking about changing our community we need to think outside the box and see how we can really make an impact in society. This is a story of ordinary people making an extraordinary sacrifice in order to live the values they believe in. Safaricom as a company is making a difference in the lives of the community. What about you?
