All across the country, South Africans give 67 minutes of their time to charitable causes in celebration of Mandela Day. On Tuesday, 18 July, the entire Synthesis team stepped out from behind their computer screens and got stuck into painting classrooms for the children of Arekopaneng, a crèche, skills development, early childhood and child and youth skills development centre in Orange Farm.
Jake Shepherd, Technical Director for Synthesis says, “At Synthesis, we pride ourselves on our dynamic, vibrant team. It was great to enjoy each other’s company outside of the office, and do something to support vulnerable children, a cause which was close to Mandela’s heart.”
Orange Farm is the largest informal settlement in South Africa, where over 1 million people live in shacks put together from cardboard, scrap metal and plastic. The community is plagued by a lack of access to basic services, poverty and unemployment.
In 2007 Afrika Tikkun partnered with Arekopaneng, an NGO that offers the community a crèche and a skills development centre in order to assist the young people of the community at a grassroots level. The comprehensive Centre of Excellence including an Early Childhood and Child and Youth and Skills Development Centre was completed in 2010. The Centre provides services to approximately 2200 beneficiaries per annum across all ages. As a business, Synthesis is proud to have contributed to the success and upkeep of the Centre, and will continue to support the initiative in years to come.
