{{MTN Rwanda has announced the beginning of the ‘21 Days of Y’ello Care’ campaign from which, each member of staff will make a financial contribution that will support one child’s education for nine years.}}
With 300 MTN Rwanda employees, this means 300 vulnerable children, from more than 9 schools will directly benefit from this year’s ‘21 Days of Y’ello Care’ campaign.
‘21 Days of Y’ello Care’ is an MTN Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), annual employee volunteerism initiative launched in 2006 with an aim to secure high levels of participation by MTN members of staff, in social projects that highly impact local communities.
As part of the programme, MTN employees across Africa and the Middle East come together in a 21 day-long campaign to roll up their sleeves in an effort to uplift communities, and give their neighbourhoods a “Y’ello” touch!
“Here in Rwanda, MTN employees are planning an adopt-a-child campaign. As part of the campaign, each staff member will raise funds to pay for nine basic years of education to vulnerable kids, covering items such as school uniform and stationery,” said Paul Mugemangango, the Snr Manager Legal and Corporate Affairs, MTN Rwanda.
“MTN employees in the various provinces of Rwanda will also embark on a capacity building campaign to educate, amongst other, teachers, on the use of the Internet for email and social networking,” he added.
For 21 days on a daily basis, about 300 MTN Rwanda staff members will be involved in a many activities, some of which are aimed at collecting and providing reading materials aimed at enhancing the reading culture.
MTN chose the universal education theme because it is in line with the eight UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The specific MDG target requires that by 2015, all children (male and female) are able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
According to MTN Rwanda’s Chief Executive Officer, Khaled Mikkawi, “Education is a powerful enabler, providing people of all ages with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to make positive decisions about their lives. It contributes to personal and national economic development, playing a key role in eliminating poverty and hunger.”
“The objective of 21 Days of Y’ello Care is for us to make a visible and sustained contribution to the Rwandan society and other societies in which MTN operates and also provide an opportunity for MTN Rwanda staff to actively contribute to community development and be inspired by ‘giving back’,” Mr. Mikkawi said.
As part of the 21 Days of Y’ello Care campaign, colleagues across MTN operations are always looking to outdo each other on who can organise the most impactful initiative.
The overall winner takes home a coveted $100,000 prize. The prize money is utilised by the winning MTN operation to fund additional community initiatives.
