Mandela Month leveraged to unlock youth potential. Silversoft Sponsored the Afrika Tikkun Mandela Day Sports Day – July 2017
This year Silversoft partnered with Afrika Tikkun to hold Afrika Tikkun’s Talent Day in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s call to remember the children and young people of South Africa. The event saw the converging of over 2500 children and young people of all ages from Diepsloot, Orange Farm, Alexandra, and inner-city Joburg to Wanderers Stadium. In Cape Town, Talent Day was held at the Centre in Mfuleni. This annual event is the highlight of the year for the young people of Afrika Tikkun –they prepare for it in the months and days leading up to the event with ever mounting enthusiasm.
To foster a firm wide culture of giving back to the communities, Silversoft encourages its staff to volunteer time and talents to support Afrika Tikkun’s annual day. This year, 25 staff members were involved in managing the various sporting events, competing with other corporates and, most importantly, lending support to the children as their official cheerleaders in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The staff assisted with on-the-day arrangements like refereeing games, judging the cultural activities, keeping score, manning stands and serving food.
“I did the judging of the ECD dancers. It was such fun, they are so cute. I liked Orange Farm with their Sophiatown dancing. I also did face painting. When you spend time with kids, you realise how pure they are and how they don’t take anything for granted. They are always so happy,” explained Kgopotsho Mutheketela, Silversoft Consultant
“It’s so refreshing to see how joyful there are,” agreed Silversoft MD, Jacques de Buisson. “We invested in Afrika Tikkun because of their holistic approach and the concept of giving the kids all they need to become contributing productive and successful citizens – education, mentorship and support – it’s like a home away from home for the children.
“We are a small firm, who invests 90% of our CSI into Afrika Tikkun, and it’s because they invest in all the stages of the child’s life. This speaks to us as a small team and a young business. We fully are invested for many years to come in the work of Afrika Tikkun, because we really believe in this holistic approach.
“One of our key values is innovation and we think Afrika Tikkun is quite innovative in its approach in how it ties all things together.”
Through partnering with firms like Silversoft, Afrika Tikkun has been able to create a platform for children to apply life skills in the context of teamwork, tolerance and self-discipline. Talent Day was a moving display of what South African young people can achieve no matter their circumstances, when their potential is nurtured and developed.
“Afrika Tikkun Talent Day is all about belonging. Kids feel they belong to a family that extends across South Africa. Tikkun staff and donors like Silversoft feel we belong to a club of caring contributors bonded together to make our country great for all.” Marc Lubner, CEO of Afrika Tikkun.”
For queries and interview requests please contact:
Source: Afrika Tikkun
Media Contact: Catherine van Schoor | catherinev@afrikatikkun.org | 072 767 1115
editors notes
Afrika Tikkun has a hybrid model (Afrika Tikkun – Non Profit organization and Afrika Tikkun Services (Pty) Ltd – a Social Enterprise) which is dedicated to the eradication of poverty by caring for vulnerable children in townships through their cradle-to-career approach. Using a holistic development model, Afrika Tikkun runs programmes that address the various needs of township children and youth with the end goal being their successful placement in careers or tertiary learning facilities.
There are three core programmes, each focused on a specific age group;
- Early Childhood Development aims to prepare 2-6 year olds for primary school;
- Child and Youth Development provides empowerment; Innovation; Care for Yourself ( Health and Fitness); Grow Your Future and Inspired Learning programmes tailored for the specific age cohorts of 7–18yrs- with the aim of improving matric pass rates and preparing children for career and further learning opportunities;
- Youth Skills Development and Placement provides career-pathing, job readiness, learnerships and entrepreneurial training and placement opportunities for young adults
In line with Afrika Tikkun’s holistic approach, these programmes are augmented by cross-cutting support services which include primary health care services for children, youth and their families, nutritional and food security services and family support services, all of which are provided on a case-by-case basis.
About Silversoft
Silversoft, headquartered in Johannesburg South Africa, is a multinational enterprise software provider focused on delivering solutions to people and project-centric firms. It has partnered with Deltek for more than ten years in offering best-in-class enterprise software tailored for professional services firms in Africa and surrounds. It’s cloud, on premise and mobile solutions deliver real-time information that helps its clients optimise their resources, manage costs and drive profitability behaviour. Silversoft’s Deltek ERP solutions provide a fully integrated set of financial ledgers, people, project and client management functionality – which supports the entire service delivery life cycle from client acquisition to visualizing key performance indicators. Silversoft’s highly skilled consultants and tailored offering have seen some of the largest professional services firms in the world invest in its solutions. It is also a proud Level 1 BBBEE Contributor.
