Internet Classroom project for South Africa 2021/22

In 2020 we learned of an exciting project being undertaken by the Rotary Club of Klerksdorp in South Africa.

We have had a connection with the Rotary Club of Klerksdorp for many years following a visit to them by a member of our club. This was formalised by a twinning agreement and we have kept in touch since that time.

In and around Klerksdorp, which is about 100 miles west of Johannesburg, there are many townships where poverty is rife.

In 2019 their club purchased a shipping container and converted it into a classroom. The container was moved to one of the townships, fitted with computers, printers, desks and chairs together with Wi-Fi and electricity. This allowed the local children, who only received school tuition in the mornings, to continue with their homework and education when they got home from school.

This internet classroom container proved to be a huge success and the monitoring of its use by the Rotary Club of Klerksdorp enables the facility to continue as a vital asset in the township today.

Our club felt that this was a great project and we wanted to provide another township with such an internet classroom.

In 2021 we raised sufficient funds, together with a district grant, and asked our colleagues in Klerksdorp to oversee the acquisition, equipping and installation of another container. District grants are available from the wider Rotary Community to help with important projects.

This work went ahead and was successfully completed in June 2022. Mildmay has now helped provide two of the four internet classroom containers in the Klerksdorp area. 

This was a great example of Rotary Clubs collaborating and we look forward to working together again with Klerksdorp and developing new projects.

More recently our colleagues at Klerksdorp Rotary have been raising funds for local schools to provide 'interactive whiteboards' that work like a computer.  These are very expensive so Chelmsford Mildmay raised funds which allowed Klerksdorp Rotary to purchase one interactive whiteboard which is now in use at a local school.

We continue to liaise with Klerksdorp and keep updated on their activities.