Tech OP to support local charity IT Schools Africa

Cheltenham based business IT Services company Tech OP decided as a company they wanted support a charity as part of their CSR objectives. After careful consideration they decided local charity IT Schools Africa was a natural fit. Their overall mission is to provide quality IT education through access to e-Learning technology for schoolchildren in Africa whilst here in the UK simultaneously supporting disadvantaged individuals from varying backgrounds through four active UK Community Programmes.

The seed for IT Schools Africa (ITSA) was sown as an old computer was thrown into a skip. Monis Khalifa, ITSA’s IT Manager watched as the computer was dumped and thought to himself, is there not a better way to recycle old computers? He mentioned this to his friend and local businessman Michael Ratcliffe, and between the two of them, they decided that there definitely was a better way - to send them to African schools! Since 2004 ITSA have collected over 80,000 computers and laptops in the UK, supplied over 1,700 schools in Africa, welcomed over 1,000 UK volunteers and have given access to IT to at least 3 million schoolchildren.

Tech OP recognised that this was the charity for them given their specialised knowledge and experience in IT. The staff at Tech OP are thrilled to be involved with working with such a wonderful charity.

Sam Wilson, MD at Tech OP says, “I have been very impressed by IT Schools Africa since being introduced to them in early 2018 and felt we wanted to be part of their journey to make an impact with access to e-Learning both locally and globally. They are not a large organization with huge administrative overheads. They are supporting educational establishments and IT training projects in Africa which are run by local people who understand what works best for their area. The charity in Gloucestershire is mainly run by volunteers who are re-cycling IT equipment that would otherwise be scrapped, the charity also supports IT related community projects within the Gloucestershire region and has strong local roots “

Tech OP have been looking at various ways of supporting their chosen Charity of the Year from sponsoring an individual student, endorsing their services in IT disposal, and co-hosting an African / IT themed quiz night.

Kenyan student Naomi Grithinji, aged 21 and 6th born of 17 brothers and sisters caught Tech OP‘s attention. Her parents are farmers and receive very little income to cover the costs of educating their children. Naomi is studying at the Naivasha Technical Training Centre (NTTI) to gain a qualification in ICT. She is passionate about ICT and hopes to become an ICT trainer after completing her course. Sam Wilson has generously offered to pay the entire fee that Naomi requires to complete her course and get her certificate and diploma.

Sam Wilson says, “I have been happy to make a donation to the charity to sponsor the education of a pupil in Africa. I trust their judgement in selecting a suitable candidate and Naomi seems to be particularly deserving of support given that her parents are obviously struggling to help fund her education.”

Lucy Pollock Overseas Operations Manager at IT Schools Africa commented that “Every so often we have the opportunity to make a difference to the life of an individual; when we heard about how Naomi has struggled against the odds through school, coming from such a large family education is not a certainty and to get to college is a huge achievement. Now thanks to Sam she will be able to complete her Diploma in ICT which will open up so many possibilities for her. We are hugely grateful to Sam for making Naomi’s dream become a reality”.

The teams at Tech OP and ITSA are also hosting an African/ IT themed quiz night to raise funds for IT Schools Africa at the London Inn, Charlton Kings on Thursday June 28, more details regarding this will be available soon.

Visit the Tech OP website here.

Click here to find out more about IT Schools Africa.