Inspiration

Investing in the Youth and Bridging the Digital Divide CEO, Enrico Jacobs, visited Spa Park Primary School last Friday to donate IT infrastructure on behalf of Kiewitfonds and Belgium Campus iTversity. The donation included 60 complete thin clients, servers and network, which were installed into one of the school’s computer classrooms and which will be maintained by the iTversity. Spa Park Principal, Mr Adams, expressed his gratitude for the donation, “There aren’t enough words to thank you for your support to our learners but thank you and God bless.”   It was a celebratory occasion with the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motsheka, performing a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reveal the new classroom for the first time. Also present were the Ambassador of the European Union, H.E. Ms Riina Kionka, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Didier Vanderhasselt, who made a donation of 30 ‘School in a Box’ tablets.     Investing in the future of South Africa has always been extremely important to Belgium Campus and CEO, Mr Jacobs, believes that the best way to achieve this is by investing in the youth. It is for this reason that Belgium Campus endeavours to support primary and high school educational projects that prepare today’s youth for the future of work and the digital economy. “With every sector using technology as its driving force, information technology skills are now crucial. If we want to prepare the youth for the best possible future, we need to expose them to these skills as early as possible,” stressed CEO Mr Jacobs.   The relationship between Belgium Campus and Spa Park Primary School spans many years and this is the fourth computer classroom donated to the school. Belgium Campus CEO, Mr Jacobs, and Spa Park Primary School Principal, Mr Adams, first met 20 years ago at the Rotary Club. Over the years, their friendship developed into a fruitful partnership with far-reaching support.   In addition to embodying the spirit of Ubuntu, Belgium Campus is also dedicated to teaching its students to think globally and act locally. This is achieved through various mobility programmes and international partnerships. The programmes afford Belgium Campus students the incredible opportunity of travelling to Europe for their internship and also allow Belgium Campus to welcome a number of international students who wish to complete their internships in South Africa. Belgium Campus’ mobility programmes also sparked the institutions relationship with Belgium-based NPO, Kiewitfonds. After hosting some Belgium Campus internship students, Kiewitfonds board member Valère Knaepen, visited South Africa to find out more about the institution that helped nurture these well-rounded individuals. During his stay, Mr Knaepen visited Bela Bela where he was inspired by the community projects and sense of fellowship. He returned to Belgium determined to see what his community could do to help. To date, Kiewitfonds has raised a total of 140 thousand Euros (just over 2.5 million Rand) through the organisation of festivals and other fundraisers. We are proud to be part of a network committed to investing in the youth and bridging the digital divide. We hope that our efforts will inspire others to do the same. -Louise Fuller

Tech Students Conquer All Odds to Fulfil Their Dreams Three remarkable young women beat the challenges and distractions of lockdown to achieve success. Three young women have risen above difficult circumstances exacerbated by the Covid-19 lockdowns to keep up with demanding study schedules and remain an inspiring force for their families and friends. Glory Matshete (28) from Brits in the North West, Sibaxolise Mningiswa (20) from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape and Maishibe Thobela (20) from Pretoria in Gauteng are united in one thing: a thirst to make their dreams come true, no matter what.   Now in their second year of a three-year Bachelor of Information Technology degree at South African ITversity Belgium Campus, sponsored by the Datatec Education and Technology Foundation, the three women are aiming to carve out IT careers for themselves in the fields of science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM), in all of which there are massive skills gaps in South Africa’s economy.

Female Students Develop App to Fight Gender-Based Violence Four female Belgium Campus iTversity students developed an app to combat gender-based violence during this year’s 7th annual GirlCode hackathon. The hackathon, which took place online from 31 July to 2 August, challenged participants to use technology as an enabler to solve the UN Sustainable Development Goals within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Second-year BComp student, Nosimphiwe Mbenge, explains why her team chose to enter the hackathon and why they focussed on gender-based violence. “GirlCode hackathon spoke to us because of the company’s aim to empower women through technology, which is also something we want to achieve. Gender-based violence is a serious issue, especially in South Africa, so we chose to focus on developing an app that would help in the fight against it.”   The team was able to incorporate what they had learned during their modules at Belgium Campus to develop a web based app in C#. The hackathon also provided them with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience and identify any gaps in their knowledge. “We walked into the hackathon feeling very confident in our programming knowledge but as the hackathon progressed, we realised that our knowledge was only the tip of the iceberg. Funnily enough, we have just started 2nd year programming and are now learning everything we tried to learn from scratch,” Ms Mbenge said with a laugh.   The hackathon also provided a space where aspiring female IT professionals could come together for a common cause. “The IT field can sometimes feel like a lonely place for women and events like this provide a much needed opportunity for solidarity,” Ms Mbenge shared. With 7 out of a total of 23 solutions specially targeted at gender-based violence, it is clear that the female youth are taking their futures into their own hands.   The team of second-year students have just begun MTN’s 6-week online coding programme, The MTN Business App Academy. They are hoping to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to further develop their solution into an Android app using Java. Their app will then be entered into MTN’s annual App of the Year Awards under the Best Youth App category. “Because we created our app in C# on Visual Studio, it is limited to laptop use. Our goal is to give women the convenience of safety in their pocket and an Android app is the best way to achieve this,” Ms Mbenge concluded. Hackathons push the boundaries of innovation by encouraging participants to use the latest devices and technology to develop new and exciting solutions to the world’s challenges. They provide an environment of knowledge sharing where participants can learn new technical skills and improve their soft skills. At Belgium Campus we strive to expose our students to various opportunities and competitions that help them grown in their field and as individuals. We are proud of our students for taking the initiative to participate in events that make a positive change in the world. Tap to select the previous period Next