Belgium Campus ITversity Articles

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 IT university. 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.

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 the IT university 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 internship students from the IT university, 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 the IT university is involved in. 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.