By Our Reporter
As the MTN staff continue their 21 Days of Y’ello care (21 DOYC) drive aimed at supporting communities to drive economic recovery, the company’s staff have digitally upskilled and offered recovery packages to The Missionaries of the Poor, a Rubaga-based charity home that offers shelter to orphans and homeless people.
Some of the youths in the community got lessons on how to use the computer and internet, create emails, search for business tutorials on YouTube, and more in the MTN Internet bus.
John Walusimbi, an ICT trainer on the MTN Internet bus, said there is a high turn-up of youths in the community who are eager to explore the knowledge of Information Communication Technology.
Alex Mutagaya, a resident in Rubaga said that he has been educated on how to access videos teaching about tailoring on YouTube but didn’t have a smartphone or a computer to rehearse the steps.
On realizing such challenges, MTN has equipped and supported the Missionaries of the Poor Group with computers for digital skills to enable them to thrive in the digital era, printers, sewing machines, wheelchairs, and scholastic materials.
Other donations are; 200 Kilograms of sugar, 200 Kgs of maize floor, 200 kgs of beans, blankets and hygiene supplies including: sanitizer, liquid soap, adult diapers, surgical gloves, and toilet rolls among others.
Brother Zoachim Lakra, the proprietor of the home joyfully thanked the MTN team for the overwhelming contributions and suggested that this giving may continuously go to other disadvantaged groups that need a restoration for their groups too.
“MTN has not left us as orphans and indeed May God bless you all the works of your hands,” said Lakra.
In his remarks, Richard Yego, the Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Services, thanked the MTN staff for engaging in the community activities and sharing their digital skills with the vulnerable groups.
“We are pleased to strengthen our communities by helping them regenerate their businesses and empowering youth and disadvantaged persons to develop in their societies,” said Yego.
In resonance with Yego, Micheal Sekkade, the General Manager of Human Resources at MTN, says this 21 Days of Y’ello Care campaign creates love between MTN and the many that it supports, which he affirms is a virtuous edge for the company and the public.
Masaka 21 Days of Y’ello Care
On the same day, another group of Staff members also reached out to the Masaka Diocesan Youth Organisation under the same campaign. MTN Uganda is going to support the training of up to 2,000 youths in coffee growing, which is a lucrative cash crop in Masaka, as a way of helping them achieve economic growth.
In an event presided over by Fr. Deusdedit Ssekabira, the Maska Diocese youth leader, MTN’s Jimmy Ssempuuma also added that MTN will support the youth in harnessing the power of digital skills to better manage their coffee-growing enterprise, such as using the internet to find more innovative ways tending to their coffee plantations, adding value to their coffee as well as finding the right market for it.
The MTN 21 DOYC is an annual MTN staff volunteerism campaign that secures high participation levels of MTN staff in high-impact social projects to uplift and empower the local communities in which the company operates.
Held under the theme; Empowering Communities to Drive Economic Recovery”, this year’s MTN 21 DOYC is aimed at supporting 10 entrepreneurship groups comprising of women, youths and disadvantaged populations across Uganda in their recovery from the adverse economic effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The groups that have been supported so far include; Focus for Life development in Kawempe Division, the Women Tailoring group in Kamwokya, the Jinja-based Tabulera Kawuma deaf carpentry as well as the Lira-based Tesobar Deaf Carpentry. The other groups that are yet to be supported include; the disabled association of Fortportal, the Bunusya abarema twetungure association in Mbarara, the Glorious widows of Makindye, and the Nakawa Market Vendors Association.
MTN has been extending digital skills training and donating a relief cash package worth Ugx.8Million to each group, as a way of boosting their businesses. In addition, MTN staff are undertaking cleaning exercises and donating cleaning equipment to the communities.