MTN employees have ended the annual 21 days of community work. The Y’ello Care period involving the telecommunication firm’s employees and administrators aims at making a difference in communities across the MTN markets through different initiatives, said Yvonne Mubiligi, the MTN Rwanda Foundation manager.

This year’s voluntary programme was under the theme; "Investing in Education for All” and focused on the digitisation of teaching and learning, ICT training for women with disabilities, among others. Mubiligi said MTN Rwanda Foundation supported 20 schools during the 21 days in rural, equipping them with furniture, books and playground equipment for childhood development.

"Over 500 learners and 200 teachers in high schools benefited from ICT training offered by MTN staff in collaboration with the Rwanda Education Board. We also conducted training in cloud computing and virtualisation with university students across the country,” he said in a statement yesterday.  

MTN Rwanda staff also contributed over $30,000 (about Rwf21m) to support underprivileged pupils who dropped out of school due to lack of funds.

"Although the Y’ello Care period formally ended on Saturday, MTN staff will continue giving their time to projects that require more than 21 days to complete.”

Elsewhere

According to the statement, MTN staff in Zambia donated 10 computers and conducted computer literacy lessons with learners at primary schools in Lusaka’s Matero constituency aspart of their activities. The telecom firm’s worker in South Sudan conducted a career fair that focused on creating awareness about the telecoms sector.

Xolisa Vapi, the general manager for corporate affairs at MTN Group, stated that this year’s Y’ello Care programme was a success, "and we look forward to MTNers raising the bar even higher next year”. "MTN is an integral part of the communities where we operate, and it’s important that we find time as MTN staff to pause and join hands to assist those less privileged in our communities,”he said.