In this remote and barely accessible area - where only the school has electricity, most households are child-headed, residents are impoverished and starvation is a real and pressing issue - Hellen Magagane, a qualified counsellor, runs the Majakaneng Office 45 Parent and Child Counselling Centre alongside the district school.
It was Magagane who accepted the donation of tinned foods, cleaning materials, feminine products, toiletries and other goodies handed over by the Westcon Cares team, which included marketing director Louise Taute.
Says Taute: "Hellen and her fellow counsellors are doing a remarkable job of tending to the physical and emotional needs of a community that is in dire need of their hands-on support as well as the material support of organisations like ours. There are insufficient words to describe the immensity and importance of the work that these counsellors are doing for both the community and the school, whose 500-scholar capacity has been stretched to accommodate more than 900 scholars.
"We were gratified with the opportunity to make a difference, however small, to this community via this donation. Going forward, we are challenging all employees of Westcon Comztek to join our volunteer CSI initiative, Westcon Cares, and to help us find more, better and sustainable ways to make a real and lasting difference to Schaumburg."
The Schaumburg community and the plight of its people received national attention when athlete Lee Den Hond chose to climb Mount Everest to raise awareness of child-headed households and the funds needed to build a clinic and child-care centre for Schaumburg's orphaned children. Here, they would be fed, clothed and allowed to enjoy a childhood with reduced parental responsibilities. Den Hond's attempt was successful and in June this year, she became the third South African woman to summit Mount Everest.
For more information, go to za.westcon.com.
