Donation of Laptops made to improve the academic lives of first- year students in the Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Donation of Laptops made to improve the academic lives of first- year students in the Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management
By Puleng Maphisa 07 June 2021
The twins: Tadiwa and Tanaka Simpako receiving laptops along with, Prof Margaret Linington, DVC: Teaching, Learning and Student Support Services and Prof Chengedzai Mafini, HoD: department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
“We are thrilled as the first-year Logistics and Supply Chain Management students to receive such tremendous help from the Vaal University of Technology and its corporate donors. Through this donation, we will be able to reach our educational goals. You have truly made a difference in our lives which our parents could not meet due to different circumstances. We are grateful to VUT and Zororo Phumulani Funeral Plan for supporting our educational needs. They always say it takes a village to raise a child, yet VUT and Zororo Phumulani Funeral Plan made such a statement a reality”, said Ms Nelisiwe Nemusula- first-year Logistics and Supply Chain Management student speaking on behalf of all the recipients.
Nelisiwe said those words when she received a laptop donation on Friday, 28 May 2021. The department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management identified the need to assist underprivileged first-year students by seeking a donation on their behalf. The HoD: Prof Chengedzai Mafini said that while they were knocking on companies’ doors, searching for any kind of donation, they knocked on the right door where Zororo Phumulani Funeral Plan heeded their call.
Annually, the Zororo Phumulani Funeral Plan donates laptops to underprivileged students and this year, they handed 10 laptops to the VUT students namely: Hitekani Kelly Makhubele, Nelisiwe Nemsula, Gratitude Sarah Tau, Bonono Naledi Kodisa, Boitumelo Mosia, Shekinnah Kangolo, Thabiso Ezekiel Nare, Tadiwa Simpako, Tanaka Simpako, and Hlobisile Ruth Majozi.
Among the students who received laptops were the twins Tadiwa and Tanaka Simpako, who said they were very excited to have received the laptops. “Wow!!! We don’t have words to express how we feel. It was very challenging to attend lectures and use our Cell phones to do assignments and write tests. It was challenging to do our work professionally because of the small cell phone screen, making it impossible to notice mistakes. We never thought this day would come in our lives, but here we are today, we have our laptops, and we can participate in online lectures, do assignments and write tests as we wish. We are indeed happy with our choice by coming to VUT”, said the Simpako twins with a smile.
During the handover, Prof Margaret Linington, DVC: Teaching, Learning and Student Support Services, said that she is happy with what the department had done for their students. She mentioned that it is a wonderful gesture to see the department taking care of its students as this contributes towards achieving the goal of producing employable and entrepreneurial graduates. She encouraged students to use this donation as an opportunity to start their own businesses while studying and not wait until they graduate. Prof Linington said to students during her address that they should always put in mind to finish in record time and come back to further their studies by registering for advanced diplomas and use education as a vehicle to achieve their success.