With over 90 million children in Africa without a writing surface at schools and over 400 million children worldwide, the TutuDesk Campaign aims to provide disadvantaged schools with instant infrastructure provision for children, in the form of flat structures to rest on scholars’ laps. The TutuDesks also provide a far greater reach in a shorter time for funds invested by donors. Without a writing surface, students will be compromised at their places of learning.

The 200 TutuDesks donated to the Protea Primary School forms part of Grant Thornton’s focus of promoting education within underprivileged areas. Funds were raised at Grant Thornton International’s 2010 conference which was attended by over 500 partners and staff from around the world, who all donated generously to the CSI element of the proceedings. Grant Thornton South Africa is the 5th largest audit firm in South Africa by fee income (according to the October 2011 International Accounting Bulletin).

In the next five years, the TutuDesk Campaign endeavours to provide a further 20 million TutuDesks to significantly improve learning conditions for children in Africa.

The 200 TutuDesks were handed over to the staff and pupils of Protea Primary School on 5 December 2011.

Neil Miller, joint managing partner of Grant Thornton Cape said: “We at Grant Thornton believe that the upliftment of communities starts with education – we are committed to showing our unyielding support in promoting education within underprivileged communities.”

Neil Miller concluded the handover adding that Grant Thornton has more donations in the pipeline, which further substantiates its commitment to supporting education in underprivileged areas on an ongoing basis.

The Protea Primary School’s staff were exceptionally grateful to receive such indispensable teaching tools and said that this donation would encourage the school’s pupils to do their school work in the classroom as well as at home.

Photographs from the handover

The theme for World AIDS Day 2011 in South Africa is about “Getting to Zero.” Zero New HIV Infections. Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS Related Deaths.

Facts about HIV / Aids
HIV is not passed on through spitting, biting, or sharing utensils
You can get the results of an HIV test in just 15-20 minutes
There is still no vaccine nor cure for HIV

Investing in our community
Grant Thornton cares about its community. Staff are buying red ribbons and making donations to show their support for the fight against HIV/Aids and for the people living with it. All proceeds will be donated to Tateni Home Care Nursing Services.

Tateni Home Care Nursing Services supports the HIV/AIDS infected and affected chronically and terminally ill people and their families, including orphans and vulnerable children.

AIDS is no longer just a disease, it is a human rights issue. – Nelson Mandela