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www.thevillagenews.co.za
10 March 2021
Laptops for Africa! T
heo and Angie Krynauw, the founders of Sparkle Kids, were very excited on Friday to hand over repurposed laptops to four of their most sparkling students who are fast on their way to becoming responsible, educated adults with a bright future ahead. The lucky recipients were 21-year-old Solethu Sitiki, a third year law student at the Free State University; Sibongile Khala, also 21 and a third-year tourism student at CPUT; Asiphe Memani, now in her third year of business management studies at CPUT; and 18-yearold Oyama Mfiki, who graduated from Qhayiya last year as the school’s top matric pupil and is applying to study medicine next year. The handover of the laptops took place at the Sparkle Kids House in Northcliff, where several other Sparkle Kids gathered to congratulate their friends. All of them had attended Qhayiya Secondary School in Zwelihle and have been mentored over the years by Theo and Angie, who are very proud of “their” children’s accom-
plishments. This latest donation again came from Frank Wardenberg from Bremen in Germany, where he has created a hub for the non-profit global platform, Labdoo, which collaborates with people all around the world to bring laptops loaded with educational software to needy schools and education centres and NGOs. Labdoo is a global collaborative project founded in 2010 with the dream to make education accessible to every child on the planet by repurposing computer devices. Since then, Labdoo has spread to more than 135 countries helping more than 600 000 students through hundreds of hubs and thousands of volunteers who engage by collecting, preparing and bringing educational devices to more than 2 000 schools globally. The idea behind Labdoo is for people to donate a laptop or a tablet they no longer use to the Labdoo platform. All existing data is securely deleted and the laptop is then repurposed into a
powerful educational device and delivered to students who do not have access to these crucial technological devices. This was the fourth time Frank had travelled to Hermanus to bring more laptops. The biggest problem, he says, is transporting more devices without having to go through customs. That is why Labdoo also makes use of volunteers who are travelling, either on holiday or for their NGO or business, to help carry a laptop and connect them with a school at their destination to hand it over. Everyone involved in the Labdoo Project is a volunteer and none of their members receives any remuneration for the time contributed to the cause, other than the satisfaction of seeing the joy of a child or young person receiving the means to an education. “We are just ordinary people working for an extraordinary cause,” says Frank, whose “real” job is in tourism – he runs Ajimba African Tours with two partners in Germany. Needless to say, this industry has been heavily
It was an emotional moment when four overjoyed Sparkle Kids were handed their laptops on Friday. From left are Oyama Mfiki, Angie and Theo Krynauw, and Frank Wardenberg in front, with Sibongile Khala and Solethu Sitiki sitting behind Frank. (The fourth recipient, Asiphe Memani was absent when the photo was taken.) PHOTO: Hedda Mittner
impacted by the pandemic and Frank has been able to spend more time and energy than usual on the Labdoo project. “I spoke to my clients and asked them to help me do something good for the area we love so much,” he says. “So while my clients are unable to travel to Africa right now, they have
donated these devices specifically to the Sparkle Kids of the Overstrand.” Anyone who has a laptop or tablet lying around that they no longer use, is welcome to visit the labdoo.org website to find out how you can make a contribution to this very worthy project. – Hedda Mittner
