Waterford Kamhlaba Foundation South Africa (WKFSA): Connectivity Project Fundraiser

WATERFORD KAMHLABA FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AFRICA (WKFSA): CONNECTIVITY PROJECT FUNDRAISER

UPGRADING THE KAMHLABA EXPERIENCE THE

BUSINESS

THE

PROJECT

A

LEGACY

THE

TO

FUNDING

CASE

BE

CREATED

OPPORTUNITY

“WE ARE ALL OF THE EARTH, WHICH DOES NOT SEE DIFFERENCES OF COLOUR, RELIGION OR RACE. WE ARE KAMHLABA – ALL OF ONE WORLD.”

HIS MAJESTY KING SOBHUZA II, INGWENYAMA OF ESWATINI.

PN

THE BUSINESS CASE Founded in 1963 as the first multi-racial school in Southern Africa and in 1981, Waterford became the 4th UWC when we joined the United World College movement, which now comprises 18 Colleges around the globe. As a United World College, we believe strongly in the power of

“education as a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”. We place a

high value on deliberate diversity, including economic diversity. Currently, 26% of our students receive financial assistance and we are committed to raising this number to 40%.

Over

the

course

of

2020

and

2021

Waterford

Kamhlaba

(WK)

school was compelled

to

adapt

to

a

learning

environment that is a hybrid of virtual and face-to-face learning. At peak waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, the school was largely closed, meaning that most students had to access the virtual classrooms that were quickly set up.

The biggest barrier to these efforts has been the very limited bandwidth available to the school from the current ISP provider. In essence it means that the bandwidth cannot accommodate student use when they are on campus, due to a severe limitation on the availability and utility of internet connection for everyone on campus.

Since digital learning is far more interactive and memorable than voluminous textbooks or one-sided lectures, such learning

provides

better

context,

a

greater

sense

of

perspective,

and

more

engaging

activities

than

traditional

education methods. We therefore consider investment in digital connectivity a wise and prudent investment.

THE PROJECT

On seeking possible solutions, the school has been offered an attractive opportunity to establish a strong fibre connection direct to the campus. A Service Provider has offered to install a direct fibre cable to the school and provide internet services over an initial contract period of 5 years at a much-reduced discount to its commercial pricing.

The deal would provide a dedicated fibre connection of 500 Mps to the school for a total amount of ZAR 9 million over the 5-year period. This price is about half of what a competing service provider has offered.

The WKFSA has considered the details of this offer and we are confident that it represents the best deal to ensure good connectivity at the school for the foreseeable future.

The

school

is

also

looking

to

deploy

a

one device per person strategy for

all

students

and

academic

staff,

to increase digital access for teaching and learning at the school through an annually phased roll out of laptops over a 5 year period; with an estimated cost of ZAR 6 million for the first 3 years.

We are excited to invite you to partner with us and the school as we seek to raise the amount of ZAR 9 million for connectivity and ZAR 6 million for the one device per person strategy implementation.

The total fundraising target is

ZAR 15 million (approximately USD 1 million),

to be raised over the next 12

months through a focused campaign that will engage WK Community Individuals, WK Alumni and Corporates.

A LEGACY TO BE CREATED...

Investing in good internet connectivity opens up possibilities that have up to now been perceived as out of reach.

Access – future choice

there is no doubt about the value of digital access to

generations. in

this

Waterford

endeavour,

by

can

position

ensuring

itself

good

as

a school

connectivity

at

of the

school. This will also position the school favourably in terms of developing new educational content and skills; an important consideration in preparing young people for the global digital world.

New curriculum/new skills

– as both teachers and students gain

access to steady high bandwidth, a new world becomes available with respect to teaching materials, teaching methods, and even the curriculum. Taking full advantage of this opportunity creates the potential for subject choice to be expanded to skills such as coding, data science foundations, visualisation and even gaming theory.

It is most exciting to envisage that WK could be able to produce young

people

software

who

are

engineering,

well

suited

intelligent

to

new

types

automation,

of

careers:

robotic

process

automation, data analytics, biostatistics, animation and many more!

Content generation

– although many students are heavy consumers of digital content, not many get the opportunity to become content

creators. This is a critical skill to develop for young people in developing countries; as it provides them the opportunity to tell their own stories.

New collaborations

– good bandwidth will support new collaborations across the UWC network, and beyond. Possible applications include:

virtual seminars with speakers from all over the world, and projects with peers across the globe. Dynamic grouping, workshops, and projectbased learning can add lots of collaborative learning to the education model.

New outreach opportunities/community service

– connectivity enables re-imagining of what is possible. The WK ethos of community ser-

vice could be expanded in both scope and reach to allow the WK community to benefit even the most distant of beneficiaries.

All of the above opportunities are possible in the near term, but the true value of this intervention will be felt for decades to come, in ways that we cannot yet imagine.

THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

And so we invite you to help us shape the WK present and future.

To help us reach the fundraising target of ZAR 15 million (approximately USD 1 million) over the next twelve months, we have the following donation options for individuals, alumni graduation year class and corporates:

A minimum of ZAR 10,000 for individual donors; A minimum of ZAR 150,000 for an alumni graduation year class; and A minimum of ZAR 250,000 for corporate donors.

As a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO no. 930040101), all donations to the Waterford Kamhlaba Foundation of South Africa’s bank account below will qualify for and be issued with a Section 18A tax donation certificate.

Waterford Kamhlaba Foundation | First National Bank | Universal Branch Code: 250 655 | Current Account No: 6201 5664 635| Swift code FIRNZAJJ | Reference: Your Name & Email address Join us in seizing this moment to create meaningful change at WK.

Contacts for questions WKFSA Chairperson: wkfsa@yahoo.com

WK Advancement Office Director: advancementdirector@waterford.sz