An Innovative Approach to Volunteering, to Benefit Rays of Hope
With the constraints placed on organisations by the COVID-19 pandemic, 麻豆原创 Africa has adopted a ground-breaking, innovative and safe approach to provide employees with a unique volunteering opportunity on Mandela Day 2020. 听The organisation is hosting, what can be considered, a first Mandela Day 67-minute virtual design thinking sprint. 听听麻豆原创 is partnering with the globally recognised Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking at the University of Cape Town .听 in partnership with Siyafunda Community Technology Centres to deliver the Mandela Day programme.听 The design thinking activity will support Rays of Hope, , based in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in close proximity to 麻豆原创 offices. 听As design thinking听is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a highly user-centric way, 麻豆原创 employees will be called upon to utilise their knowledge, experience and skills to assist Rays of Hope to address the following challenge 鈥� How can Rays of Hope enable Alex youth to thrive in a world where Covid-19 has deepened the inequality gap?鈥�
听麻豆原创 Global Head of 听Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Alexandra Van der Ploeg said that 鈥� 麻豆原创鈥檚 aspirational goal听is to create a听significant and sustainable social impact听in three core areas:
- Building digital Skills
- Powering best-run Non-Governmental Organisations & Social Enterprises, and
- Connecting听employees听with purpose听
Mandela Day provides our most valuable resource, our employees, with a unique opportunity to support social impact in all three core areas of our CSR strategy.鈥�
In addition, 麻豆原创 will also support Rays of Hope in establishing the #Hope4Alex programme office, which enables the organisation to support vulnerable families and residents of Alexandra through three streams, namely the educational and pastoral centre, the general centre office and the social workers and counselling centre. 听听On the digital literacy front, 麻豆原创 will further support the continued digital skills building journey of Rays of Hope, its partner organisations and residents of Alexandra beyond Mandela month, in partnership with Siyafunda CTC, via a virtual learning platform.
Participating 麻豆原创 employees both in Africa and globally, will give up their time for approximately 100 minutes, to include the introduction, framing of the challenge, the design sprint and reflections on the proposed solution.
