It was David Warlick that said - “We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

It’s a key motivation why MetroFibre Networx, a carrier-class Ethernet (CE 2.0) infrastructure company, has donated and installed a 200 Mb fibre service to The Village Safe Haven based in Buccleuch, Johannesburg.  The Village Safe Haven is a group foster care facility that cares for orphaned, abandoned and abused children.  Its focus is on providing vulnerable children with the support and care to regain control over their lives in a loving and supportive environment, and one day reintegrate into society as well-adjusted, caring and most crucially, educated young adults with brighter futures.  

According to Gary Webster, Head of Wholesale at MetroFibre Networx, fibre connectivity creates sustainability and opportunity in a number of ways for The Village Safe Haven.  “Many of us take the opportunity that connectivity provides for granted when it’s so easily available at work or at home.  But for The Village Safe Haven, it’s so much more than just being connected to the internet - it’s a lifeline for the children to enhance their education, experience the world, access knowledge and learning and at the end of the day, enjoy some downtime and entertainment too.    It’s also the key means by which virtually all administrative functions are done including fundraising communications and so on.       

“A major drive for MetroFibre Networx is that of education and providing the connectivity needed to access the world wide web is one way that we can facilitate that.  We know that internet access provides the means for children to improve academic performance, promote research skills and critical thinking, encourage independent or collaborative learning, enhance motivation and strengthen self-confidence.  One simply has to look at the crisis of unemployment and education in our country, and in particular the plight of vulnerable children in our society, to realise that as a business we have a crucial role in providing support through our skills and business activities to make a difference, support our vulnerable children, and help break the back of poverty and unemployment in our country.”

“As Metrofibre, we are incredibly humbled to be able to make this contribution to The Village Safe Haven, and most of all to see the impact that such a seemingly small gesture can make to the children in their care,” concludes Gary.

For more information go to www.metrofibre.co.za