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Cell-C Take a Girl Child to Work is a corporate social investment project initiated by cell phone company Cell-C, was launched five years ago as a development programme aimed at young girls to expose them to a real-time business environment for a full day. The immediate outcomes are to empower the students to explore career opportunities within the companies that participate, thereby selecting a career of choice or taking the initial step in preparing themselves for the work environment.
The Innovation Hub has participated in the project for the last four years, increasing the number of students from 20 in 2005 to 90 in 2008. This year’s school of choice was the Gatang Comprehensive High School from Mamelodi who were hosted on the 29th of May by The Hub’s Marketing Assistant, Nkhulu Maboya. “We are happy to be part of this initiative. It gives us an opportunity to give back to the community and expose the girls to a day’s work as outlined by Cell-C, not only within the corporate world, but also into our diverse environment in The Innovation Hub. There are many companies to showcase within our community,” says Maboya.
The girls are welcomed by The Innovation Hub representatives, after which they are dispatched to the 20 companies that volunteer their time, resources and expertise within The Hub premises. The day is wrapped up with a tour of the Fabrication Laboratory, dubbed the FabLab, to illustrate to students innovative manufacturing through various projects and success stories. The students are also presented with certificates to recognise their participation in the Hub’s programme.
“We want to encourage and emphasise the importance of Maths and Science and their contribution to the overall development of knowledge and career choices. We are looking at strategically improving their experience going forward into the future,” explains Paul Bisogno, Business Development, Marketing and Value-added Services at The Innovation Hub.
Maboya explains that top students were identified from the school and that they were given a presentation about the Hub, the services and functions, prior to the day, to align them to the relevant career offerings at The Hub.
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