In a Microsoft-produced series of videos entitled “Real people: realising their full potential”, Microsoft Gold Partner SDT Financial Software Solutions’ Saturday School programme is being displayed as an ideal example of how Microsoft partners should interact with their communities.
Microsoft is also sponsoring $25 000 and a notebook computer to the project in SDT’s name. The videos will be launched at the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference in Boston on July 13, where the first will be screened during Microsoft COO Kevin Turner’s keynote speech.
“Mostly drawn from the King’s Hope Centre, the pupils are given career advice, personal growth guidance and professional life skills,” says Freda du Toit, executive director of SDT. “The series is being filmed by an American crew who briefly follow the lives of one person for each episode. The launch case study looks at the life of an ex-Saturday School student who works as a social worker at the King’s Hope centre in Olievenhoutbosch. Interviews with community members, family and friends intersperse scenes of the classroom, her bus journey there and back, the centre where she works and her home; all highlighting how Saturday School impacted on her life and her community.”
SDT’s Saturday School programme was initiated by the organisation in 2000 to address the need for computer literacy among those who do not have access to computers. As a voluntary operation, it relies on SDT employees to assist with the lectures and is sponsored entirely by the company. SDT also covers transport costs for the students. The lectures cover basic computer skills such as how to use a mouse; the history of PCs; careers in IT; computer architecture; networks; software development; the Internet and Microsoft Office FrontPage.
“Plans are in place to film an average of six episodes a year, with the first two highlighting the opportunities that software provides individuals,” says BJ Holtgrewe, communications manager to the COO at Microsoft. “It is all too easy to think only about high-level business aspects of software and technology. However, it is important to step back and remind Microsoft employees, partners and customers that software can make a very big difference in the lives of everyday people. Microsoft wants to live its mission: ‘to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realise their full potential’.
These videos and SDT’s involvement take us closer to achieving this." Holtgrewe continues: “SDT and its Saturday School programme epitomise good corporate citizenship, sharing with those that can benefit from the advantages of software to improve the quality of their lives. By showcasing SDT’s heart-warming story, Microsoft plans to challenge other partners around the world to make a difference.”
Contact
Freda du Toit, SDT Financial Software Solutions, (012) 347-4945, freda@sdt.co.za Karen Breytenbach, Predictive Communications, 011 608 1700, Karen@predictive.co.za
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