RSK Tanzania: A class act

As a global organisation with a strong sense of social responsibility, RSK consistently looks for opportunities to improve society and to contribute to the well-being of local communities. In addition to fundraising for our charity of choice, Mind UK, we contribute to local causes that are important to our colleagues in the areas where we operate.

Amidst an especially challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is truly amazing that members of the RSK family go above and beyond to help those in need. An example of this can be seen in East Africa, where Linda Kavishe, the corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S) representative for RSK Tanzania, and her colleagues have generously donated part of their Christmas bonus to help Uhamiaji Secondary (formerly known as Keko Minazini), a government-owned school just a three-minute walk from RSK’s office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The special relationship between RSK Tanzania and the school began back in 2019, when the business supported the school with STEM activities. Since then, the school has grown substantially from 1412 students in 2019 to 2924 students today, with the number of teachers growing from 31 to 39 and the number of classrooms increasing from 16 to 38. As the school continues to grow, so too does the demand for classroom materials.

The fundraising took place in response to a letter received from the head teacher at the school last Christmas outlining the different challenges they were facing, including a lack of textbooks. In total, a donation of 400,000 Tanzanian shillings was contributed by the RSK team, which enabled the school to purchase 16 textbooks: four for each key science (physics, chemistry, biology) and mathematics. In addition to the essential textbooks, four syllabus books were purchased for the subjects. Both students and teachers sent thanks to RSK for their impactful contributions and the Tanzanian team looks forward to collaborating in the future.

Linda Kavishe, CR&S representative for RSK Tanzania, comments, “I think I have always been driven by change, inclusion and love for my community. I want to change the perception of what girls can and cannot do and give young people the motivation to be whatever they want to be. While private schools can have good learning resources and programmes for students, for government schools in Tanzania it is the opposite. Alongside the recent donation, our STEM activities are a way of trying to bridge this gap and we will continue to help out where we can.”

If you are interested in finding out how you can contribute to the school, please contact Linda Kavishe.

RSK will continue to make valuable contributions to the communities in which it operates, all over the world. This forms an integral part of RSK’s updated Sustainability Route Map. We encourage all colleagues, with the help of their CR&S representatives, to come together to identify local charities they can support through collective efforts.