Airtel and BAMVITA launch a Book Donation Campaign to Support Children

• Everyone can donate through Airtel Money services with the nickname VITABU
• Airtel customers to contribute  via sms  and Airtel Money 

Dar es Salaam August 23, 2012 Airtel Tanzania has partnered with BAMVITA (Baraza la Maendeleo ya Vitabu Tanzania) in special education project to support children with special needs by providing them with books and other learning materials. This is the first project of a long-term partnership between Airtel and BAMVITA designed to raise awareness about the benefits of developing and sustaining a reading culture. To promote reading among children and young adults, Airtel and BAMVITA plan to facilitate acquisition of reading materials by schools and community libraries throughout the country.

This project provides an opportunity to the privileged members of our communities to reach out to the less fortunate and particularly children with disabilities by providing the necessary funds for purchasing and delivering books to them.  

Speaking during a press conference Airtel Social Responsibility Manager Hawa Bayumi said” Airtel continues with its commitment to supporting Education in Tanzania through donations of teaching aids.  This time we have partnered with BAMVITA, an organization in charge of overseeing the development of the Tanzania book industry; in order to extend our reach to the neediest group in the country, to cater for kids with special needs. Therefore we have started by selecting 3 schools in Dar es Salaam which are Uhuru Mchanganyiko, Sinza maalum and Buguruni Viziwi as the first phase of this project.

Through mobile technology we will be able to contribute to the VITABU fund, which will be channeled towards providing books, and other learning aids. We believe this is the best way to identify, reach, and support education for our children with various disabilities and to provide them with life-enhancing and even life-saving aids through technological innovations.”

“This initial campaign will run for three months. We therefore take this opportunity to appeal to the general public and to invite contributions to support this worthy initiative through Airtel nickname VITABU through Airtel money or sms to number 15626,” added Bayumi

On behalf of BAMVITA, Chairperson Walter Bgoya said, “We are very pleased and proud of this partnership with Airtel and express our appreciation of their valuable contribution towards this project. Our aim is to reach children and schools with severe shortages of vital educational tools and are convinced that with support from other corporate partners and individual Tanzanians we can make the difference and provide our needy children with a proper education”.

We have different projects all of them aiming at making books, our children’s prized possessions from their very early ages. Children in Tanzania should be encouraged and supported to read and to value books, not only for the purpose of passing examinations, but for the pure joy of reading and learning and opening doors to the wide world of new and ever developing knowledge.

We welcome and extend our sincere gratitude to Mr. Issa Michuzi for his valuable contribution from very start of this project. We invite every Tanzanian, every corporate entity and civil society organization to contribute towards the success of this initiative.

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