Working in collaboration, we can mount a strong defence against the threat that fire poses for our communities!

After approaching the Community Convergence Workstream (CCW) on behalf of her social work students, part-time lecturer Ms Nozithembiso Makonxa-Nodonti wondered whether her own organization might be able to be assisted too. Her request to the CCW was shared with the Masks Project and with the SASOL-Innoventon Sanitizer Project, and in October 2020, Nelson Mandela University was able to hand over 161 litres of hand sanitiser and 68 masks to Sophumelela Drop-In Centre in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth.

Every year Nelson Mandela University’s Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students are placed at different centres across the city to serve in their existing initiatives. Last year, four third-year students were placed at Asakhe Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC). During their time there, the students were encouraged by their lecturer, Ms Nozithembiso Makonxa-Nodonti, to contact the Community Convergence Workstream (CCW) to assist in providing masks to the Centre. Thanks to the CCW’s Masks Project and this workstream’s involvement in the partnership between SASOL and Innoventon, these students were ultimately able to hand over a total of 48 kids’ masks and 25 litres of hand sanitizer, and in doing so, partner with the important work that the Centre is doing. 

After calling for student and staff volunteers to assist in packing food parcels for communities and organisations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nelson Mandela University’s Convergence Fund Deployment Committee (CFDC) recently managed the delivery of 220 food parcels.