Community members help revamp Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls
PRESIDENT PARK – Pax Divitiae joined hands with the Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls in Glen Austin to help revamp the centre.
As part of their vision to help non-profit organisations, Pax Divitiae joined hands with the Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls in Glen Austin to help revive Makeba’s legacy and help the centre ensure that vulnerable children grow up in a warm and loving environment.
Pax Divitiae, which provides independent software advisory services, visited the centre in President Park on 28 May after dedicating one day a month to giving back to the community.
Phakiso ‘Pax’ Mataitsane, founder of the company and a new addition to the centre’s board, is responsible for fundraising. He explained that a large part of his business is about giving back, a service his organisation deems a ‘meaningful impact’.
Mataitsane said he answered the centre management’s call for assistance with farming, however, after discovering that they were looking for new board members, he rose to the occasion.
“The idea with this specific centre is to revamp it to accommodate over 60 girls in the next 18 months. From a Pax Divitiae point of view we will be taking over the library, pool area and the arts and entertainment centre where we will have music as Mama Makeba was into music,” he added.
House mother at the centre Esmeralda Maredi, welcomed the efforts made by Pax Divitiae and founder Mataitsane, explaining that the centre had been running since 2001, only to close down in 2018. Maredi said now that it was being renovated, it would help a lot of vulnerable children. “Miriam Makeba, whom we called gogo and ‘Mama Afrika’, her vision upon establishing this centre was to have a home where vulnerable children can be kept safe so life can be advanced and taken care of in order for the children also to have a chance in life.
“We are so excited with the progress that has been made and we are very grateful that Pax came on board with his company and his team to do the gardening. As he said, it will only be once a month that they come and do some other renovations on the property, do some painting, fill up the halls and make the place presentable so that we are fully compliant so we can open the centre again.”
Details: Miriam Makeba Centre for Girls NelsonLumumba.Lee@miriammakeba.org or
www.miriammakeba.org
More photos on Page 6
