The Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Innovation (DVC: RIE) hosted its second Community Engagement Projects Showcase and Excellence Awards recently.
The awards seek to honour, celebrate, and acknowledge the community work is undertaken by staff, students, and social partners for their exceptional commitment to community engagement projects, to serve communities in line with the values, principles, and objectives of DUT’s ENVISION2030.
Among the winners, the DVC: RIE honoured one of the Universities’ esteemed partners and donors, the IQRAA Trust for their amazing work and dedication towards making the partnership with DUT a successful and impactful one.
The IQRAA Trust is a non-profit organization, that was originally established in 1994 with the purpose to make a difference in the lives of the impoverished communities in South Africa. The trust uses its resources to implement solutions to address the plight of poverty and unemployment among others. With this goal in mind, the Trust focuses on education, skills development, healthcare, social welfare, disaster relief, sustainability, and climate change to bring about change in the lives of South African communities.
The Trust has over the years partnered with DUT in various community engagement projects. Among which is the School Engagement Project, where they assist with enhancing the level of education in previously disadvantaged government schools by providing face-to-face tuition to learners specializing in STEM subjects.
They have also joined forces with DUT in providing a Workplace Readiness programme that teaches students a wide variety of skills that prepare them for the corporate world, which also equips them with personal skills, such as Basic Budgeting, Accounting, Corporate Governance, and Time Management. The Trust also has a bursary programme that funds high achievers from impoverished backgrounds, studying at DUT. There is also a partial bursary available to help those students to complete their studies.
During the Community Engagement Projects Showcase and Excellence Awards ceremony, IQRAA Trust was honoured with a certificate of Excellence for their amazing work carried out at the University.
Speaking to the Community Engagement Office, member of the DUT Foundation and Chairman of the IQRAA Trust, Dr Mahmoud Youssef Baker explained that for the Trust, it was important that it entered into impactful joint ventures with educational institutions as well as non-profit organizations to create and offer the much-needed services, made stronger by the partnerships.
Dr Baker who is an Investment Banker by profession says the Trust does work that is very close to his heart.
Dr Mahmoud Youssef Baker IQRAA Trust Chairperson.
“I stepped down from my career as an Investment Banker and Business Advisor to the Honourable Late Sheik Saleh Kamel to focus on what was and still is my utmost passion, doing humanitarian work and working with students. While it was bitter-sweet parting ways with Sheik Saleh Kamel, doing humanitarian work has been fulfilling,” he explained.
The Trust has assisted just over 1300 organizations countrywide and has helped thousands of students achieve their academic goals.
Dr Baker explained that the Trusts’ slogan, ‘Helping People, help themselves is exactly what they seek to do in their partnership with DUT, to help students, help themselves through education.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, DVC: RIE, Professor Moyo thanked all the staff, students, and partners for their hard work towards bettering the lives of communities.
“I recognise the work that is done by all of our colleagues, students, and our partners who work beyond the boundaries of their normal work. As the University, we are an organization that contributes to skills training, and we train many students, some might be mature students who come to us as adult learners and of course, many students come straight from matric. What is important is for us to think about what happens to our students as they progress through the higher education sector. As the DUT, we are interested in understanding our students and their graduate attributes. When they finish, we want them to be able to adapt to changes, be able to be sensitive to what is happening in our communities, and understand how we, including DUT employees, can contribute to transforming our communities and to uplifting everyone in our communities.”
Community Engagement Practitioner, Phumzile Xulu, thanked Dr Baker and the IQRAA Trust for their invaluable continued support.
“As a University, we are grateful for partnerships that are impactful and that improve the lives and livelihoods of communities. The IQRAA Trust offers a holistic approach to community engagement, they engage with the entire community from students to schools, as well as having programmes that uplift the adults, which in turn benefits the community as a whole which is in line with our ENVISION2030 perspectives of imparting new knowledge and solutions for societal impact,” said Xulu.
Pictured: The Community Engagement Office handing over the Certificate of Excellence to IQRAA Trust Chairperson, Dr Mahmoud Youssef Baker at the Trust Office.
Khumbuzile Mbuqe
