|
NEWS
RELEASES
Why
and How Slotland Has Sponsored This Important Project
News
releases give concise summary of entertainment company's
involvement
News
Releases issued by Slotland.com over the last two years
provide a concise summary of the Project's inception,
development and completion and explain how and why Slotland.com
has been involved.
Slotland.com
Building School in Malawi
“New Chance for New Generation” Project Gives Hope to
Village
October
12, 2005 (London, UK) – The world’s biggest
slot machine site is proud to announce that it is sharing
its profits with a needy village in Africa – Slotland.com
is building a school in Malawi.
Slotland.com
advised its members last month that a portion of all
profits would be donated to its “New Chance for a New
Generation” fund.
“The response
from our players has been overwhelming,” says Hannah
Morante. “We knew this was just the right thing to do
and now we’re convinced. After the support we’ve received
from our members, we’ve decided to get directly involved
rather than just make an institutional donation.”
The original
plan was to donate a portion of profits to a worthy
charity focused on African aid. Instead, Slotland.com
has decided to get even more involved and fund one important
project directly.
“There’s
a lot of need out there,” says Morante. “It was heartbreaking
to have to choose just one village to assist. But we
think that building a school for this one village in
Malawi will make a real difference -- provide real hope
-- for that whole community.”
Malawi, a
former British colony in southeast Africa, is one of
the world’s eight poorest countries. Over 70% of its
inhabitants are forced to live on less than a dollar
a day. The average life expectancy is only 37 years.
Only 57% of the population have access to drinking water
and more than 16.5% have HIV or AIDS. A quarter of Malawi’s
children are malnourished; and only half of the adult
population can read or write.
The primary
aim of the “New Chance for a New Generation” project
is to set up a village pre-school and train local teachers.
In the afternoons the pre-school will operate as a workshop
where orphans will have an opportunity to learn a craft
and produce simple traditional art objects. The market
for these objects is secured in Europe in cooperation
with the Society for Fair Trade and Development Education,
and profits will be returned to the village for pumps,
latrines, reconstruction and other community development
projects.
The second
aim of the project is HIV/AIDS prevention. The key to
tackling HIV/AIDS is to educate and raise awareness
about the illness. Information on how to avoid and live
with AIDS will be disseminated amongst the community.
Classical teaching methods will be enhanced by dramas
in which the audience can participate. Unfortunately,
if the behaviours of the Malawian people do not change,
in the near future there may not be a new generation.
That is the real danger of AIDS in Malawi.
“We are
lucky to be born into an affluent country with developed
medical and educational infrastructures that make many
of these problems moot. We also know that there are
many who do not posses this chance and that many of
their problems stem from an imbalance in opportunities,”
says Morante. “We feel it is our human obligation to
do as much as possible so that they may at least be
given a chance to have a chance. As we have seen throughout
history, children are the real victims of such abject
poverty and also perhaps the most deserving of aid as
they are simultaneously the victims and the potential
solution to this problem.”
Slotland.com
will update its member-community regularly through its
player information site, Slotland.info.
Construction Begins on Slotland.com’s
Malawi School Project
Slot machine community’s donation used to purchase materials
and tools
December
21, 2005 (Juma, Malawi) – Ground has been broken
at the school Slotland.com’s “New Chance for a New Generation”
project has given to an impoverished African village.
Provided the rains don’t delay construction, the school
will begin providing a better outlook for the children
of Juma, Malawi early next year.
“Our players
know what a big role luck plays in their lives,” said
Hannah Morante of Slotland.com (www.Slotland.com). “Those
that live in areas where we can enjoy the luxury of
online entertainment should remember just how lucky
we are. We feel good about sharing our prosperity with
those less fortunate, and everyone that plays at Slotland.com
can share in that good feeling.”
The school
foundation was recently dug out by a local football
team in exchange for one football and set of twelve
football kits in the colors of Manchester United. As
the rainy season is starting and prices will rise, the
local organizers hurried to buy all the needed building
materials such as gravel, sand, cement, planks and iron
sheets, as well as building tools with the initial funding
provided by Slotland.com.
The impoverished
village of Juma is near Blantyre City, the industrial
capital of Malawi. The region is of little interest
to both government and non-governmental organizations.
Local people rely on growing maize and other vegetables,
or occasion piecework if they can find it. Without this
help from the western world, the future looked bleak
for its children.
The “New
chance for a new generation” project obtained support
from local traditional authorities – both the village
headman and the group village headman -- who gave the
project a vast piece of land for building a preschool
and for growing enough maize and vegetables for the
school kitchen.
“An important
part of our project is the extension officer, a local
secondary-school teacher,“ explains Project Coordinator,
Tereza Mirovicova. “Thanks to his knowledge of the local
environment and people, we’ve been able to identify
and employ experienced and reliable builders.”
Thanks
to the hard work of local workers and organizers, and
the generosity of Slotland.com, there is new hope in
the New Year for the children of a struggling African
village.
Malawi
School Construction Nearly Complete, Teachers Being
Hired
African school funded by Slotland.com opens soon
March
2, 2006 (London, UK) – The rainy season has
made it challenging, but the school in Malawi being
built with funding from Slotland.com is almost finished.
Word is out in surrounding villages that teachers are
now being hired for the school that will open next month.
Over thirty
villagers worked all winter on the school. As the local
Project Manager interviews prospective teachers, crews
are working on the final touches -- drains around the
building, latrines, painting and decorating the classrooms.
The project,
named “New Hope for a New Generation”, will provide
education and opportunities for the children of an impoverished
African village. Although they likely have no idea what
a slot machine is, never mind the Internet, their lives
will be forever changed by the generosity of the popular
all-slots web site.
“We’re so
happy that the Slotland.com community is able to make
such a big difference in the lives of so many people,”
said Slotland.com Manager Hannah Morante. “People tell
us all the time that they choose to play slots at Slotland.com
because they know it is a different kind of online casino.”
“The
whole village has pulled together to get our school
built,” said vigilant Project Manager, Tereza Mirovicova.
“We had one man that didn’t understand the spirit of
the project and tried to get things for himself only.
Luckily the Village Headman and his family understood
and helped us.”
In the school garden, volunteers have planted maize,
sweet potatoes, peanuts and casawa to feed the students
that will soon fill the new school. The maize, a staple
in Malawi, is now over 2 metres high and ready to harvest
just as classes begin.
Opening
Ceremonies at Slotland.com School Give African Village
New Hope
World Vision Trainer Teaches Malawi Villagers to Operate
School Self-Sufficiently
October
3, 2006 (Juma, Malawi) – Recent opening ceremonies
at the African school built by Slotland.com began a
new era of hope for Malawi villagers. Committee members
from each of the twelve tribes served by the school
have been trained to operate the facility once the Slotland.com
team leaves, and classes will soon begin.
Local
stakeholders, including school teachers, church representatives
and doctors, as well as traditional authorities from
the area and the local member of parliament gathered
at the recently completed school to participate in the
festive event. Entertainment included traditional dances,
drums and singing.
Construction
of the school was funded entirely by Slotland.com, a
“different kind of gambling company” known for their
human touch and for their philanthropic support of amateur
sport.
“Our
donation will make more difference to the lives of African
children than that money could ever make to our company’s
bottom line,” said Slotland.com manager Hannah Morante.
“We’ve always put people before profit.”
Enuck
Phiri, with twenty years experience with World Vision,
trained the Executive Committee mainly in the areas
of leadership, community mobilization and sustainability.
The organizing committee is currently working with local
village Chiefs in recruiting teachers for the school.
“Soon
after the training the Executive Committee members started
to organize their villages to come and help with finishing
the school building. It is a long process,” said Slotland’s
team leader. “New unexpected things always appear, such
as rats chewing the cables of the project car and preventing
us from buying needed cement on time, or regularly drunk
chiefs of certain villages who don‘t allow a decent
dialogue or cooperation. But slowly we are getting there.”
“We
couldn’t just give them a building and expect them to
be able to operate a school,“ said Hannah. “We felt
we had to see it through, so we made sure the villagers
are prepared to be self-sufficient once our committee
has finished it’s work there.“
African
School Children Say Thank-you Slotland!
Classes begin at Malawi School Funded by Slotland.com
March
1, 2007 (London, UK) – Classes have begun at
the rural African school built by popular online casino
and mobile slot machine site, Slotland.com. It’s not
only changing the lives of the children of Juma, Malawi
– the project is now reaching out to bring new hope
to surrounding villages as well.
“In
Europe and America and everywhere Slotland.com games
are played, we take basics like education and food and
water for granted,” said Hannah Morante of Slotland.com.
“Slotland feels obliged to share our bounty.”
A
little more than a year ago, Slotland.com began collaborating
with local villages in Malawi to build and operate the
elementary school. Classes have now begun and hundreds
of villagers are involved in maintaining the school
and the demonstration gardens that feed its 116 students.
“These people
don’t know what an online slot machine is and they’ve
never seen a mobile phone, never mind played video poker
on one,” said Slotland’s local project coordinator.
“But they do understand generosity and are all forever
grateful to Slotland.com.”
Opening a
school takes more than construction of a building. The
popular online and mobile slots machine site provided
all funding for building the school as well as training
volunteers and recruiting teaching staff. They’ve also
provided skilled project coordinators to teach villagers
to run the school when they eventually leave.
The school,
known as Umodzi-Mbame, provides meals to all students
and even grows the food it serves. Its gardens have
been used to demonstrate new farming methods to local
farmers – ways to conserve soil and water and produce
more food with less work.
“We got the
village elders on side from the start,” explains the
project coordinator. “Our project depends on the involvement
of the whole community so their support was critical.
It’s amazing what a positive difference Slotland has
made here.”
With
nine unique slot machines and video poker games on their
web site and now five also available on mobile phones
and PDAs, Slotland.com is one of the world’s most popular
and trusted online and mobile casinos.
CasinoRanking.com
Donates a Year of Commissions to Slotland’s African
Aid Project
Slotland concludes funding as Malawi community center
now self-sustaining
July
8, 2008 (London, UK)
-- Now that the school and community center that it
built in Malawi is fully self-sustaining, online casino
Slotland.com is
concluding its funding. To date, the online slot machine
and video poker site has donated more than $100,000
to construct the much needed facilities and train teachers
and staff. As the local Project Team moves on to assist
other villages another online gambling leader, CasinoRanking.com,
has stepped forward to donate at least $10,000 toward
ongoing projects.
For more than two years, the popular
online slot machine and video poker web site, Slotland.com,
provided all funding required to construct buildings
and train local teachers in the remote and impoverished
village of Juma, Malawi. The goal of the African aid
project has always been that it should be self-sustaining
and since the Project Team built a maize mill to generate
ongoing revenue, the centre has required minimal outside
funding.
But the work of the Project Team isn’t
finished. The centre has become a teacher-training center
for the region and continues to help other schools in
the region get established and improve their teaching
methods. The Team has also become involved in the construction
of other self-sustaining community projects like a maize
mill in Kantimbanye that now provides income for the
school in Juma.
“We’ve learned that self-initiated projects
are most likely to succeed,” said the Project Team Leader,
David Leflar. “Where there’s a will, we will help them
find a way!”
“The school that we’ve funded will have
a long lasting benefit to the entire community. It provides
opportunities and will help end the cycle of poverty
in Malawi,” said Martin Smith of Slotland. “We’re very
proud that one of our biggest affiliates, CasinoRanking.com,
was impressed enough with the positive results of our
project that they’re making a very substantial donation
of their own.”
“The
online casino
business is a high profit industry,” said Antoine Tardif
of CasinoRanking.com. “We should consider ourselves
lucky to have the opportunity to help others who are
not as fortunate.”
“I understand that the school is now
completed,” said Tardif, “But Malawi is still one of
the poorest nations on earth. If the money can go towards
building wells or finding clean water that would be
great too. Obviously we can trust this dedicated Project
Team to decide how to best spend the money.”
|
The
"Hope for a New Generation" project is administered
by boNGO Worldwide, a non-profit organization registered
in Malawi. Slotland.com is a Platinum Sponsor of boNGO
Worldwide and has provided all funding for boNGO's first
projects.