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.”