SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland. Four months after a group of Acronis employees went to the remote village of Soupa Serere in Senegal to break ground for a new school, the school opened its doors to 140 excited boys and girls eager to learn and chase their dreams. The school was built as part of a joint project between the Acronis Foundation (a non-profit organization established to build a more knowledgeable future) and buildOn (a non-profit organization focused on breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education).
The school's opening ceremony brought together families, village elders, and guests who all celebrated the knowledge and amazing opportunities offered by the new school.
"It's all about joining forces for a better future for these kids," said Jochen Berger, Managing Director of the Acronis Foundation. "Acronis and its partners from around the world are bringing not only hope but the actual means for local boys and girls to have access to knowledge, empowering them to follow their dreams."
With help from its high-profile sports partners ROKiT Williams Racing Formula One team and Arsenal Football Club, the Acronis Foundation provided educational supplies, shirts, and footballs - promoting health and physical education to help make the school work fun.
"We are proud to support the Acronis Foundation by raising awareness and donating team memorabilia for their fundraising activities. It is an unforgettable experience to see the joy in the eyes of boys and girls, so willing to learn," said Graeme Hackland, CIO of ROKiT Williams Racing Formula One team who attended the opening ceremony.
"It is always a privilege to support local communities and children who love football," said Arsenal's Communications & Community Affairs Director, Mark Gonnella. "We believe that football has the power to inspire young people and teach them valuable life skills, such as team work and respect. These are transferable into other aspects of their lives and can help them to unlock their true potential."
The West African coastal country of Senegal is home to more than 13 million people with more than 50 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Less than 40 percent can read and write. The new school will provide safe learning environment to Soupa Serere children who previously had to walk four kilometers every day to attend another school in a nearby village.
This is the fourth school built by the Acronis Foundation since the launch of the Schools Initiative program in 2018. An additional four projects are already under way, and the Foundation has the goal of building 15 schools during the next three years to provide access to educations to thousands of boys and girls around the world.
"We do empowerment. It's not just the schools we're building. We work with communities to break the cycle of poverty. Every school is a great investment in the children and communities that we support. Building a new school in this community has the potential to change lives," said Maurice Muchene, Vice President of Business Development at buildOn.
To find out more how you can support Acronis Foundation projects, please visit https://acronis.org/
About Acronis Foundation
The Acronis Foundation was established by Acronis in 2018 in honor of Acronis' 15-year anniversary and the company's founding principle that all evils are caused by insufficient knowledge. The Foundation supports multiple initiatives around the world designed to stimulate education in order to gain and protect knowledge. Acronis Foundation has been creating and sharing knowledge by funding schools, research, and training programs in communities around the world.
About buildOn
buildOn's mission is to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education. Across the global buildOn empowers people to transform their neighborhoods through intensive community service and to change the world by building schools in some of the economically poorest countries in the world. Since 1991, buildOn volunteers have contributed more than 2.2 million hours of service and constructed nearly 1,500 schools worldwide. More than 197,000 children and adults attend these schools every day. For more information, visitwww.buildon.org buildOn has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.
About Acronis:
Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), and enterprise IT departments. Acronis solutions are highly efficient and designed to identify, prevent, detect, respond, remediate, and recover from modern cyberthreats with minimal downtime, ensuring data integrity and business continuity. Acronis offers the most comprehensive security solution on the market for MSPs with its unique ability to meet the needs of diverse and distributed IT environments.
A Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003, Acronis has 15 offices worldwide and employees in 50+ countries. Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 26 languages in 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses. Learn more at www.acronis.com.