The German town of Neuberg (Newcastle) has donated computers worth R800 000 to a rural high school in Newcastle, in the far northwest of the KwaZulu-Natal midlands.
Two local self-help women`s organisations in the area were also given sewing machines as part of a commitment by a group of Germans and other foreign delegates who attended the International Newcastle Summit in SA a year ago.
According to government`s BuaNews service, Welcome Twala, a grade 12 learner at Siyalungelwa High School, said the hi-tech machines would make learning easier and more fun.
"I can communicate with the German students now if I want to," he added, pointing out that the new computers would be connected to the Internet, making it easier for him to do school-related research or surf the Net for general enrichment.
Newcastle chief education superintendent Velanjani Zulu said it was appropriate that the computers were given to a school in a deep rural area. "This can only improve learners` lives and expose them to the international world."
A teacher from Thembalentsha High School, Sizwe Ntuli, will also be flown to Newcastle in Germany next month for an advanced computer course. Pieter Adendorff of the local Newcastle Tourism said two more consignments of computers were expected from namesake towns of Newcastle in the US and England.
"It shows that the international Newcastle community left the summit and returned home to open their hearts to us here," he said.
The summit was attended by delegates from 52 towns called Newcastle around the world, and discussions included talks and workshops on facilitating development partnerships, social, cultural and economic empowerment among these towns.
A South African arts and crafts shop will also be opened in a shopping mall in Shinshiro (Newcastle), Japan, exposing local talent to a previously untapped market.
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