SARAO’s commitment to benefiting society
Over the last 20 years, as part of the MeerKAT and SKA projects, SARAO, SKAO’s collaboration partner in South Africa, has invested in initiatives to support local people and improve facilities. These initiatives included funding 1,400 student bursaries for technical training and graduate study programmes, providing teacher training in STEM and funding three full-time STEM educators at Carnarvon High School, supporting a community computing centre in Carnarvon, and running an annual innovation challenge for young people living close to the SKA-Mid site.
Some initiatives go beyond scientific fields and address specific societal needs. In this area, the SARAO has supported the construction of a soup kitchen that feeds 90% of the community in Swartkop, which primarily consists of San descendants, one of the Indigenous communities in the Karoo, and assisted in the set up of a livestock feeding station to help the farmers affected by a severe drought near the SKA-Mid site.
SARAO bursary recipients speaking at the SKA-Mid Construction Commencement Ceremony in
December 2022. Credit: SARAO
