Protea Education Development Project (PEDP) was established as a result of a conversation on Robben Island in November 2003 between Shadrack Mbobo, a guide on the island, and Danny Gallagher who was on holiday in Cape Town at the time. The chance meeting on the island led to a tour of some of Cape Town´s biggest townships being provided for Danny by Shadrack. One of the places visited on the tour was Intshayelelo School in the township of Khayelitsha, a primary school in which Shadrack has a brother on the teaching staff. Having become aware of the lack of computer technology in the school, Danny decided that he would set about doing something, on returning to Ireland, to rectify the situation. This led to the establishment of Protea Education Development Project in 2004.
A pilot project was run at Intshayelelo Primary School where stateof- the-art computer technology was installed in 2005. The success of the pilot led to the initiation of the Zisukhanyo Schools Project in 2007, with support being provided initially for three schools in Mitchells Plain. By 2011, the total number of schools supported grew to 20.
