Air Products invests in SA’s future
The challenge South African companies face in their corporate social responsibility initiatives is where best to focus their attention. South Africa is a country of comparatively scarce resources and, when it concerns upliftment, it is most important to ensure that financial resources are directed to areas where the maximum benefit can be derived for the future of the country.
In its corporate social responsibility drive, Air Products South Africa identified education as the area, which would provide the most effective means towards the advancement of South Africa.
In fostering education, Air Products is focusing its efforts in the geographical regions of the country where the company has its operations.
In 2008, social responsibility took on a personal note when, in the company of his wife Barbara, Air Products South Africa’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Wayne Hinman, visited the Siphesihle Primary School. This is located in the suburb of Madadeni near Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal. Newcastle is also home to one of Air Products South Africa’s major gas-producing facilities.
In disadvantaged communities, schools play a vital role, not only in the education of learners, but also in providing adequate nutrition through feeding schemes. The Hinman’s reason for visiting Siphesihle Primary was to see the two classrooms donated by the company in 2007. The couple was touched by the plight of the children and in particular the lack of facilities that existed to prepare their daily meals. This desperate situation prompted Wayne and Barbara to make a personal donation to the school so that a proper kitchen could be built. To ensure the success of the project, Air Products added a sum of money towards the building of the kitchen.
Wayne personally handed over the appropriately-named Hinman Kitchen to the principal and governing body of the school on December 8, 2008.
Principal of Siphesihle Primary, Christopher Mtshali explains that the number of children at the school has been growing rapidly. In 2007 the school had 450 children, however the number has grown to 750.
“We cannot turn children away,” explains Mtshali adding that there is a dire shortage of primary school education in the Madadeni area. The education budget of the KwaZulu-Natal education authorities has to be spread over a wide area. This means that help from the private sector is of cardinal importance.
“We appreciate the practical contribution that the Hinmans and Air Products have made to the future of the children of Madadeni,” says Mtshali.
“We look forward to further cooperation with this socially-conscious company in upgrading Siphesihle Primary,” he concludes.
Published on January 21, 2009 in Corporate Responsibility |