Tembisa centre benefits from early childhood development project

AIR Products South Africa recently launched an initiative which contributes to early childhood development in the country.

The WitnessHappiness project provides assistance to early childhood development (ECD) centres in ten of the communities in which Air Products operates, one of which is Kempton.

This project, the brainchild of market research and strategy manager and member of the CSI committee, Arthi Govender, was created mainly for two reasons: to make a difference to the education and lives of children in South Africa, as well as to provide the company’s employees with an opportunity to become involved and to truly experience the impact that the company makes with its CSI (corporate social investment) initiatives.

With this project, each of the regions were able to identify a centre in their area with the input of employees and there is a set schedule for when the initiatives takes place – all the regions visits their centres on the same day and at the same time.

The company’s Kempton branch selected Masakhane Early Childhood Centre in Tembisa.

The project started off with Mandela Day when the centres received blankets and prizes for a colouring competition.
For the second initiative, Literacy Day, each of the centres received books, educational charts and those who do not have tables and chairs received these much needed items as well.

The third initiative in November was a year-end party for each of the centres in the respective areas, complete with clowns, jumping castles, food, party packs, gifts and all the other festive and party treats that children enjoy. Each child received a gift suited for his or her specific age and the staff members from the centres were also thanked for their hard work in caring for the children.

Air Products believes that there are definite educational, social and economic advantages to exposing a young child to quality learning at an early age. Exposure to an ECD centre is also to a child’s benefit when they enter the formal education system.

“We would like to contribute towards preparing young children for school and a proper education, and by supporting these centres, we are in a position to equip the centres and ultimately the children, with basic equipment and items. With this project, we are looking at each centre individually and where there are additional needs, we look at ways to address it,” Govender said.

“This is an initiative where employees in the different regions can become involved, spend time with the children and see for themselves how the company is making a difference. The feedback from the children, teachers and centres has been heart-warming and I am confident that we will see a lot of growth and development at these centres over the next three years.”

Air Products South Africa is a manufacturer, supplier and distributor of atmospheric gases, specialty gases, performance materials, equipment and service.