Doing good does transform

More than 200 Volunteers from NPC and their suppliers came together on 19^th August 2018 to celebrate InterCement’s International Day of Doing Good (DODG). 

This enthusiastic troop of volunteers rolled up their sleeves, put on their gloves and toiled away on a beautiful Sunday morning with the aim of leaving a positive mark in the community.

The activities took place at many locations in Kwa-Zulu Natal including Bellair Primary School in Sarnia Road. The project for this school was to transform the play areas by painting and repairing the jungle gyms and benches around the school and the creation of a brand new sports field.

With much enthusiasm and effort, an old damaged tennis court was transformed into a beautiful field of green grass covering an area of 36 square metres, fit for any future sports star to train on. 

The Day of Doing Good started in 2013 and since then takes place annually in August. The Plant 

The satisfying end result

management team together with the Community Interaction and Volunteer Involvement Committee (CIVICO) under the leadership of Transformation Manager Smangele Tshabalala identifies organizations near their cement plants around the province, who qualify to receive some assistance as part of their Day of Doing Good programme. Once the needs are identified with these beneficiaries, planning gets underway for these social projects.

This year the DODG took place at Bellair Primary School in Bellair, Siphakamile Primary School in Bobhoyi Location Port Shepstone and Izazi High School in oSizweni Newcastle. Also part of the programme were Zibambeleni Old Age Home and Crèche in Margate and Umthombomuhle Primary School in Cliffdale Outer West Durban.

Newly appointed CEO of InterCement South Africa, Mr Jorge Reis was delighted with the turnout. He has witnessed numerous DODG programmes in other countries such as Portugal and Mozambique and was impressed by the actions taken by the South African InterCement employees and partners.

Jorge comments “The DODG is something special, being in a position to make a change in other people’s lives. We are grateful that we can achieve these goals with the help of our colleagues, our employees and our suppliers who are all like-minded in doing good today. I believe that the children are going to be very happy tomorrow when they see their new sports field for the first time. As a company DODG is very important to us as we can be a part of positive change and uplift our communities.”

Mrs Di Landman HOD Foundation Phase and Grade 1 teacher of Bellair Primary School was overwhelmed: “Thank you Natal Portland Cement (NPC) and all the volunteers! Your day of doing good was fun-filled, exciting and action-packed. This was a wonderful example of what can be achieved by committed people working together towards a common goal. NPC successfully displayed what "Ubuntu" is all about. The children were thrilled to arrive at school on Monday morning and to see the transformation of their play area. How lovely to look out of the windows and see the lush grass waiting to be played on. The day was a huge success!

 

Director of HR, Legal and Supply Chain Mr Edney Vieira commented, “The DODG is a project that InterCement implements globally. One of our main company principles is to build sustainable partnerships. I do not see any better way of embracing this principle than by what we are doing today. It is very inspiring for all and hopefully one day it will be spread out to the whole of South Africa.” 

So as the sun sets on another successful activation, the transformation team will continue to look for more projects that will make a positive change in their communities. In so doing they continue InterCement’s legacy of Doing Good around the world and in its own way strive to make the world a better place for all.

Words & Photography
Paul Godwin / Nerve Communications 2018