Contributions to Socio Economical Development in 2008
In collaboration with one of its biggest customers, Telkom SA, Saab Grintek has embarked on a project that is aimed at establishing centres of excellence within South African universities. These centres of excellence are aimed at enhancing the research and development faculties in the field of science and technology.
Saab Grintek’ s current involvement is with the universities of Fort Hare and North West.
Tshwane University of Technology Saab Grintek accepted Pretoria Technikon’ s (now Tshwane University of Technology) request to sponsor the equipment of the engineering lab of the Nelspruit campus of the university.
In return for its contribution, Saab Grintek was given naming rights to the lab. It is now known as the Saab Grintek Engineering lab.
Doxa Junior is a shelter for homeless children. Saab Grintek has been sponsoring the purchase of school uniforms and accessories for the last three years. Saab Grintek is committed to being partners to Doxa at least until the current group of 30 boys have all obtained matriculation or equivalent qualification.
Saab Grintek assisted with school uniforms and accessories for the boys at Doxa Junior for 2005. Activities and services include the following:
Operating under the banner of Synergy, former Doxa Junior residents have released two musical CD’ s. The group has become self-reliant and its members are Doxa Junior ambassadors.
This Pretoria-based shelter has space for 25 girls between 11 and 19 years coming from abusive family situations and from the streets.
Its main aim is to build a community of love and caring for these children. The work focuses on reintegration with their families and where this is not possible, placement in children’s homes. A holistic approach is followed for emotional and spiritual healing and the young girls are stimulated through education and participation in community programmes.
There are 23 girls in the house at present, and all of them are in one form of education institution or another. Saab Grintek looks after the girls’ school needs. Two girls from Lerato are currently in Switzerland on an exchange programme. Saab Grintek is proud to be associated with this kind of success.
Dipalo School of Information and Communication Dipalo School, situated in the heart of Soweto, is a community based ICT school that places emphasis on computer literacy as facilitating tool rather than a skill in itself. The school brings not only literacy, but also even computer engineering and maintenance close to the community of Soweto.
Saab Grintek is proud to be associated with Dipalo because of the school commitment to community development and sound managerial practices. Saab Grintek’s sponsorship contributes towards the production and learner material.
Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School Saab Grintek has a partnership with the Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School in Khayelitsha ( Cape Town) The partnership involves the development of science education at the school. In the project, Saab Grintek has sponsored the purchase of science kits for the school. The Cape Town branch offers assistance to the science teacher by empowering him with skills to deal with the equipment that was purchased. The branch also serves as a source as inspiration to learners at the school by providing them with first hand experience of science and technology at work.
Under the guidance of Professor Marian Kruger, the oncology ward at the Kalafong hospital is doing tremendous work. Cancer is a painful disease. It also takes a long time before it is cured – where it is cured. This is an experience that is all familiar to children in the oncology ward at Kalafong.
Many people - young and old – die of cancer. Yet, with early diagnosis and proper treatment, up to 77 % of cancer victims can be cured.
In the last three years Saab Grintek has sponsored the renovation of the ablution block, donated toys and mattresses as well as implants machines to the ward. Implants machines make it easier - and less painful to the children – for the medical staff to administer treatment.
Saab Grintek Outreach To Youth – Youth for the future Saab Grintek has launched the Saab Grintek Outreach to Youth Alive project in Eersterust, Tshwane. The project is a partnership between Saab Grintek and Youth Development Outreach (YDO) and is aimed at reaching the youth of Mamelodi, Eersterust and Nellmapius. This pilot project plans to provide an advisory centre and train peer educators on various life skills activities, including HIV/Aids, who will in turn spread their knowledge to the adolescents in these communities. The peer educators were specifically selected as role models and young leaders in the communities. The centre will also offer the youth an opportunity to develop the community culture and their skills in the arts arena through the staging of musicals and other productions. The strategy for Saab Grintek Outreach To Youth Alive is to positively influence adolescent behaviour through education and advocacy of a healthy lifestyle. This behaviour is based on providing the youth with the sufficient information to make informed decisions, sharing responsibilities and living positive lifestyles.
Advisory training is now also provided at the centre for teachers and community leaders in an effort to ensure that everyone is equipped with the knowledge and understanding of living with a positive lifestyle. The counselling centre – which was sponsored by Saab Grintek - was opened in May 2005. This project will also complement the YDO’ s crime prevention programme in Mamelodi and Eersterust, which have been active in the community for the past eleven years and place a strong emphasis on restorative justice.
Saab Grintek and YDO are in the process of developing manuals for the life skills training workshops and which the peer educators will be able to refer to during their training sessions with the youth.
Orphans of Aids Trust (St Philomena’s Home) The Orphans of Aids Trust has been established to provide for the needs of children orphaned by AIDS.
The Trust is a partnership between government and business supported by the European Union Consular Corporation and Independent Newspapers. A three-year partnership between Saab Grintek and the Trust comes to an end at the end of 2005. Through this partnership, Saab Grintek sponsored St Philomena’s home in Durban.
For Christmas, Saab Grintek staff donated school uniforms and other accessories to the children at St Philomena’s. The practice was carried out at the end of each calendar year that the partnership has been in place. This gesture has been highly appreciated by the staff at St Philomena’ s.
Community and Individual Development Association (Cida) is a novel way of making tertiary education accessible to disadvantaged communities. Through the engagement of students in administrative roles the cost of running the institution are drastically reduced. The savings are then passed on to students. Further savings are realized by getting industry to play a role in the production of graduates that it desires. For example, commerce lecturers work at Cida as part of one of the major finance houses’ social responsibility programme, buildings have been donated by another company and library books were donated by a publishing company. Students are drawn from the poorest communities are selected on the basis of their leadership potential. The institution then organizes scholarships for the students. Saab Grintek pays the fees for 10 students at Cida.
Child Help and Nurturing Centre (CHANCE), is a home for abandoned and neglected children as well as orphans. It is based in Springs. Chance takes care of about 70 children between the ages of infancy and twelve years. This number is a serious increase on the average number of children that the home has been looking after. The reason for the increase is that the government department of social services transferred about thirty children from a home that was found to be unfit to look after them, to Chance.
Some of the children at Chance are HIV-positive but the care and love that they get from the home has delayed the onset of full-blown Aids.
In April of 2005, Saab Grintek provided the home with money that is aimed at providing meals to the children for one year.
Ivory Park is a low-income settlement half-way between Pretoria and Johannesburg. In the midst of Ivory Park is a school called Bonwelong. From moral education, through music and dance to science and technology, the school offers all the lessons. Not only that, the school excels in what it does. Trophies that decorate the principal’s office are proof of the good work that is being done at the school. Although Bonwelong is a government school, it managed to have a computer centre established without government assistance. Saab Grintek is currently paying the salary of the computer literacy teacher until April 2006, when government is expected to come on board. The relationship between Saab Grintek and Bonwelong has only just begun. The years ahead are sure to see more of the partnership.
Saab Grintek has been sponsoring the Saturday Arts Academy (SAA) at the Sibikwa Arts Centre for the last four years . The SAA uses arts to teach various educational disciplines and, in the process, develop arts skills and interest in the discipline fro an early age. Learners are exposed to all elements of arts – both visual and performance.
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