Local bank’s empathy project impacts lives in Groot Aub
Bank Windhoek’s Digital, Data, and Customer Transformation (DDCT) department recently donated math essentials to the underprivileged children of the Groot Aub Primary School.
The essentials were for the school’s mathematics tournament, which recently took place at the Groot Aub Primary School. The event saw 100 students compete in mathematics, while teachers, Bank Windhoek staff members, and sponsors attended the event.
Grades four, five, six, and seven learners competed in the preliminary games, determining the victors per grade who proceeded to the final round. Tensions were high as the crowd of supporters witnessed the showdown between the finalists. In the end, Tia Gaes took the title of Math Master.
Groot Aub is a settlement located approximately 60 kilometres south of Windhoek. “As part of the DDCT department’s initiative, the Groot Aub Primary School received 20 math game sets for classrooms that will inspire a love of maths and improve the children’s arithmetic, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The learners also received a take-home version of the math game set,” said the Bank’s Head of DDCT, Ryan Geyser.
Geyser added that no child can learn and develop on an empty stomach, which is why the initiative included a partnership with Jar of Hope Namibia, a local community outreach project, to provide jars of hope to the school children and to the Groot Aub Primary School, which feeds up to 700 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) every day. Metro and Spice Corporate & Promotional Gifts sponsored the ingredients of these jars. The result of all sponsorships was an inspiring 775 jars filled with ingredients.
“The intended outcome for this project may have been math development and nutritional support in a disadvantaged school. However, all parties involved walked away with something much more special – a sense of ubuntu, humanity for others,” said Geyser.
Jar of Hope Namibia is a locally run project that aims to provide families in need with a nutritional way to feed themselves. The project offers jars filled with ingredients, such as rice, lentils, soup mix, stock cube and soup powder, for a hearty soup. Each jar can feed a family of four.
“Every mouth that is fed makes a difference. Every child deserves a healthy and nourishing start in life, and unfortunately, that’s not always the case in many of our communities,” said Metro Namibia’s Managing Director, Bryan Davis. Margo Fourie, managing partner of Spice Corporate further encouraged fellow businesses to create the skills and knowledge base today, that the country will need in the future, to grow the economy.
Geyser concluded that the Bank Windhoek Empathy Project is an annual outreach that aims to spark the spirit of generosity within the community by empowering its employees to give back to worthy communities or initiatives that need support. Each department in the Bank is given a modest budget to donate to the community.
“They are encouraged to grow this budget through fundraising and sponsorships to deliver the most positive change possible,” he said.
