Poverty lurks in every shadow throughout the length and breadth of South Africa. It is the root of malnutrition, stunting poor education, skills deficit and disease. With the help of communities and organisations, measures are in place to address many of these deficiencies that pervade our society.
Botshabelo, a multi-faceted charity, based in Midrand, was born 16 years ago out of a community passion to provide a place of safety, support and resources that impact on the lives of needy children, through excellent residential care and education. Through the correct care and education children can be set up for life, giving them the best start possible.
Botshabelo covers three main facets to their programme, comprising a babies home, education of urban children and upliftment for teachers training. The reliance on Mandela Day to bring in well needed contributions is a vital part of their annual charity drive programme thus supporting the legend of the lifetime of service that Nelson Mandela gave to South Africa and the world.
The Botshabelo facility was a hive of activity on Mandela Day with scores of contributors delivering piles of goods and foodstuffs. Prominent amongst the donors was the Iveco/CNHi Team from Centurion who had competed amongst themselves to provide the biggest parcel on the day to be matched by the company.
The Centurion based Iveco/CNHi staff were split into three groups, each with a team captain, representing one facet of the Botshabelo Centre: Babies Home, Teacher Training and Urban Kids Pre-school.
The group that collected the largest number of items, the Urban Kids Pre-school, were declared winners at the end of the time period. With a combined effort from all teams and the matched contribution from the company, more than 500 items were collected for inclusion in the overall donations. All the items collected on the day were combined to fill a specially designated square of 67 square meters, depicting the historical 67 years Nelson Mandela fought for social justice.
The Iveco SA/CNHi staff can be justifiably proud of their exceptional display of team effort in meeting goals for community development.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead” – Nelson Mandela.
