In commemoration of World Environment Day on June 5, Babcock donated trees to Laus Deo Primary School, a public school situated in the informal settlement of Orange Farm.
Babcock donates trees to Laus Deo Primary School
Environmental practitioner Nontombi Dubazana says Babcock Africa employees were asked to research environmental initiatives in their communities and nominate one or more schools where the company could assist with environmental initiatives such as tree planting, cleaning or waste management. Out of the seven requests, two schools were selected, including Laus Deo Primary School.
Established on the 4th of December 1999 with 305 learners, the school currently has an enrolment of 1 188, with 30 educators and seven non-teaching staff. About 90% of the learners come from underprivileged families, with most of the parents unemployed.
“We appreciate the donation of trees from Babcock,” says Dr Paul Ntshumayelo, principal of the school. “We have planted six trees thus far and envisage to plant about 14 more. These will provide the much-needed shade to our learners during the hot summer months and will also act as a shield against strong winds. In addition, our school is situated in a water-logged area, so the trees are a great way to help soak up excess water in our yard.”
In another project, Babcock recently helped the school with repairs to an existing borehole. A cable theft incident had caused flooding, damaging some areas of the school, including classrooms. With Babcock’s intervention, the problem was fixed. The official handover of the borehole project took place on 21 October, with Babcock using the event to donate vegetable seeds and seedlings for the school to plant.
“We really appreciate the involvement of Babcock in this project. The planting of seedlings was done by the executive management of Babcock in conjunction with our top learners and educators. This was an important event in the history of the school,” says Dr Ntshumayelo.
