Johannesburg, 30 Jul 2014
"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," said Nelson Mandela.
Taking these words to heart were the employees of energy management specialist, Schneider Electric South Africa, which has partnered with Emthonjeni, a community-based organisation based in Zandspruit, Johannesburg, to honour the late Mandela's legacy on Madiba Day 2014.
"In addressing the world's social injustices, Madiba said: 'It is in your hands now.' The Schneider Electric team literally used its hands to prepare approximately 600 breakfast and lunch meals for the less fortunate children in this area and engaged with them by playing fun games. They also contributed a variety of vegetable and herb plants to enlarge the community's existing income-generating food gardens.
"Our overall goal for the day was to make a sustainable impact and so we also donated nine In-Diya lighting systems, which are Schneider Electric's highly energy-efficient LEDs, especially designed to provide lighting to people living with no or unreliable electricity," says Zanelle Dalglish, head of Sustainable Development at Schneider Electric. "Four of the In-Diya lighting systems were installed in the rural bakery, which is owned by two women from the community. They were thrilled with the donation!"
She explains that the In-Diya system consumes 50% less power than an 11-watt CFL and 90% less power than a 60-watt incandescent lamp for the same light output. The lamp is mounted on a wall and can illuminate a room of just over 12 square metres for all normal activities. In its high-end version, it costs less than any CFL-based solar home lighting system and provides 50 000 hours of lighting.
A further donation was in the form of practical goods to the community's "swap shop".
"Being an extremely poor community, the swap shop exchanges goods for recyclable waste, which residents collect and bring to the shop where it is weighed and valued at R1 per kilogramme. Schneider Electric and employees supplied the shop with goods such as non-perishable foods, blankets, toys and clothing to ensure it is well stocked and so increase the well-being of residents," adds Dalglish.
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