On Monday 2nd September, members of the K2 South Africa team paid a special visit to the Primary School staff and children at SOS Africa Grabouw.
K2 began partnering with SOS Africa last year, by signing up to sponsor five primary school aged children, as they started their journey into education in January 2024.
During the recent visit to the Grabouw Primary School, the K2 South Africa team members helped out at aftercare, read to pupils, played games and, most importantly, had the opportunity to spend quality time with the children that K2 sponsors: Luhle, Lelothando, Sibonokuhle, Enzokuhle and Onthatile.
K2 Partner Relationship Manager, Tania Jacobs, who was attendance at the visit, comments:
“It was great to meet all the children, and the teachers and support staff. Their passion for the kids and their education is clearly visible! It is great to know that K2 is making a difference to those little lives and giving them an opportunity to receive a solid education, thereby also enriching the lives of their families and communities.”
SOS Africa is a grassroots South African charity which funds the education and care of disadvantaged African township children to help them break out of poverty. The charity’s overarching aim is to break down barriers to learning, giving children choices and the chance to pursue their passions and realise their dreams through access to education.
They believe that children shouldn’t be limited by the circumstances into which they are born, and are committed, as an organisation, to creating equal opportunities for all children and young people.
Corporate sponsorship, through relationships with businesses like K2, provides township children with the opportunity to receive a high standard of education at an SOS Africa partnering school, holistic education and care at an SOS Africa Education Centre every afternoon, along with providing stationery supplies, school uniform and transportation to and from school.
As part of K2’s sponsorship of Luhle, Lelothando, Sibonokuhle, Enzokuhle and Onthatile, SOS Africa send regular progress updates to the K2 South Africa team, including a school report for each of the children every term. The Term 2 reports for all five students detailed significant improvements in the areas of language, maths and life skills compared to the beginning of the year.
K2 Relocation Manager, and Charity Champion for K2 South Africa, Natasha Wannenburg, says:
“It was incredibly rewarding to have the chance to see our sponsees on our visit to SOS Africa earlier this month. Whilst the regular updates that we receive from the charity are fantastic, there’s no substitute for meeting the children in person and getting to see first-hand the impact that the education they’re getting through SOS Africa, and our sponsorship, is having on their lives.
Through the encouragement and patience of the teachers and support staff at SOS Africa Grabouw, all five of the children that K2 sponsors have been able to overcome initial language barriers, improving communication and vocab skills and becoming increasingly confident.”
Organised through the K2 Foundation, K2 is globally committed to supporting local charities in the regions where we operate, specifically those which work to improve the lives of children.
Natasha continues:
“I feel incredibly fortunate to work for an organisation that not only offers its employees the opportunity, but encourages them, to engage with charitable causes. I hope that our partnership with SOS Africa will continue to go from strength to strength, and myself and the rest of the team are already looking forward to visiting the children again soon.”
