One of the truly heart warming aspects of our industry is how we pull together when it comes to our social responsibility. In company terms we call it CSI or CSR - corporate social investment or responsibility.
It is the " soft " side of hard arsed business if you like. The replacing what we are using for the business development angle that hand in glove with Responsible tourism is becoming a prerequisite for all businesses to develop. So it was with great joy & enthusiasm that last Friday 29.10 my young son Mitchell ( 20 ) & I headed off to The Clock Tower in the V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa to meet industry friends with just one aim: to plant trees and shrubs around the brand new Blomvlei School library. Now, you have to know something here. Blomvlei School is in Hanover Park. Nice name eh ? Hanover Park that is ? Maybe, but this is the centre of social upheaval. Gang lords, drug cartels and prostitution rule the social fabric in Hanover Park. It is difficult to inculcate a sense of decency, a moral compass as such when all around you is in perpetual chaos.
Within the schools drugs are readily available. As we arrived the principal had an eleven year old in her office awaiting the police after finding tic ( a mind altering methamphetamine of devastating ability to destroy )in her lunch box. Sad, very sad and reflective of a society at the mercy of violence, a lack of direction and very far removed from where South African society should be heading.
So we arrived on a bright sunny morning, seven of us under the aegis of the TCD Trust, charged with planting in the region of thirty trees. I just love gardening, so creative and humbling to be directly involved with Mother Nature, so after a warm welcome by the head mistress and a look within the new library we got stuck in.
We chatted and laughed, horsed around a little, dug holes, added bone meal and by and large ( apart from one hole we simply could not dig ) had all in place within the allotted time. We stood awhile just sharing the moment, here were seven white folks in the core of deathsville ( 22 resident had been killed in the last two weeks alone )bound together by our individual drive to help where we can and through doing this set an example for both the local residents and the school kids to see that even a small number of folks can make a difference if we focus.
I absolutely love Africa, warts & all. I am deeply moved by acts of spirited action ( Save the Rhino is one ) where friends & colleagues see past the day to day demands that we all fact, make a plan come together and just DO IT. Oh yes, we also paid R 100 each for the trees as a contribution. The TCD Trust - www.tcdtrust.org.za is making excellent inroads for the real & tangible benefit of our brothers & sisters who need assistance, you would do well to evaluate their workings.
As the sun moved to the west, we were all hugged by the principal in a wave of her Thank You's. I took one last look within the library, the school and environment and was pleased with our work. I was touched with the enthusiasm and fight of the principal and extended a wish to sponsor a prize for a competition revolving about what had just taken place.
In the space of three hours we had planted a presence of life, hope, beauty, love and through doing this we all believe that the energy of these trees will be absorbed by the kids, it is after all through our children that the future lies.
Yup, a great outing, many thanks to Bronni at TCD Trust, Ince at The ECO-IST and my colleagues & friends who took time to to be a vital part of Ubuntu.
Ciao
Colin J. FRYER.
Centre Stage Travel.
Cape Town, South Africa.
www.centrestagetravel.yolasite.com
email: info@cstravel.co.za
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