Our shared commitment is building a lasting impact for children and their community at the Gingirikani Babangu Drop-In Centre.
When we bank on each other, small investments can create significant change. At the Gingirikani Babangu Drop-In Centre in Giyani, Limpopo, that change is giving children the safety, care and learning environment they need to thrive.
The centre was established to support children who would otherwise return to empty homes after school. Many come from youth-headed households, where parents work long hours away from home or are no longer present due to HIV, COVID or other social challenges. Here, they receive daily meals, homework support, psychosocial care and most importantly, the chance to learn in a safe environment.
Through our partnership with UNICEF and the Department of Social Development, we invested in essential infrastructure upgrades, from flush toilets and a fully fitted kitchen to learning spaces and an outdoor area where children can play, learn and dream.
Craig Williams, our CSI Manager explained: “The value of investing in a drop-in centre is possibly immeasurable. I think the holistic development of a child is critically important. And as much as we need to focus on education, we also need to focus on keeping our youth and our children safe. Creating environments where they can play and they can learn and they feel supported.”
For government, partnerships like these are vital. Busi Sambo, Social Work Policy Manager at the Department of Social Development, shared: “As government, we aren’t able to reach all the children or to give enough support to the organisations. We need the support of the private sector in terms of funding and improving the infrastructure and the programmes that we are delivering in these centres.”
Our Uplift volunteers, employees who dedicate their volunteer days to community projects, played a big role in Gingirikani’s transformation. Branch staff from across 3 regions came together to spend time with the children and support the centre’s work.
For many, the experience was deeply personal. Tinyiko Baloyi, one of our Branch Managers, shared: “I’ve been a volunteer for about 5 years. The time and the difference that I can see us making through the kids. You see that the little things you do make a difference in other people’s lives.”
For Maluleke Solani Alina, the centre’s Project Manager, the impact is already visible: “They have built us flush toilets, so there is great change. They have built us a beautiful kitchen, fitted with stoves for us to use for the first time today. A lot has changed. Our children’s outlook has changed, they even look different from what they were, the change is great. Now they get food every day here in the centre, so there is great improvement.”
While the upgrades are important, the long-term vision is even more powerful. As Craig Williams put it: “We realise that it’s the long game that we are playing here. We might not see an immediate change in the community but it’s a game of inches and every change, every contribution, it adds up in the end. Because when the community banks on each other, every dream, every step forward, becomes an investment in a better tomorrow.”
Every investment in a child’s education is an investment in a community’s tomorrow – that’s the future we choose when we bank on each other.
