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Standard Chartered share financial skills, plant food garden at Solomon Dihutso
 by Sunday Standard Reporter
27-08-2012
Standard Chartered Bank on Friday shared basic financial skills and planted a food garden to benefit the children at Solomon Dihutso Primary School in Mogoditshane.
This donation is part of the Bank’s Sustainability Program under a specific initiative called ‘Adopt-a- School’. Through this initiative, the Bank’s various departments partner with a school in their community, providing assistance and support in line with the school’s needs and sustainable benefit.
For Solomon Dihutso Primary, this support has come in two ways: Basic Financial Literacy and Nutrition.
Standard Chartered’s Wholesale Banking staff has volunteered their time to run a series of basic financial literacy classes for students at the school over a week.
These short presentations covered the basics of finance and banking so that students can appreciate the role that banks play in the development of society and the economy. Students were taught the importance of saving and managing their money properly. At the end of the basic financial literacy programme, the Bank staff ran a competition for each standard and winners were presented prizes.
The other aspect of the support was the donation of an irrigation system which will enable the school to grow a vegetable garden and provide additional skills in the cultivation of fresh vegetables – skills the learners can take home to encourage their communities to grow and benefit from their own fresh produce. The garden will produce lettuces, green peppers, spinach, cabbage, and tomatoes – all foods with high nutritional value for young growing minds.
Through this garden, the school will not only gain the value of fresh produce and skills transfer, but also save money in not having to buy vegetables from the local market. This project exposes the youngsters to small-scale agriculture, which is a very important sector of our economy. The Bank has already provided a durable shade net to protect the vegetables from harsh elements.
The different departments participating in the ‘Adopt-a-School’ program are able to offer various types of assistance, including providing their time and manpower or even ideas for specific projects.
Standard Chartered’s sustainability agenda is integral to its brand promise, to be Here for good, a promise which encapsulates the Bank’s commitment to its customers and clients, to its people, and to the communities where it operates.
Moatlhodi Lekaukau, the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Botswana, was at the school to celebrate the completion of the food garden, and commented, “Standard Chartered remains committed to making a difference in all the communities where we operate – in more than 70 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Employee Volunteering is key to our work in the community, and gives our people the chance to get involved and make a difference in the lives of others. By sharing valuable financial skills, and providing the groundwork for a food garden, we hope to have brightened the lives of the children at Solomon Dihutso Primary School and helped to plant a garden which will provide nutritional value and learning for many seasons to come.”
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