Changing the world in 67 minutes
On Mandela Day 2016, Enel Green PowerSouth Africa employees all worked together to refurbish a school in Johannesburg for young deaf people. EGP also donated energy-efficient supplies: wall heating and a solar thermal system.
On July 18, 48 Enel Green Power employees in South Africa met up at 8.30 a.m. in the suburb of Soweto for a work day with an unusual schedule.
The agenda did not involve a meeting for the construction of a new renewable plant, the monitoring of wind turbines or the installation of solar panels. Instead, it included the painting of schoolrooms and fences and the cleaning of a large garden.
On the day in which South Africa celebrates Mandela Day, EGP's staff in South Africa all worked together, equipped with shovels, brushes and rakes, to renew the Sizwile School, a historical institution for deaf youngsters from the township of Dobsonville, one of the many settlements that arose in the urban area of Johannesburg during the years of the apartheid.
“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”
Nelson Mandela
67 minutes that make the difference
On July 18, South Africa celebrates the international day dedicated to the memory of Nelson Mandela, the country's first President after the end of racial laws and the chief player in the fall of apartheid.
It's an occasion to experience with other people the principle of ubuntu, which in bantu means "humanity to others": Mandela always stated it as his philosophy of life and referred to it as the common horizon for the entire country.
On Mandela Day, everyone is asked to make a gesture of solidarity with the community. In honor of the 67 years that the South African leader devoted to advocating justice and serving his country, anyone can take action and make a gesture for the common good, symbolically devoting at least 67 minutes of their time to this activity.
Make everyday a Mandela Day
The Sizwile School was established in 1978 to accommodate hearing-impaired black youngsters, allowing them to study, teaching them a trade and favouring their social inclusion: a tangible and direct reply to the ideology of apartheid that means "separation".
Today 245 young people aged 3 to 19 who come from nearby settlement areas are studying at the school. Our work day to renew the school was a simple and tangible gesture perfectly in line with "Mandela Day".
“We donated a solar thermal plant and heating systems to the Sizwile School to help increase the building's energy efficiency”
The motto of the 2016 edition of the Day was "Make every day a Mandela Day." The time devoted by Enel colleagues servicing the school community was a sign of a relationship that goes well beyond these symbolic 67 minutes, and also continues over the year.