MUKONO – Over 40 staff of Standard Chartered Bank days ago volunteered in a community initiative at Salaama School For the Blind in Kisoga – Mukono where they renovated a classroom block and planted 300 fruit and indigenous trees that will be helpful in preserving the environment and providing nutritional needs for the students in the near future.
The founder and headmaster of the school Francis Kinubi who received the bank’s staff said he has led the school for the last 23 years. The school has 72 students who are visually impaired with various disabilities that could not allow them go to normal schools.
However, during the visit, the bank’s staff took off time to socialise and learn from the children as played various games with the visually impaired minors. The visitors also had a chance to observe how the children in this school read and write using braille machines. The visitors also had a look at other special needs equipment before they shared a meal with the children.
While speaking at the event, Margaret Kigozi the Acting Head, Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing at Standard Chartered Bank said: “One of our strategic pillars as Standard Chartered Bank is “Accelerating zero” where we have committed to help communities in our footprint to reduce carbon emissions as fast as possible, without slowing development and putting the world on a sustainable path to net zero by 2050.”
Kigozi said the activity was all about promoting renewable energy and preserving the environment. “Therefore, we have planted 300 trees as Salaama School for the Blind which sits on over 23 acres of land so they can better utilize the land as a key resource to enable them cater to the needs of the children who mostly come from impoverished families and can’t afford the tuition or the school necessities,” she said.
On his part, Moses Rutahigwa the Head of Consumer, Private and Business Banking at Standard Chartered Bank said: “We are delighted to volunteer at Salaama School for the blind today to demonstrate that we are not detached from the community in which we have operated and thrived for over 109 years but that we are indeed part of it and deeply care about it.”
Rutahigwa said the bank’s staff were happy to connect and “be part of the people whom we serve every single day as customers, to be able to help communities such as Salaama School for the blind, interact with disadvantaged children, hear the dreams of these young people and inspire them to pursue their dreams. Our effort to repair and renovate one of their buildings will go a long way in providing a decent environment for the students to study in.”
The Manager, Sustainability at Standard Chartered Bank Deus Turyatemba while speaking to the participants stated: “As a visually person myself, I am very inspired by the fact that my colleagues at Standard chartered Bank where I have worked for over 15 years now, were able to interact with the visually impaired children. They have taken off time to learn a number of things from this special community that enables them to appreciate the challenges that the children face which opens up their minds.
This new acquired knowledge the Bank staff have received will enable them to be more empathetic, ambassadors and champions towards causes for disadvantaged persons as disability is not inability. If these children are supported, they have the potential to be productive members of society and are capable of so many things and I am a living example of this.”
The headmaster thanked Standard Chartered Bank saying that it has been a great partner and supporter of Salaama School For the Blind for over a decade. The bank has supported the school with renovations, computers, braille machines, providing scholastic materials for visually impaired persons, among others. “I wish to express our sincere gratitude to Standard Chartered Bank Uganda for this current drive to once again support us.”
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