Unilever staff volunteers again helped out by planting indigenous trees and establishing a vegetable garden at Entabeni Senior Primary School near Esikhawini Township, Empangeni. The eleven strong Unilever team joined hands with conservation NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust that runs the Indigenous trees for Life programme in needy communities across KwaZulu Natal and in Gauteng. Through a longstanding relationship, Wildlands and Unilever staff have been holding volunteer weekends in the St Lucia area for over ten years. Conservation efforts to save Lake St Lucia brought the two organisations together in the late 1990s.
The Living Lakes network was established in 1998 to protect lakes around the world which play an important role in water supply and maintain important ecosystems, and Lake St Lucia is a founding member lake. Unilever became a funding supporter and Living Lakes volunteers from Unilever began supplying skills and time to help save Lake St Lucia. By giving their time and being involved with the community around St Lucia, Unilever staff give back but are also exposed to the beauty of St Lucia and experience nature and the value of the biodiversity that the environment offers.
The volunteer weekend held in February 2010 was not all work. The Unilever team stayed at the community tourism project the Veyane Cultural Village and experienced Zulu culture, dancing and food. They also went on a boat ride at Isimangaliso Estuary. “I had an amazing experience of living in a Zulu hut, and had lots of fun at meal times and when we travelled around. I experienced a South Africa that was new to me and one I will remember for a long time to come,” said Kalaivani Naicker.
Siphiwe Ndimande said of the weekend: “I was certainly inspired by seeing the smile that we put on those peoples’ faces and listening to all the challenges they come across on a daily basis and it made me realise how much I should be grateful for.”
Nokuthula Zungu is a Unilever staff member that experienced the weekend away: “I was definitely fulfilled when we were a catalyst in helping the primary school make a vegetable garden and plant trees. Not only did this act re-emphasize the importance of subsistence farming, it also helped the community and the pupils understand how a simple act of planting a few trees can have a huge impact on the environment. I also got to learn a lot about planting from the Wildlands team.”
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