As Editor of FleetWatch, it never ceases to amaze me how warm a heart this trucking industry of ours has. At a time when budgets are really stretched, many in this industry keep reaching out and giving so as to help others. I hope the Government – which has had to act against its own members in preventing the stealing and looting of food parcels destined for poorer communities – is taking note of all this and appreciates this sector for the great contributor it is in so many ways. Here is just one more example.
As schools reopen in South Africa, Imperial Logistics has announced the re-opening of its road safety programme Be safe. Be smart but with a topical addition to its offerings given the Covid-19 pandemic.
This programme, which has always been a fantastic champion of road safety education at high-school level, has been reimagined around current market conditions where, prior to schools closing, it started driving health education as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Be safe. Be smart now provides impactful, easy-to-understand healthcare education and includes the installation of sanitiser stations and posters at the schools.
“As a leading logistics and market access business providing essential goods and services, we felt it critical to influence better health and wellness management to one of the most vulnerable groups in our society – our children. This has meant supporting underprivileged schools with education and by providing access to sanitisation – both crucial to curbing the spread of this disease,” says Mohammed Akoojee, Imperial Group CEO,
“By using the footprint we already have in the schools through our road safety programme, we now also promote efficient hygiene measures and precautions in the school environment by encouraging and educating learners to wash and sanitise hands frequently, to use protective face masks at all times, avoid touching their eyes, mouth, or nose with unwashed hands and practicing cough and sneeze etiquette – as well as social distancing.”
The outreach includes education in the form of a simple but catchy song and enables learners to understand and retain the fundamentals of these aspects in a memorable way, as well as being able to share this information back home with their family and friends.
“We’ve already reached 43 schools and interacted with 302 classes. With travel restrictions lifting, we are now able to extend this reach beyond Gauteng to the Free State and KZN provinces thereby extending our help to teachers and learners as they navigate this new and challenging environment,” says Akoojee.
Imperial has distributed 1075 litres of sanitiser, 430 dispenser units, 430 posters and visited 8779 learners through the initiative to date – driving the power of an active, successful education campaign as rapidly as possible and fundamentally creating a generation of safe and smart South Africans, empowered with Covid-19 relevant information.
“This is just the start,” enthuses Akoojee. “We’re committed to continuing this programme as long as possible reaching and assisting as many young South Africans as possible. This is part of a much larger CSI mix where we aim to empower the youth to be safe and be smart in all areas of their lives – be that road, health and wellness, or education,” says Akoojee.
Aaaah. It’s all the right stuff isn’t it? Fantastic! I love this trucking industry. FleetWatch lifts its hat to Imperial Logistics.
