In commemoration of the 2019 International Volunteer Day, Oando Foundation led a team of Oando PLC employee volunteers to engage with pupils of Metropolitan Nursery and Primary School, Sari-Iganmu, Orile; an Oando Foundation adopted school.
The initiative themed “Trash to Art” was aimed at refurbishing the Early Child Care classes in the school, providing age-appropriate educational materials, and increasing creativity among learners through arts and crafts using fun based activities such as still-life drawing, class painting, creative collages, sketching and coloring, amongst others.
Adekanla Adegoke, Head of Oando Foundation, speaking on the visit, noted, “On this year’s International Volunteer Day, we are reminded how fortunate we are as an organisation to have such dedicated individuals willing and able to volunteer their time and resources in enriching the lives of others, especially those in our adopted schools.
Adegoke said the foundation believe in the power of collaboration through volunteerism in actualising the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 4 which remains Oando Foundation’s key focus.
“We are hopeful that today’s donations and engagement with the students have positively inspired them, and more importantly will help improve their future learning experiences for better outcomes”, Adegoke said.
Ayotola Jagun, Chief Compliance Officer, Oando Plc, who also volunteered for the event appreciated employees for the impressive turnout, emphasising the relationship between this action and Oando’s core values.
“With the amount of volunteers that came out today to support the Foundation’s drive, it is evident that Oando’s core values have been embedded in our DNA. As Humans of Oando, we will continue to support the Foundation’s efforts in mobilizing resources to raise the standard of basic education in Nigeria”.
Expressing gratitude for the goodwill extended to the school by the Foundation, the Head Teacher of Metropolitan Primary School, Abiodun Julius said: “We truly appreciate Oando Foundation for adopting our school. The Foundation has been our partner for many years; they have supported us in training our teachers, providing a perimeter fence for improved security, awarding scholarships to our students, and giving us teaching and learning materials to help our teachers and students perform better. We are very grateful for what they have done today for our students, especially those in the nursery classes”.
Oando Foundation, through its Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI) continues to support the Federal Government’s efforts towards the actualization of the Universal Basic Education goal.
At the end of the event, pupils showed off their individual and group creations with great excitement, eager to share their newly acquired skills with others.
KELECHI EWUZIE
