Determined to support the process of teaching and learning especially among special need pupils, Ernst & Young (EY), a multinational professional services firm has donated 32” LG LED TV; HP Printer; Sound system; Projector; and 55” Omaha Smart TV to St. Joseph Catholic School.
The company also donated educational materials and some food items to an orphanage as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of giving back to its host community and in celebration of EY’s Charity Day 2019.
While several food items and toiletries were donated to Living Fountain Orphanage that is located in Victoria Island Lagos, to assist the orphanage to achieve its purpose of giving shelter and care for abandoned and homeless children.
Henry Egbiki, general managing partner EY West Africa and Country leader for Nigeria said the EY’s Charity Day 2019 is about the passion to support communities as part of strategic plans towards building a better work place for all.
According to him, “EY is not just about profitability, most times when you think of private organisation, the focus is on profitability; meanwhile we have gone beyond that. We realised that there is a higher purpose why we exist as an organisation, and that purpose is to build a better working environment around us.”
Egbiki opined that efforts are made by management of EY to understand the needs of the people visited. “Touching communities, touching lives, EY cares; that is why we come out with this programme. Every year we set out a day to visit orphanages, schools to support them. We are very passionate about this, and the way we do it is not just to seat in the office and send gifts or money.
“We actually send senior people and members of staff in the organisation to actually visit the environment to relate with the children in the orphanages that we visit; discuss with the leaders in that place to understand what are their needs, what are their pain and what they are doing so that we can actually relate with what they are doing,” Egbiki stated.
According to the EY country head, each year the team visits places, it get inspired seeing the level of humanitarian service the people are doing. “We do not want to visit the same place every year; so, what we do is to actually scan the environment, visits all the schools, orphanages to understand their needs and we select. We also make sure that at least we do not visit the same place every year, so we can spread the love around,” Egbiki concludes.
Bethy Obieri, the founder / CEO Living Fountain Orphanage, Lagos said there is a need for collaborative efforts to help vulnerable children, to make them somebody in the society. “The experience has been good and bad; it is a mixture of goodness and some very difficult times. EY is awesome; we are extremely grateful; if every company can think of the orphans and vulnerable in the society, I bet we will have less children hawking in the street or doing some pick pocket here and there,” Obieri stated.
“With the equipment given to us today; we know that it will boost the interest of the children in coming to school, and help to make the learning process accurate for the children. It will also make chats available to aid the children’s learning process,” said Akinyele Lawrence Oladapo, head, inclusive unit, St. Joseph Catholic School, Elegbata, Lagos Island.
According to him, the special unit of the school was established in 2006 by Lagos state government to assist with the education of children with special needs. There are two centres in each of the local government areas of the state.
KELECHI EWUZIE
