Community Outreach Initiatives

CompliMed reaches out to the community of Amaoti
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Complimed, a God-honouring company, believes that it has been called to reach out to the poor and destitute, wherever and whenever it can. (Proverbs 19v17)

Although Complimed has contributed financially to a number of charitable organisations over the years, this was the first time that the staff decided to get stuck in and get our hands dirty, so to speak! Besides the obvious advantages (personal) of being involved in an initiative of this nature, it also served as a very good team building exercise for the Complimed Team. On the day there were no titles, no job descriptions or levels of hierarchy, just a team hard at work, contributing collectively to what was an incredible experience.

Amaoti is a large community just north of Durban with a vast number of needs. A lack of essential services like running water, electricity and proper sanitation, services that we take for granted, are just some of the issues that this community is faced with on a daily basis. Quality education, which in terms of our Constitution is another basic right, is another area of concern in Amaoti. When our own children are placed in a classroom of more than 30 children we complain about overcrowding to the school board! In Amaoti 3, Mrs Khumalo's grade 1 classroom accommodates roughly 99 children!!! Amaoti 3 School consists of a classroom for each grade, from grade 1 through to grade 12. Indlela, the NPO supporting a number of initiatives including Amaoti, suggested we look at starting with the grade ones, as this is where the young minds are nurtured.

Indlela Paint was sponsored, and Indlela was able to arrange for some of the skilled artisans from the local Amaoti community, to paint the interior of all the classrooms. Rather than the insipid brown paint found on the walls before, Complimed decided to brighten up the classroom with a two-tone green paint effect. Originally this was the choice of colour for Mrs Khumalo's class only; however it was decided that it looked so good in her class that the rest of the school should be painted green too!!

Complimed donated 2 new metal cabinets in which Mrs Khumalo could store all her learners' text books. A filing cabinet was purchased so that Mrs Khumalo could file and lock away those important exam results?! New stationery was bought to replace the old; shelving (on which colourful filing trays were placed) was added to the back walls to create more space. Bag hooks were drilled and inserted on the wall below the blackboard, so that the 99 kids would have somewhere to place their bags during class! Windows were cleaned and the floor swept. The final task was to try and make the best possible use of space within the classroom. Not an easy task when you have desks for 99 learners, a desk for the teacher, 2 double door steel cabinets and a filing cabinet! However, after much pushing and pulling of chairs and cabinets, we found the most effective interior design for this class, as confirmed by Mrs Khumalo.

We left Amaoti 3 School satisfied that we had been able to make a difference, however small, to the lives of the 6 and 7 year old boys and girls living within the Amaoti community. Although our job was done and the task completed, we realised that there is so much more that needs to be done! Our call is for those companies that are willing and able, to get involved in community initiatives like this one. There are many of them - too many of them in fact - so we urge you to give up some of your time and money to help those who most certainly cannot help themselves.

In closing, from Peter and myself, may we thank every member of our team, who bought into this initiative from the very beginning and made it happen! To everyone who contributed to this make-over, from the paint company who donated the paint and the painter from within the community, to the school who donated the pencils and crayons and to the team member's husband who spent his weekends putting together the shelving, a big thank you to you all!