Freight company CFR is giving the gift of education – in the form of support for preschools and the financing of “play pumps”. It started four years ago with The Luyanda Crèche and Pre-School, which was housed in a rusty and leaky corrugated iron shack with old pallets as flooring in the Motherwell Township, about 30 kilometers from the Port Elizabeth city centre, according to Beverly Brennan, CFR Freight Port Elizabeth branch manager. “Four years on and the royal blue building definitely is an eye catcher standing out amongst the informal structures which surround it. “Not only does the building provide a safe and secure environment for children to learn, but has proper sewerage facilities, pay as you go electricity, and running water,” she says. While continuing to provide support to Luyanda, CFR is also planning to upgrade the nearby Ezibeleni Educare Centre, a brick shell building which requires extensive renovation and re-roofing, according to Brennan. Peter Schmidt-Löffler, chief executive officer of the CFR Group, says it is focusing on providing support for education initiatives because “one of the biggest challenges facing South Africa is education. It is a good investment.” Support for education is also the motivation behind CFR’s support for the Environmental Play Pump Project. The pumps are in the form of a merry-go-round which harnesses the energy of the school children to transfer water from a borehole into a holding tank. “What we have found is that instead of the young girls of the community fetching water they are now able to attend school,” says Martin Keck, managing director of CFR Freight. “The spin-offs from having basic resources available to rural communities are countless. There is water on tap to use for cleaning, as drinking water for livestock, and to water vegetable gardens,” he says. “If the water level is getting low all they have to do is to tell the children to go and play,” adds Schmidt-Löffler. CFR has funded the installation of Play Pumps at the Egoqwaneni Primary School in KwaZulu/Natal, the Borume Primary School in Limpopo, and the Nomzamo Primary School in the Eastern Cape in November this year. CAPTION Pumping water: Peter Schmidt-Löffler, chief executive officer of the CFR Group, with helpers on a play pump which has been installed outside Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.
