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Recently, nine adventurous men and women from Generali learnt the true meaning of ‘Ubuntu’ and have returned safely from a life-changing trip to Northern Ghana.
Ubuntu means ‘I am, because we are' and it encompasses the idea of teamwork, collective ownership and compassion for others – all values that Team Generali experienced first-hand 5,000 miles away in Africa.
The team’s objective was to learn more about the impact of Generali’s partnership with Afrikids and Alquity.
Afrikids delivers award-winning projects that help some of the communities that Generali’s nine volunteers visited during the trip.
Alquity’s mission is to transform how people invest and to achieve significant returns while creating a better, fairer world for all. They do this by investing in companies that care about the communities within which they operate and also by allocating up to 25% of their fee revenues back into these economies.
A percentage of the investments Generali has made into the Alquity Africa Fund has been supporting transformational projects on the continent and helping people lift themselves out of poverty.
‘Team Generali’ spent their first day in Ghana in Bolgatanga, the capital of the Northern region, learning about Afrikids’ work and how the Generali-Afrikids-Alquity partnership is making a real difference in Ghana.
The team witnessed the impact of projects like the School of Night Rabbits, which was set up to get homeless children back into the education system and out of the never-ending cycle of long-term poverty.
Sirigu Welcome
As well as learning about the charity’s work first hand, the team spent three days living alongside host families in a remote village.
All nine volunteers have been profoundly touched by their experience of living in a culture and conditions that differ vastly from those that they enjoy at home.
In Northern Ghana, 70% of the population lives on less than $1 per day.
Team Generali and the Ubuntu Challenge raised over £10,000. This money will go directly to support Afrikids’ Opening Doors to Schools project. This initiative aims to improve basic education for children in 60 schools in the Talensi, Nabdam and Bolgatanga districts in the upper east region of Northern Ghana.
The project has already touched the lives of over 25,000 children. Enrolment at schools has increased by 20%, completion and pass rates have also increased. From buying school uniforms to improving enrolment, retention and academic achievements, the project is already making a real difference.
Nicky Shakerley from Generali Worldwide’s Guernsey explains how she was touched by the people she met: “I thought I was prepared but I wasn’t really. The heat and the food were particular challenges which I never really overcame. The people were a different matter. They were undoubted cash poor but rich in so many ways, ways which we have lost in our hectic and busy lives.
“The values of Ubuntu – teamwork, collective ownership and compassion - were brought home to me when I attended a committee meeting of around 70 men, women and children from the area.
“It was a three-hour affair on a Monday night. How many of us, after a long day of physical work, would then attend a long community meeting? Not many of us. They listened to each other, everyone had their say, they took it in turns, were polite, respectful and I can honestly say it was the epitome of democracy in action.”
