In the biggest corporate social responsibility (CSR) project that Tanga Cement Company Limited (TCCL) has undertaken to date, the company recently handed over a multi-purpose hall to the Saunyi village school situated in Kilindi district, within the Tanga region of Tanzania.

This project fulfils a commitment made by the then TCCL board chairperson, Charles Naude, at the inauguration of the company’s Cement Mill number two in 2010. The aim of the project was to aid the Maasai school girls who were experiencing difficulties in attending school due to the extreme distances and the dangers that they faced on the journey.

TCCL was prompted to utilise its skills and resources to eliminate the obstacles presented by the remoteness and inaccessibility of the village. Spearheading the initiative through its product, Simba Cement, the company decided to expand on its original plans and added a kitchen and two blocks of washrooms, with 10 toilets each, to the multi-purpose hall.

TCCL managing director, Erik Westerberg, says that this was prompted by TCCL’s commitment to safety and hygiene. He explains that a kitchen provides the villagers with a clean, safe place to prepare food while the washrooms address issues around maintaining a hygienic environment.

He points out that apart from school activities, the hall can also be used by the Saunyi Village community for other activities like meetings and gatherings that require a safe environment.

“In line with our tagline: ‘Simba Cement – Inayojenga Tanzania’ or ‘Simba Cement – Building Tanzania’, we will continue to seek ways of building Tanzania not only by producing and selling cement to the community, but also by investing in the Tanzanian communities through our corporate social investment programme,” he concludes.