A celebration was held at the Wings of Life Community Centre in Diepsloot on 19 March in honour of World Water Day and South African Water Week.

Xylem Water Solutions has partnered with Afrika Tikkun and Africa Tikkun Services – their sustainable development arm – by investing a total of R385 000 in development grants.

According to Heinrich Louw, regional marketing and communications manager for Xylem: “Investing in communities and skills development is a top priority for us.”

The kicked off with a team inspecting and cleaning the centre’s water storage tanks.

“Diepsloot is a water-stressed area where services are unreliable and ground water is almost non-existant. We supply water to the community as far as possible in times of need,” says Onyi Nwaneri, head: development, marketing and communications, Afrika Tikkun.

The pre-primary school learners at the centre were entertained with a delightful and meaningful, tailor-made educational show to ensure that the foundation of water conservation is instilled in them for as early an age as possible. After the show, a cheque was handed over and delegates were treated to lunch and a tour of the facilities.

Afrika Tikkun runs a network of centres in under privileged areas focused on a holistic skills development approach.

They achieve this though their ‘cradle-to-career’ model, invests in the development of disadvantaged children from infancy right through to young adulthood.

These children receive a solid education and career mentoring. Errol Pillay, the centre’s CEO says, “We will be preparing these youth for learnership and career opportunities in the engineering sector. It is important for us that this is not a charity but a partnership where we are able to assist companies by placing skilled and competent youth into the workforce.”