The FESPA Foundation and Messe Frankfurt South Africa visited Madisei Primary School in Polokwane for a two week Print for Good outreach, from 2-12 February. They aimed to create a brighter future through education by building a new library, transforming classrooms and donating art supplies.
The Messe Frankfurt South Africa, a trade fair, congress and events organiser, adopted Madisei Primary School as part of the FESPA Foundation’s Adopt a School programme, which connects corporate partners with schools in need.
While the Foundation’s Print for Good initiative provides printed educational materials, Adopt a School goes one step further by building partnerships to tackle urgent needs like safe classrooms, reliable infrastructure, working libraries and food security.
The Messe Frankfurt South Africa, in partnership with the FESPA Foundation team, filled the library with new and generously donated books, opening the door to imagination, learning and opportunity for every learner. The school library will also be open to the entire community once completed. Classrooms were also transformed with fresh paint and new tiling, creating a more welcoming and inspiring environment for students and teachers.
‘To be able to share some of our experience with the rest of the beautiful children that we met is super amazing,’ commented Jessica Nhleko, Outbound Sales Manager at Messe Frankfurt South Africa.
‘We had the honour and privilege of hosting Messe Frankfurt as the company that has adopted one of our schools under our Adopt a School programme. We are delighted at what has been achieved at the school under this programme, and thank them. We would like to invite other exhibition companies over and above the companies in the printing industry to join us and adopt a school, or adopt a building of a classroom at a particular school, and help us enrich the lives of those who are less privileged,’ said Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose, Executive Director at The FESPA Foundation.
‘We believe that the lives of these students will change and that they will be given a better learning experience,’ said Peter Sekolong, Principal of Madisei Primary School.
The FESPA Foundation’s partnership with Messe Frankfurt South Africa is part of an initiative to inspire more exhibition companies to donate excess supplies and printed materials from their events and expos to the FESPA Foundation’s supported and adopted schools.
Exhibition companies are often left with excess products and materials after shows. The donation of excess exhibition show products from the print, beauty, consumer goods and technology industries could expand the campaign from just ‘Print for Good’ to ‘Beauty for Good,’ ‘Art for Good,’ and ‘Tech for Good’ etc.
FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/
