<strong>By: Santam</strong>

<h2>Santam, Red Cross SA, department of social development & Sedibeng emergency management services upskill ECDs to keep children safe when catastrophes hit</h2>

In order to capacitate Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDCs) in the <a href="https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/Mg0xCy8A40sRzKyIMXZD_" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/Mg0xCy8A40sRzKyIMXZD_&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1560497925226000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFQuRNxFjSqMBGGEIa8xwH5QWDm3Q">Sedibeng Region</a> to care for children, use first aid kits and evacuate effectively in emergency scenarios, the Department of Social Development in Sedibeng District organised basic first aid, basic fire-fighting and basic disaster management training as part of the National Child Protection Week activities. 90 Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners in Emfuleni Local Municipality were upskilled in essential knowledge to keep children safe should catastrophes like a school fire arise.

This training will be extended to Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal to cover more ECD practitioners. <a href="https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/hQSyCxGz0PF34DQU8ArKd" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/hQSyCxGz0PF34DQU8ArKd&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1560497925226000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF7tZH7p_LpYzFeB2NhOVkkjRD-iw">Santam</a> – South Africa’s leading short-term insurer – was the main sponsors of this training conducted by Red Cross SA. Santam also donated 225 fire blankets, 225 first aid kits and five fire extinguishers which will be distributed to the ECD Centres funded by Department of Social Development in Sedibeng.

Tersia Mdunge, CSI Manager at Santam says, “It’s a privilege to be part of initiatives like this one. It’s a perfect fit for our Partnership for Risk and Resilience (P4RR), which sees us partner with South Africa’s most vulnerable communities across 53 local and 10 district municipalities nationwide. The aim is to benefit over five-million people through disaster management training that proactively bolsters resilience and mitigates risk. Working with schools and parents is an ideal way to ensure we’re all invested and upskilled in creating safer spaces for little ones to learn.”

Mdunge continues that Santam has found fire to be one of the foremost risks South Africa faces. “In recent years, we’ve seen a succession of devastating shack fires, which have shown, time and again, how quickly flames can spread in township environments. We hope that by upskilling teachers, principals and parents to quickly evacuate buildings and administer first aid, more lives can be protected.”

The P4RR is now in its seventh year. It’s an approach that recognises that through strong, sustained partnerships improved disaster preparedness can be entrenched. Santam has a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Social Development and has helped provide training in the past through an ongoing project with the Sedibeng District. This has empowered 90 ECDs, with 6211 beneficiaries.  Additionally, Santam has donated over R1-million in firefighting equipment to the district.