As part of activities to commemorate its Month of Service in Nigeria, employees and partners of Systems Applications Products (SAP) West Africa visited the Hearts of Gold Children Hospice in Surulere Lagos where they lended support to the Hospice and also expressed their love for the children, as well as their care givers.
The Hospice which caters for a number of abandoned and orphaned children suffering from a vast range of severe congenital, physical and mental disabilities is renowned as the first and only children’s hospice in the country.
SAP recognizes and embraces its commitment to the communities in which it operates and believes the private sector plays a vital role in creating a level playing field, driving innovation and building an environment that enhances education and entrepreneurship to foster economic growth. This social investment strategy is based on the vision to help the world run better and improving people’s lives by making strategic social investments that have a lasting benefit on society.
“The Month of Service is about rendering service to those who require it and to honour and support those who have the vision of setting up hospices, orphanages and old peoples’ homes and are driving it because it is not everyone that can do this. This is SAP’s way of saying “We support you,” says Ayokanmi Ayuba, Activity Driver of the SAP Month of Service in Nigeria.
To kick-start activities for the day at the hospice, SAP employees and partners put on their over-alls, picked up brushes and rollers and painted the hospice in and out. After this, the children were taken through aerobics exercise, a form of cardio-vascular exercise to get their blood pumping by Seyi Akinyoyenu, Head, Line of Business, SAP West Africa. The exercise brought smiles to the faces of the children as they were drawn out of their shells and later danced to melodious tunes after the exercise. The happy children were drawn into the Christmas mood as they were adorned with Santa-caps. The SAP team together with the children later put up the Christmas tree, decorated and lit the beautifully decorated tree in preparedness for the season of Christmas.
The care-givers were not left out of the treat. To boost their morale and motivate them to do more for the children, they were showered with gifts for their dedication and commitment to the care of the special children.
Presenting the gifts to the care-givers on behalf of the SAP team, Mike Okwechime, Account Manager, SAP West Africa said: “Gifts cannot adequately compensate for the care given to the children. The love and care we are witnessing today is attributed to the care-givers. We say thank you and may God continue to strengthen you.”
Donations of personal care items and provisions were also donated to the children, to lend support to the hospice. This was presented by Kelechi Nwosu Ecosystem and Channel for West Africa. After this, the SAP team hosted the children along with their care-givers to a sumptuous lunch.
Elated Mrs Laja Adedoyin, Founder of the Hospice commended SAP for the support and urged individuals and organisations to take a cue from SAP’s. She said the Hearts of Gold Children Hospice provides practical and emotional support to abandoned children living with multiple disabilities that are life-threatening and terminal.
“I believe children have the right to grow to their full potential irrespective of their physical and mental disabilities. For these children who have no clear idea of how much time they have with us, every second counts,” she said.
SAP , a market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 251,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.