SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual Report 2022

30 30 OUR PERFORMANCE Our CSI initiatives SBN HOLDINGS LIMITED Annual report 2022 31 Investing in academic excellence We believe that education is the vital key to unlock doors for generations of the future. We have partnered with the Ministry of Education to encourage exceptional academic excellence at secondary schools across the country. Through this partnership - which began in 2011 - Standard Bank rewards the top three best performing Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners in each region. The most improved government school (Grade 10 or JSC) also receives N$50 000 donated towards a project of their choice. Our Flagship Project: COMMUNITY UPLIFTMENT Buy-A-Brick Merchandising This initiative started in 2020 in collaboration with Footprint Socks to sell merchandise to raise funds for our flagship programme. During 2022, we built 51 houses in partnership with the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, bringing the total houses built to date to 731 houses. It has proven successful and resulted in our own employees incorporating this into their team efforts by starting small fundraising activities for the Buy-A-Brick initiative. Each department and branch within Standard Bank Namibia is given a challenge at the start of each year: to identify fundraising activities that raise enough funds to build at least one low income house. Buy-A-Brick testimonies Lovisa Shiulwa (Okongo) "I joined the Shack Dwellers Federation in 2014. I did not really understand what the purpose of the federation was but as time passed by I started to learn more about the federation and started to like what they were doing. What motivated me to join the federation was one particular lady who was younger than myself. She built a house for herself through contributions to the federation. She made a living by doing needlework and I told myself that if someone as young as that can build herself a house through savings, I too should be able to build myself a house. It is at that point that I started to also start saving some money. By then I was only living in a shack which was very small and uncomfortable. I had the desire to bring my kids from the village to stay with me in town so they can get a better education and enjoy watching television during weekends. But because of my circumstances, it was impossible to do so. When I joined the federation, I started raising money to pay my membership fee which was N$120 per year. In 2017, annual membership fees were increased to N$800 which I paid off in two instalments. Since I was a member of the federation for a long time, I had saved up quite a bit of money, in the region of N$10 000 plus. After that effort, I was approved to become eligible for a house. However, I was still not sure about getting a house. I just couldn't believe that I was in line to get a house. I was full of doubt about the process but things changed when I was given a loan through the Buy-a-Brick Initiative which was under Standard Bank. Things work differently with the Buy-a-Brick project and the Federation. We provide labour and do most of the work ourselves during the construction of our houses. In my case, I was involved in the brick making process and when construction started I also was responsible for passing sand concrete mix to the brick layers. You don't just walk into an already existing house which was built for you by other people. Here we work hard for ourselves. I am now a proud owner of my own house. I am encouraging others to also join the federation to get out of shacks and start to live in a decent housing structure. I am really thankful to Standard Bank for making it easy to own a house. Gone are the days when, during rainy season, my shack will be under water. Also when the wind was blowing, I will find that my house would be full of sand. I even bought a wardrobe while living in a shack but it could not fit anywhere because the place was small. But I am now happy to live in this brick house. It is really nice. I even put in tiles. I never imagined staying in a brick house in town. But look at me now. Let's continue to save up so we can all one day be proud home owners under the Buy-a-Brick Initiative. I really also want to thank other supporting organisations such as MTC and NamPower who have sponsored bulbs for our houses. Thank you once again." EDUCATION Making education possible for an individual learner This year, Standard Bank sponsored N$50 000 to Taimi Asino, one of the students who performed exceptionally in Grade 12 while enduring difficult circumstances. She is currently a first year student at the University of Namibia, studying to become a medical doctor. We followed her story and what she endured in the lead-up to writing her Grade 12 exams. Knowing what she experienced, losing her parents and then her aunt who supported her following her parents passing, and her eventual reliance on a network of friends and extended family, was sad and emotional. Yet, despite these challenges, she remained focused and achieved the best result in the Karas region and sixth best Grade 12 learner overall. "It is against that background that Standard Bank decided to lighten her burden and sponsored her with N$50 000 to use to support herself during her studies. It is the bank's hope that she will use the money wisely during the time of her studies and that she will eventually graduate, get a job, and support herself and those who looked after her during her time as a learner." Brighter Day initiative The Brighter Day Hope Foundation is a psychosocial support and holistic education development organisation that has been operating in partnership with Standard Bank and endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture since 2021. Financial Literacy Initiative The Financial Literacy Initiative (FLI) monitors and evaluates the efficiency of its projects and undertakes financial capability research. Standard Bank has been a strategic partner of FLI since 2013, committing 0.2% of its net profit after tax annually. FLI is a national platform initiated by the Ministry of Finance to enhance financial education and micro-small-sized enterprises. Its supporters include the Namibian public, private and civil society sectors that aim to work in a co-ordinated effort to improve the financial capacity of all Namibians. In 2022, our contribution to FLI was N$200 000. The Brighter Day Initiative provided psychosocial support services to the following regions: Karas, Hardap, Erongo, Kunene, Otjozondjupa, Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi, visiting more than 50 schools, and engaging with more than 20 000 students and around 300 teaching and support personnel. The initiative was aimed at addressing post-Covid implications in schools, by engaging students and teachers alike in a timely manner in communities still feeling the devastating impact of Covid-19. "Through the program objectives, we were able to establish that there is an acute need for interventions to address psychosocial wellbeing among a myriad of many issues affecting both teachers and students. Psychosocial support builds internal and external resources for children and their families to cope with adversity." The aim was to initiate conversations, with both students and teachers alike in a safe environment to discuss uncomfortable topics and issues. We engaged our target audience to create an understanding where help and health seeking behaviour is normalised. Through various facilitation sessions and presentations to both students and teachers, the discussions addressed topics including: ■ The Process of Bereavement and Counselling Coping strategies: management of anxiety and stress ■ Holistic wellbeing in dealing with academic pressure: workload and time management strategies. ■ Workplace adjustments for teachers and support staff ■Substance use and mental health awareness ■Teenage pregnancy ■ Suicide prevention.