TRAC School Project reaches hundreds of children
The project once again involved Sipho and several TRAC representatives who held various activities, which included an educational road-safety clip.
MBOMBELA – The second phase of the Trans African Concessions (TRAC) School Project proved to be a huge success, reaching hundreds of children.
The programme, which was officially launched at the end of 2014, focused on road-safety education for children aged five to nine and was directly in line with TRAC’s CSI responsibilities. As with phase one, the second was headed by TRAC’s official life-size mascot, Sipho, who visited 10 schools in four days to teach pupils the basic rules of the road in a fun, memorable, yet informative manner.
“Sipho and the TRAC team visited schools in Tshwane, Middelburg, Belfast, Mbombela and Komatipoort and we were blown away by the positive response from our hosts,” said TRAC communications manager, Solange Soares-Nicholson. “It is obvious that the campaign has gained momentum since its launch in November, because this time around we even had parents and teachers phoning us to commend us for reaching them through their children,” said Soares-Nicholson.
The project once again involved Sipho and several TRAC representatives who held various activities, which included an educational road-safety clip. During each visit learners were taught how the organisation was playing a pivotal role in the construction and maintenance of the N4 Toll Route. It also highlighted the customer-care service it offered to road users such as its 24-hour helpdesk and emergency-response service. These included response to, and assistance with all emergencies and incidents on the N4, as well as general enquiries.
“The children at every school were eager to learn about road regulations, especially when it focused on how they and the drivers should behave in the vehicle. It was enlightening to see how they reacted to our much-loved Sipho and it was amazing how they absorbed the information he passed on. The idea behind the initiative is to establish a culture of road-safety consciousness among our youth and to reach adults through their kids’ eagerness to learn and share their knowledge,” said Soares-Nicholson.
A Facebook competition, with a prize of gift vouchers to the value of R1 000, for three winners at one of three malls, also formed part of this campaign, thus encouraging youngsters and their parents to become even more involved in promoting and practising road safety.
The response to it was proof that the project was having the intended effect and TRAC hoped that it would further encourage safe-driving practices and thus prevent accidents.
TRAC also intends to launch a pedestrian-safety campaign at rural schools along the route to educate learners on this most vital matter. More information on this particular project will be available closer to the time of it being launched.
