Busch Was Like a Fairy Godmother

The public school is located very close to the South African sales company of Busch Vacuum Solutions. Originally planned for only 750 learners, it started right at the beginning with 1053 students. Currently, around 1200 children are taught at Denver Primary School. This means large classes and teachers who can spend little time with each individual child. These are poor conditions for the children, who often come from underprivileged families and can, therefore, hardly be supported at home.

Busch is very successful in South Africa and wants to give back to the community. “We just felt that rather than giving money to a charity and not knowing what the outcome is, we want to get involved so that we have a tangible effect in the business of the children and of the teachers that we are involved with,” explains Sean Pieterse, General Manager of Busch South Africa.

That is why Busch South Africa has been committed to the Denver Primary School for four years now. A lot has happened since then.

„Busch was like a fairy godmother,” tells school principal Charlotte Eckersley. “Sean just walked into my office one morning and said that they would like to assist the school with whatever we need. It started with a donation of books, and from that, it escalated to so many things.”

One of the first projects Busch realized was a bus shelter. The children no longer have to stand on the dangerous sidewalk after school. They are protected from traffic and have a place where they can already start on their homework while waiting for the bus.

Gradually, Busch built a guard house to protect the school from break-ins, set up a sick bay in the school for children who get ill, built carports, and donated desks and chairs. A covered stage allows students to perform, which helps them develop and “show who we really are,” as a former pupil says. And lastly, a computer building was constructed on the school grounds.

Last year, around 100 personal computers and monitors and around 50 laptops were donated by Busch headquarters in Maulburg, Germany. A large part of them went to the Sesego Foundation in South Africa, which distributed the computers to, for example, kindergarten directors and young business founders in Soweto. 30 computers were given to the Denver Primary School, enabling their students to learn the use of this important equipment.

Busch employees around the world have also been involved in supporting the Denver Primary School. Two years ago, a fundraising campaign by the global Research & Development team made it possible to build a jungle gym for the school’s youngest kids.