Ama Zinging with Lafarge |

Ama Zinging with Lafarge

Published by Becky September 1st, 2008 in General, Training Blog

Most of us have at least caught a glimpse of the TV reality show, the Amazing Race. Thousands of miles later, only one team hobbles into victory! Winner takes all! The rest head for the hills, licking their wounds.

On the 20th of August the intrepid Lafarge Cement Sales & Marketing Teams
set off on their Ama-zing-zing Race…

…and what an incredible day it turned out to be! It was destined to be nothing but that from the start… Firstly, to Maria Sazeides from Lafarge - From the moment we started planning, Maria was very clear about two things – she wanted the race to make a positive contribution to the communities we visited and to make sure her team experienced a different side of Joburg – different from what most of us experience everyday. Huge kudos to Maria for her openness to doing something different and for her generosity. Secondly, to our amazingly talented and passionate about making a difference where others fear to tread, Tracy! Thanks Trace – you put an amazing day together. Thirdly, to a great logistics team – you can’t believe the nitty-gritty painful amount of detail that goes into planning one of these things – so a special thank-you to the Nomsa’s (ours and Lafarge’s!), Gill, Raelene, Shirley and Evelyn. And last but not least, to an incredibly enthusiastic gang from Lafarge – they rocked from the word go!

AmaZingZing The Avo team created an Amazing race with a whole different spin. Sure, there was competition: teams raced down historic main street searching for clues from egoli’s mining past, teams had to out-create each other with spray paint on the star graffiti wall and there was also a race to get as many African greetings as possible from the New York of Africa…our very own Jo’burg!

But the highlight had to be the time spent with the children of the Sunshine Nursery school in Yeoville.

Each team was tasked with creating a learning aid for pre-school kids: a letter of the alphabet to be stitched onto a colourful cushion. With the clock ticking, teams madly designed, stitched, stuffed and decorated with the whirr of the seamstresses’ sewing machines humming energetically: the wind beneath their product’s wings. Then they hopped into their taxis and raced to Yeoville. Here, each adult carefully took the hands of two little ones and embarked on the BIG WALK to the church. This was a great space to play and sing and learn. Learning aids came to life, smiles stole hearts and then the MacDonald’s Happy Meals arrived. It was a day of great fun and huge heart…

And the winners were:
6 Seamstresses in the fashion district
26 team members from Lafarge and most of all…
45 children from a tiny nursery school in Yeoville. They were not only the big winners of the day, but as a result of our time with them, the Lafarge team has now adopted them! So a huge, heartfelt thank you to Lafarge for their commitment to continue making a positive impact in the lives of these kids .

7 Responses to “Ama Zinging with Lafarge”

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1 Clayton Sep 1st, 2008 at 4:57 pm

What an AmaZing day, wow! it’s not only an inspiring story but it sounds like you had a day full of plain old fun, which is what we all need once in a while.

i’m so happy to hear the positive response that the wonderful people at Lafarge adopted the school, that is really incredible.

Well done guys for a super-successful day.

:)
2 Gill Sep 1st, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Shoo, this makes my heart smile! Lafarge you really are the big winners - the fact that you will continue to bring joy into those childrens’ lives is extremely special. I absolutely love putting these races together and seeing and hearing how much fun the clients always have and the touching stories that everyone has to tell. There really is no better way to experience JHB than being on one of these Ama-zing races.
3 Tracy Sep 1st, 2008 at 5:49 pm

I have to say that the Lafarge Team stunned me with their enthusiasm, their creativity and their wonderful way with the children. Their gentleness and sensitivity to the little ones was so touching to watch. Those Happy Meals were an absolute highlight and I know that your continued involvement in the school will mean the world to all of them. Thanks for pioneering this awesome community engagement!
4 yojules Sep 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 am

Trace, I love how your brtain is able to construct solutions that are magical in every way. Here you created something that meets the needs of so many groups of people - a wonderful example of synergy between business goals and building social capital. Thank you for your mastery!
5 Vanessa Sep 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 am

I am just so proud to be part of this team… really. Not sure that I can find any
more words to tell you how moved I was to be with you… and how many people I saw that were moved… it is one of my favorite Avo memories thus far. thank you to everyone involved x
6 Raelene Sep 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 pm

This is what it is ALL about!! Thank you Lafarge for allowing Avo to make it’s magic! Well done to the entire Avo and Lafarge team and the head magician, Tracy!
7 Puleng Sep 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm

What a day!!
To me the Amazing-zing was about 1. how well one can work in a team.And what role do you play in a team. Are you driven by success or not.Is being a winner the same as being a participant?The amazing-zing makes you question why you do certain things.Is it because you merely want to finish the task or finish the task throughly at the top?
2.Outside of a team / work environment who are you as an individual.What things matters to you the most.
I found my collegues amazing when it came to the latter.
Hence the adoption of the school!

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