Sponsored by
Buxton Water's parent firm helps African children
TEASPOON is ten years old. She and her younger brother and sister are tiny. All three were born with the HIV virus already in their bodies.
Their father has since died of AIDS and their mother is dying too.
These children are alive today thanks to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs.
These products are now available in the developing world at a fraction of their former cost, thanks to a deal Britain and others negotiated with the pharmaceutical industry a few years ago. Back then, 50,000 South Africans got the ARV drugs; today over 2 million are kept alive by them.
Teaspoon wanted to say 'thank you' to us for the drugs and for the facilities that an international charity had brought to her school near Johannesburg. The charity, Hope Worldwide, received funds from Nestl, the company that owns Buxton Water, to do their work.
I was in South Africa for a week as the guest of Nestl. Four MPs were looking at how corporate social investment could play a real and constructive role in the development of poorer countries.
In Nyanga, a suburb of Cape Town, we saw a community kitchen which Nestl funds. Near Pretoria we saw four pre-schools in different stages of development, none of which would have existed without their sponsorship. Near the town of Harrismith, we saw their investment in sustainable farming and a state of the art factory producing infant formula milk.
Thirty years ago Nestl's practices in marketing infant formula inappropriately were condemned across the world. Today they have cleaned up their act. Their marketing and distribution practices are tougher and tighter even than international agreements require. A 30-year old legacy is being challenged and challenged hard.
South Africa is a country of extremes, both rich and poor. The hope behind Teaspoon's words brought tears to our eyes. She represents its future: as long as she can survive.
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Weather for Buxton
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
