When the AGS team went hunting for a local NGO to support towards the end of last year, they could think of none better than the Samu Social Pointe Noire. “The NGO is part of Samu Social International and we completely agreed with their vision and their dedication,” explains Amina-Sarah Moussa, a VIE with the AGS Group and the branch’s business development manager.
By serving regular meals in its centres or on the streets, the Samu Social aims to help a particularly vulnerable population: the children and young people living on Pointe Noire’s streets. The latest figures from the NGO show that there are more than 1,500 children on the streets of the city.
Going where help is needed most
Samu Social’s efforts to support vulnerable children go beyond just providing food – they also regularly conduct street campaigns to tour city neighbourhoods to meet homeless people and provide moral or material support. And it was during the Christmas street campaign last December that the AGS Pointe Noire team provided Samu Social with some much-needed assistance.
AGS Pointe Noire VIE & Business Development Manager
The campaign aimed to provide 250 children with kits containing sandwiches, drinks, football shirts and sanitary towels for the girls. Three AGS team members participated in the tour and AGS provided hygiene kits containing soap and toothpaste, as well as cakes and biscuits which were distributed to children in the various Samu centres. Overall, 177 children received a care package.
As one of the AGS volunteers, Amina-Sarah was deeply moved by the experience. “Samu Social was like Father Christmas, and as a participant, it was so rewarding to see the smiles on the children’s faces.”
The collaboration was so successful that plans are already underway for future partnerships between Samu Social Pointe Noire and the AGS team.