Bergesen Worldwide lays the first stone at the SOS Childrens Village in Gwagwalada, Nigeria
21 November 2005
Bergesen Worldwide (“BW”), one of the world’s leading shipping groups, today officially launched the construction of an SOS Children’s Village in Gwagwalada, Abuja, a commitment worth over US$2 million. The village will include a kindergarten, primary school, sports field, social centre and medical centre projected to benefit over 12,500 children annually, as well as permanent home for over 120 children.
“As a company with strong relations in Nigeria, we are keen to contribute to this work to help its abandoned children, a challenge of significant proportions in this country. We are pleased to be able to help these children to a better future,” said Andreas Sohmen-Pao of BW. “We believe that such projects are an important part of corporate social responsibility,” continued Sohmen-Pao. “Through project visits like this and by encouraging staff to ‘godparent’ individual orphans, we hope that we can stay close to the project and ensure its ongoing success.”
“We are extremely grateful for this commitment from the BW group. By channeling this funding through SOS Children’s Villages, the company is forming a powerful coalition to give children in need a new family,” said Svein Grønnern, Secretary General of SOS Children’s Villages Norway.
Project Information
The SOS Children’s Villages Project in Gwagwalada will consist of:
- An SOS Children’s Village with 12 family houses for 120 – 150 children
- An SOS Kindergarten with three classes and a capacity to admit 75 children annually
- An SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School with six classrooms to admit 210 children annually
- An SOS Social Centre with a medical clinic, with capacity to serve 12,500
- A sports and soccer field to serve the children in the community as well as the children of the SOS Children’s Village
The village is a result of co-operation between Bergesen Worldwide, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria and SOS Children’s Villages Norway. Construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2007. It will be the third SOS Children’s Village in Nigeria. The first village was constructed at Isolo, Lagos, in 1970, and the second, in Owu-Ijebu (approximately 145 km east of Lagos), was constructed in 1996.
Company Information
Bergesen Worldwide Ltd
Bergesen Worldwide is the holding company for a fleet of vessels involved in the transportation of gas (LNG and LPG), crude oil and dry bulk commodities as well as floating oil and gas production. Through its predecessor companies, Bergesen and World-Wide Shipping, it has been delivering energy and other vital commodities for a combined 120 years. Bergesen Worldwide Gas is involved in the transportation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for Nigeria LNG Limited, with two vessels delivered and a further six under construction.
This SOS Children’s Villages commitment follows in a long tradition of donations to charitable causes by the Sohmen/Pao family, particularly in the realm of education. Previous contributions include the construction of Ningbo University in China and the Sino-British Friendship Scholarship Scheme (together with the governments of China and the UK), amongst many others.
SOS Children’s Villages
SOS Children’s Villages is an independent, non-governmental social development organization, which has been working to meet the needs and protect the interest and rights of children for 55 years. The focus of our work is abandoned children requiring care and support and disadvantaged families. SOS-Children’s Villages and youth facilities are now home to some 58,000 children and adolescents on all continents. Hundreds of thousands of people benefit from our educational, social, medical and emergency relief programmes.
The SOS Children’s Village of Gwagwalada is also part of the “6 villages for 2006” campaign to FIFA, world football’s governing body. This is a joint charity program between SOS Children’s Villages and FIFA as part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Thanks to Bergesen Worldwide the SOS Children’s Village in Gwagwalada is the first of the six villages to be financed.
