The day started around 10am that morning with staff who volunteered waiting patiently for the arrival of their special guests. We watched in amazement as buses streamed in one after the other with kids from other schools and wondered how on earth did Teachers do what they do? Soon, we saw huge double decker buses start turning into the zoo and we knew – yep, these must be our kids. In the true Sony way of doing things ‘big’ - the biggest and fullest buses belonged to us. The CSR team took their places and got ready to hand out sweet packs to the children. There were two pick up points with our usual “production line” style of distribution and we were at it! It wasn't easy though, because the kids were already bursting with excitement and at times were all over the place. In we went and at a central point we each aligned ourselves to a class, as it was the easiest way to get some order. Off we went in groups for a tour around the zoo. Before journeying to the zoo, a lot of behind the scenes work took place. The committee took some time to plan out the visit. HR, put together a plan and developed a budget for the trip. This was after a consensus that zoos are places where a child can perfect their observational skills. Also, being able to touch an animal is a real highlight for a child (and clearly adults as well, as shown by our own colleagues! )

We were soon reminded that having direct contact with animals is an amazing experience for most children. Children from urban areas have little contact with animals, and are often only familiar with them through television, especially these particular children who will probably have only one of such an experience. Lions, Girraffes, Tigers, Cheetahs, Elephants , Rhino's, baboons, Crocodiles, birds of all species... you name it, we saw them. But their tired little legs started showing signs of fatigue, and it was soon time to rest at the central point. It was almost noon, the visit was going to be over in no time...they plonked themselves all over the grass and delved into their various food packs. That was not all that we had planned for a fun filled day for the kids....hello Zakumi! Zakumi is the official FIFA 2010 mascot. He's a leopard, that has been designed and produced exclusively in SA. The name is a composition of "ZA", standing for South Africa, and "kumi" translating into "10" in various languages across Africa. Since his main priority is to turn the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa into one huge, joyful and unforgettable event - he was the fitting guest of honour for the kids, and showed his expected warmth and spirit of the African continent....oh, and he's an animal too, so he's right at home in the zoo! As we waved goodbye to the kids after doing another "production line", giving each child a pie and a coke for their lunch, we were reminded of how wonderful it was to have an adventurous day as they'd had. We can only imagine the stories at home of the visit to the zoo.