Inspired by the various 2014 World Design Capital activities,DHL Express South Africa will be participating in the 5^th annual Cape Town Carnival, which takes place in March 2014.  Over the last couple of weeks DHL has been working with children’s non-profit organization Project Playground to design their float for the big day. Project Playground is situated in Langa, Cape Town, aims to provide children with a better future through educational after-school activities.   

Sumesh Rahavendra, Head of Marketing for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, says that the company leapt at the opportunity to put an original spin on their float for the Cape Town Carnival by harnessing the creative and imaginative minds of the children from Project Playground, a cause that they are actively involved in.

DHL is an official sponsor for Project Playground – a safe platform where children are given the opportunity to develop self-esteem, ambition and belief in the future through after school activities –supports the organization in various ways, from in-kind sponsorship to vocational training and internships for scholars with the view of adding long term value by up-skilling and enabling employment opportunities.

The children from Project Playground were all asked to submit design ideas for the float in line with this year’s Cape Town Carnival theme of Imagine. Elements from various children’s designs were then incorporated into the final design which will feature a borderless world. The idea behind the design is that DHL helps us all connect so there are no boundaries. The children will also be involved in decorating and on the carnival day ride the float down the fan walk with DHL employees.

“We see the Cape Town Carnival design project as a viable opportunity to inspire the children, and hope that this creative and fully comprehensive process, from initial design through to the final product, will motivate the children involved to pursue similar career options in the future,” says Rahavendra.