Innovation

Girl’s Box was the result of the combined efforts of the Early Product Development Project Planning & Support (EPD PPS) departments of the Bloemfontein and Centurion offices in South Africa. Chantay Susmak led the team alongside Nicolette Kapp to give over 200 boxes and packets of supplies to underprivileged girls. The Centurion office donated personalized boxes suited for each girl’s needs to the Jacaranda Children’s Home and Louis Botha Children’s Home while the Bloemfontein office donated boxes to a school for girls with special educational needs.

According to Ms. Susmak, the Bloemfontein and Centurion offices decided to start the initiative because of the large number of disadvantaged girls in schools in their communities. “A lot of these girls come from disadvantaged communities and it becomes a really big problem when they do not have any sanitary products. They actually miss school and they cannot perform any daily tasks, that’s something we’re not used to. We cannot fathom the problem and we decided to do something, no matter how small it is, to help these girls.”

PAREXEL’s mission is to bring quality pharmaceutical products to those suffering from health issues and does so by partnering with leading pharmaceutical companies. This innovation relates to PAREXEL’s mission to help communities all around the world who are in need.

Inspiration

In South Africa, many young girls are abandoned and require subsidies from the government in order to survive. Sanitary products are especially crucial for girls at a young age but providing such products is not a priority for the government and the health services in the country. These products are not given out for free and donations are even held back. This is what gave birth to the idea of starting a drive to collect sanitary products such as tampons for girls who are in need. It then expanded greatly as people started to donate other products as well to help girls from all ages live a healthier lifestyle.

The motivation came from people who wanted to act and provide support for these underprivileged girls who have been abandoned and live in poor communities. Many girls in those areas cannot attend school and even struggle performing daily tasks because they do not have access to health products or even basic necessities. It was important to the PAREXEL offices that every single girl got what they needed to live a healthier lifestyle and to, most importantly, feel cared about. Ms. Susmak recalled her experience from putting the boxes together for the girls, “Making up these boxes of products was an emotional process because it's something that a mother should do for their daughter… it's a very sad reality because a lot of these girls in South Africa are abandoned.”

Overall impact

The short-term effects of this initiative included successful distribution of important necessities to the girls in South Africa. The goal of Girl’s Box was to demonstrate PAREXEL’s High Performance Culture (HPC) Principles in their community. Additionally, the initiative required the employees to work together as a group to benefit their surrounding community.

The effects of Girl’s Box on the girls of their communities will be lasting. Those girls came from different circumstances that left them in disadvantaged positions. Not only did this initiative provide essential supplies to the girl, but it also showed the girls the good in the world and that there are people who genuinely care about them. It also enabled the girls to live better and healthier lives.

This initiative will also have a lasting effect on the employees of PAREXEL that participated, as the employees were able to grow closer together and had their eyes opened to the globe outside of PAREXEL. The employees gained a better understanding of how surrounding communities need their help and how they could continue to help their surrounding communities in other ways. Thus, the initiative was very rewarding to the employees of PAREXEL that participated.

Business benefit

This initiative was a fantastic team building experience that enabled employees of PAREXEL’s South African office to grow closer with each other and opened their eyes to the needs of their community. Ms. Susmak and her team were able to collect nearly $5,000 worth of products for Girl’s Box thanks to the help of PAREXEL employees. PAREXEL’s South African office truly came together to make sure the initiative was a success.

Girl’s Box also gave PAREXEL’s South African office a chance to display their HPC principles and to show the surrounding community that PAREXEL cares. Through participating in the initiative, the employees were able to get to know each other better and give back to the community at the same time. They can use the skills learned from being involved with Girl’s Box and apply those skills to their everyday decision-making procedures for PAREXEL.

Social and environmental benefit

The Girl’s Box drive impacted society by providing girls in South Africa with access to sanitary products and other necessities, which they did not have access to otherwise. According to Ms. Susmak, PAREXEL received a letter from the school’s principal after completion of the initiative. The principal expressed their gratefulness towards the initiative as the girls received important necessities they lacked. The school is largely dependent on state subsidies and the girls’ parents contribute little to nothing.

Donating such necessities to the girls contributed to the betterment of their lives so they could focus on attending school and performing everyday tasks rather than being concerned with not having essential supplies. This kind of encouragement allowed the girls to recognize the possibility of completing their education despite of their circumstances. The initiative greatly changed the girl’s lives for the better and helped society realize that small deeds do not go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Interview

Chantay Susmak, Project Specialist

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