Corporate Cizizenship means for us specifically:
Mary’s Meals School Feeding Programme: www.marysmeals.org
Due to the chronic food shortages in large parts of Africa Mary’s Meals is for many poor children the only lifeline and their last hope for a better future. The concept is to bring children to go to class by handing daily meals at school, tackles the problem at the root of the basic evil. The positive results of the program are e. g. a growing number of school registrations, decline of truancy, improvement of teaching participation, notes and test results, scholarships for secondary schools, etc. Currently, more than 510. 000 children benefit daily from Mary’s Meals.
The school feeding programme of Mary’s Meals works on a highly efficient and cost effective basis. This is achieved by focusing on a model of partnership between the school, the community and Mary’s Meals.
Together with friends and family, which have donated on the occasion of our 50th birthday, we could realize following project – the primary school Mangima/Borma in Liberia, can provide a daily meal for their students for one year.
Also we support the Nkhombe Primary School in Malawi, which can enable at least 50 children a hot meal and the opportunity to go to school.
With gratitude and fulfilment we are pleased that we are able to make a small contribution here … also thanks to you.
Corporate Citizenship means for us generally:
In our work with clients the clarification of business as well as personal goals, changes and developments, is of primary importance. With the objective of promoting healthy growthfor markets, organizations and individuals; economic efficiency, fullfilment of purpose and and personal quality of life all have equal priority.
Based on this principle, we work outside of the corporate context to enable sustainable growth, further development, learning and qualitiy of life for people faced with difficult and inferior living conditions. We focus our attention specifically on projects working with highly individual solutions, offering knowledge, presence and learning opportunities to increase quality of life and future prospects for children.
On the basis of the responsible realization of profit, we want to make our contribution to the overall corporate social responsibility. We thus dedicate a portion of our resources to the realisation of the personal visions, dreams, growth opportunities and wishes of children.
In addition to donations to local schools, kindergartens and sports clubs; we currently support the following projects either financially or with our skills/services:
1. Kinderhospiz St. Nikolaus: www.kinderhospiz-nikolaus.de
Children’s Hospice St. Nikolaus – a house full of life: A place where zest for life, security, and community share the same space as grief and pain.
The Hospice is a contact point and recovery facility for families with terminally ill children. We support the entire family, in life, in death and beyond death. The situation of families in which terminally ill children and young people live, is often marked by enormous tension, fears, conflicts, unresolved issues, decisions and organizational problems. Personal and professional goals must be put on hold, the lives and lifestyle of everyone involved change extensively. The care of their sick children often brings parents to their limits, both physically and mentally, because they are on duty for their children day and night. Many of these disease patterns extend over a very long period of time. Often the affected children will gradually lose their previously learned skills. This means always having to say “small goodbyes” both for the sick children, and also for the families and the social circle. Everyday life is structured around the condition and the needs of the affected child, siblings will often experience less care and are thereby at risk of developing psychosomatic symptoms. Partnerships are heavily burdened and it is not uncommon for marriages to break up as a result of the situation. To give these families a second home and a place to regain strength, our children’s hospice of St. Nicholas opened in March 2007.
2. Backpack-Project: www.marysmeals.org
Children pack a school bag for African children making it easier for them to attend school and thus giving them the opportunity of education.
Children from our country give their (old) backpack (school bag, sports bag …) and fill it with school supplies and some every day consumer items. All items (except hygiene products) may be second hand as long as they are in good condition. The backpacks are then collected centrally and shipped to children in Malawi and Liberia. A large proportion of children who receive this support, have experienced war, poverty, hunger crisis or natural disasters. The families were often only able to save their lives and so it is hardly surprising that even the simplest most basic materials such as notebooks, pens or even school clothes lie outside of their financial reach. Because almost all members are volunteers, with only €10,-/year the organization can feed a child in Malawi for one year and so too enable schooling. The backpack project is another effective way to allow children to attend school. Since many parents cannot afford to buy school materials their children miss school and receive no education. However, education is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty. For these children it is not a given that they will have enough to eat everyday and be allowed to attend school.
3. Project Blind Vision, Alba Julia, Romania: (Website to be created)
We create, for children with multiple disabilities, a place where they can feel at home. A place to be cared for and looked after, to be with other children, to play and to be encouraged: lingustically, motorically, musically, manually and socially.
At present 12 children are being cared for. The impairments of children, which make it difficult to attend a regular school and cause social isolation or neglect, are very different. The majority of children are blind or severely vision impaired, usually with additional autistic symptoms (also in children with full vision) in varying degrees of manifestation, some very obvious and some less so. Typical symptoms include fear and seizures. Some children do not speak or rarely, some avoid contact and have motoric development delays. For some children in care rapid development has been observed, for others the rate of development remains slow. Regardless of the speed of their progress the joy of the children when they arrive at the care centre in the morning is palpable! Perhaps the most important thing is that they feel at home, they are well provided for and looked after, are able to play, to be together with other children, and individually according to their respective potential to be encouraged and developed. “Working” or rather playing with lots of music is of central importance. Much value is placed on improving the childrens cooperation with their parents and already we have seen progress in this area. Regular meetings are now held, and after initial hesitation, the parents now participate in the daily routine as required, including through assisting with exercise activities, cooking and cleaning up. The parents have also started to make small items to sell in order to themselves actively participate in setting up the centre.
4. PRO TECHNICALE: www.protechnicale.de
Fascination for technology, aerospace, renewable energy and philosophy: eleven-month course for young women in preparation for study, career guidance and personal development.
PRO TECHNICALE offers young women between high school and university the opportunity to significantly develop their technical skills in an eleven-month course. In addition, participants have the opportunity to build a network within the industry as well as academically and to further their own personal development. PRO TECHNICALE provides sound on the job orientation prior to studies as well as ensuring the best possible preparation for university study. The goal is to inspire and prepare young women for technical professions. They will have an intensive introduction to the fascinating technical issues of aerospace and alternative energies. The focus of the course is not purely theoretical for study preparation, but practical project work with like-minded people. PRO TECHNICALE offers as study preparation a comprehensive program including an internship in the industry as well as abroad in international companies. An important advantage: Young women get to experience first hand and hands on the fascination of technology in it’s own right and also in connection with the environment. PRO TECHNICALE however, is not just inviting participants for an induction into adventure technology, but also to forward-thinking, self analysis, philosophical topics and to the link between engineering and humanities. Particularly motivated and dedicated women and girls receive an extended scholarship at PRO TECHNICALE.